Dana Andrews plays a rather amoral advertising man who is more of a promoter than anything else. Oddly, much of what he does throughout the film is done as a bet with another advertising man. To prove a point (a very VAGUE one), Dana goes to work for a very small advertising agency run by Eleanor Parker. Through all of his efforts, the small agency becomes a contender by lifting the very eccentric (i.e., possibly crazy) owner of a small dairy to national prominence. All the time, he tries to romance boss Parker as well as Jeanne Crain who he strings along very cruelly.
The film appears to be an indictment against the advertising world, though the way the film goes in the last 10 or 15 minutes rather muddles this point. Despite spending HUGE amounts of energy to best the man he is betting against AND despite being on the cusp of fame and fortune, Andrews' character then behaves so uncharacteristically and irrationally that I felt the plot really needed a re-write. It just wasn't convincing and I went from liking the movie initially to just wanting it all to end.
All in all, some very good actors were given a rather limp script. The overall efforts are watchable, but only just.
The film appears to be an indictment against the advertising world, though the way the film goes in the last 10 or 15 minutes rather muddles this point. Despite spending HUGE amounts of energy to best the man he is betting against AND despite being on the cusp of fame and fortune, Andrews' character then behaves so uncharacteristically and irrationally that I felt the plot really needed a re-write. It just wasn't convincing and I went from liking the movie initially to just wanting it all to end.
All in all, some very good actors were given a rather limp script. The overall efforts are watchable, but only just.