A talented young man can't get an executive position without rising through the ranks, so he comes up with a shortcut, which also benefits his love life.A talented young man can't get an executive position without rising through the ranks, so he comes up with a shortcut, which also benefits his love life.A talented young man can't get an executive position without rising through the ranks, so he comes up with a shortcut, which also benefits his love life.
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination
- Jean
- (as Carol-Ann Susi)
- Owens
- (as Ira B. Wheeler)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film was inspired by the early Hollywood experiences of Steven Spielberg, who snuck onto the Universal Studios lot at a young age and began using an empty office as his own production office. The character of Brantley Foster does the same thing in this movie.
- GoofsWhen Brantley answers the phone in the office for the first time before starting his "con" as Carlton, his hair length and color change during the course of the call.
- Quotes
[after sex]
Brantley Foster: Can I make a personal observation?
Vera Prescott: Um, anything but the thighs.
Brantley Foster: You know, somebody sold you a bill of goods and convinced you you had to be 21 forever. That's bullshit. I think you're terrific; I think the only thing wrong with you is your husband is a jerk. You're beautiful, you're intelligent, you're sensuous...
Vera Prescott: Say that again!
Brantley Foster: Which part?
Vera Prescott: All of it!
[sounds of car]
Vera Prescott: Oh, no.
Brantley Foster: What, what is it?
Vera Prescott: It's the jerk.
[Brantley rushes to the window]
Vera Prescott: My husband.
Brantley Foster: My uncle!
Vera Prescott: Your what?
Brantley Foster: Oh God, that makes you...
Vera Prescott: Auntie Vera?
Brantley Foster: Oh! God!
[Vera laughs]
Brantley Foster: Oh God, oh God, oh God! What's my mother going to say? I've disgraced my whole family!
Vera Prescott: Oh, the hell you did!
- Alternate versionsThere are two different ending sequences. In the first, after they leave the boardroom Fred and Vera meet and start to flirt. Christy and Brantley go into the elevator which stops between floors. In the second version, this scene is ommitted and we cut to several weeks later where the two couples climb into a limo and go the opera. The first shows up on the video releases, whereas the second shows up in broadcast versions.
- SoundtracksRiskin' a Romance
Written by Siobhan Fahey, Ollie Marland and Paul Weller
Performed by Bananarama
Produced by Daryl Hall and T-Bone Wolk (as Tom 'T-Bone' Wolk)
Bananarama appears courtesy of London Records Ltd.
All his roles fall back on the Sweet Guy persona. In "The Secret of My Success," he plays Brantley, a Kansas boy who makes the big move to the Big Apple, where he lands a job at his uncle Howard's (Richard Jordan) firm. He gradually makes his way up the ladder as a mail boy, but his real break comes when he is mistaken for a higher-up and tries to woo hard-to-get girl Christy (Helen Slater), a beautiful co-worker of the company who buys Brantley's job position.
Simple premise, but it becomes all the more entangled when Brantley has to run back and forth between different job positions, changing clothes in the elevator and getting in a heated affair with his uncle's wife (played by Margaret Whitton), the kind of lady who doesn't take no for an answer.
The film's amorality is what struck me on multiple viewings. It sort of seems dirty and unclean -- Brantley's a farm boy but he's eager to get in a romance with his aunt. The casual sexuality of the film is what, ultimately, makes it sort of disturbing, and also sort of memorable, as odd as that may sound.
Fox shines in the lead role, and with any other actor the film would simply fall flat on its face. And, to be honest, a film like this could never be made nowadays -- I can imagine Jim Carrey in such a role, but the outcome would be wholly different. The eighties were an entire generation of comedy unto themselves. A lot of people love the comedies from the eighties because so many were made with so little thought and yet a lot of heart, kind of like "The Secret of My Success." Its mediocrity is what drives it, amazingly, but also its heart, and so many comedies nowadays lack the heart of the comedies from the eighties.
I come back to "The Secret of My Success" a lot, probably because I saw it on TV when I was younger and it's been in my head ever since. It's a routine film that's hardly recommendable, but I actually enjoy it a lot the more I watch it, and it has a kind of frenetic comedic energy that most of the films of the genre are lacking nowadays.
The script, by Jim Cash nd Jack Epps Jr., seems as though it were one from an earlier decade. It has a delightful sweetness to it that's simply not unnoticeable.
I understand how many would dislike this film. The critic Roger Ebert gave "The Secret of My Success" 1.5/4 stars upon its inital release in 1987. I can't say I wouldn't have, either, if I were in his shoes. But comedies, over time, sort of grow on you, and this is one of those cases.
It's not as good as "Back to the Future," or "The Hard Way," but it's a lot like Fox's "Teen Wolf" (1985): fast-paced, extremely routine, cliched, flawed, and lots of fun. Don't miss this one, even if it isn't exactly the pinnacle of comedy.
4/5 stars.
- John Ulmer
- MovieAddict2016
- Dec 8, 2003
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Das Geheimnis meines Erfolges
- Filming locations
- 919 Third Avenue, New York City, New York, USA(Pemrose Roof and Jog Track)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $12,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $66,995,879
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $7,766,452
- Apr 12, 1987
- Gross worldwide
- $110,996,879
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1