The Secret of My Succe$s

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The Secret of My Succe$s
Directed by Herbert Ross
Produced by Herbert Ross
Nora Kaye
Written by A.J. Carothers (story)
Jim Cash (screenplay)
Starring Michael J. Fox
Helen Slater
Richard Jordan
Margaret Whitton
John Pankow
Fred Gwynne
Music by Night Ranger
Roger Daltrey
Pat Benatar
Cinematography Carlo Di Palma
Editing by Paul Hirsch
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s) April 10, 1987
Running time 111 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget Unknown
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Secret of My Succe$s (also known as The Secret of My Success) is a 1987 English language comedy film starring Michael J. Fox, produced and directed by the late Herbert Ross (of Footloose fame). The screenplay is written by Jim Cash, who previously co-scripted Top Gun. The film is marketed with the tagline "There's no such thing as an overnight success. Brantley Foster took two weeks."

Contents

[edit] Main cast

Actor Role
Michael J. Fox Brantley Foster/Carlton Whitfield
Helen Slater Christy Wills
Richard Jordan Howard Prescott
Margaret Whitton Vera Prescott
John Pankow Fred Melrose
Fred Gwynne Donald Davenport
Gerry Bamman Art Thomas

[edit] Plot summary

Fox plays Brantley Foster (Michael J. Fox), a recent graduate of Kansas State University. Brantley moves to New York City where he has freshly landed a job as a financier. Upon arriving, however, he discovers that the company for which he's supposed to work has been taken over by a rival corporation. As a result, Brantley is laid off before he even starts working.

After several unsuccessful attempts to get another job (mostly because he's overqualified), Brantley ends up working in the mailroom of Pemrose Incorporated...which is directed by his uncle, Howard Prescott (Richard Jordan). Pemrose was actually founded by Prescott's father-in-law; Howard received presidency of the company by marrying his boss's daughter, Vera Pemrose (Margaret Whitton).

Upon inspecting company reports, Brantley realizes that Prescott and most of his fellow "suits" (executives) are making ineffective and/or non-beneficial decisions regarding Pemrose Incorporated. Then Brantley notices an empty office in the building, due to one of Howard's frequent firings. Brantley assumes the identity of Carlton Whitfield, new executive.

While handling two jobs - mailboy and executive (he actually has to switch between jobs by stripping in the elevator) - Brantley also falls head-over-heels for Christy Wills (Helen Slater), a fellow financial wizard who recently graduated from Harvard. At the same time, his Aunt Vera keeps hitting on him since they're not related by blood (Brantley's mother's cousin, before she was bit by a dog and died, was married to Howard Prescott's half-sister's nephew.)

Prescott, without Brantley's knowledge, is having an affair with Christy. When Howard asks her to spy on Carlton Whitfield, Christy falls head-over-heels for Carlton, not knowing he is actually Brantley. The Pemrose Corporation is preparing to merge with (read: be taken over by) the infamous Davenport Corporation. Prescott, unaware that Whitfield and Brantley are one and the same person, suspects Carlton is a spy for uber-liquidator Donald Davenport (Fred Gwynne).

In the end, Brantley (as Whitfield) and Vera raise enough cash, bonds, and stocks to wrest ownership of the Pemrose Corporation from Prescott, and to buy out the Davenport Corporation as well. Vera--already contemptuous of Howard for his counter-productive business practices, which were driving her father's empire into the ground--learns that Prescott has been cheating on her to boot. She promptly replaces him with Brantley. While security guards escort Howard and his aide, Art Thomas (Gerry Bamman), from the Pemrose Building, Brantley and Christy start planning their future together...personal as well as professional.

[edit] Soundtrack

The soundtrack was a success[citation needed], though the compact disc release has long been out of print. It was produced by 1980s super-producer David Foster, who also contributes several instrumental tracks to the album.

Soundtrack listing:

  1. "The Secret of my Success" (performed by Night Ranger)
  2. "Sometimes the Good Guys Finish First" (performed by Pat Benatar)
  3. "I Burn for You" (performed by Danny Peck and Nancy Shanks)
  4. "Riskin' a Romance" (performed by Bananarama)
  5. "Gazebo" (performed by David Foster)
  6. "The Price of Love" (performed by Roger Daltrey)
  7. "Water Fountain" (performed by David Foster)
  8. "Don't Ask the Reason Why" (performed by Restless Heart)
  9. "3 Themes" (performed by David Foster)
  10. "Heaven and the Heartaches" (performed by Taxxi)

As with many soundtracks, not all of the songs featured in the film are included on the soundtrack, or, at least not in the same version. The film version of "The Secret of My Success" is slightly different, and also features a mini-instrumental version. The film version of "I Burn for You" does not feature vocals, whereas the soundtrack version does, much to the ire of fans. Lastly, The Restless Heart track from the film has a different title and different lyrics than the soundtrack version.

The songs "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina & The Waves and " Oh Yeah" by Yello are heard in the film but do not appear on the soundtrack.

[edit] Other

  • John Pankow plays Brantley's mailroom colleague. Fred Gwynne plays Mr. Davenport. Cindy Crawford makes a cameo appearance in the opening credits.
  • The film was a box office hit and grossed over 66 million dollars.
  • A 1965 film of the same title starred Shirley Jones.

[edit] External links

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Preceded by
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol		 Box office number-one films of 1987 (USA)
April 12, 1987 – May 17, 1987		 Succeeded by
Ishtar