the audience applauded

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is an interesting musical. Unlike many movies that were originally Broadway musicals, this film does little to try to make it look like a movie. Instead, it plays a lot like watching a play--complete with many musical and dancing numbers where you can easily see how it was performed on stage. Now this is NOT meant an a negative--just stating how it's almost like watching a filmed version of the play. And, because of this, the sets are often very surreal--like sets from a play that are easily moved and disassembled. And, if you are interested, this play is currently playing on Broadway--with Daniel Radcliff in the revival. I am not sure if tickets are now so expensive because of its star or because it's a darn good musical--but I suspect it's both.The innocuous looking Robert Morse stars in the film (he played the same role on stage previously). He's a very, very cynical young man who used a book entitled "How To Succeed in Business"--and follows it for his meteoric rise through the ranks of a corporation. In fact, in only a matter of days, he moves from the mail room to a vice president...and his stock keeps on rising. Along the way are a lot of peppy and cynical songs--my favorite of which is "A Secretary is NOT a Toy" though "I Believe in You" has become a standard. And, to get ahead, he sucks up, manipulates and lies--all which the movie seems to heartily endorse, as in every case Morse is wildly successful! As a result, it's a funny comedy and ultimate movie for cynics! I thoroughly enjoyed it--and I really don't even like musicals all that much! Apart from good songs, a fun and goofy plot and good acting, the film manages to be entertaining and new. There just aren't any other films like it--and it's a bit surprising that it didn't make Morse a star, as he was very good here. Ironically, he's been brought back to the small screen for a recurring role on "Mad Men"--a drama that seems, at times, inspired by this film.By the way, George Fenneman plays himself. If you wonder why his face is familiar, he was the announcer for the TV show "You Bet Your Life". Also, doesn't the boss' nephew look a LOT like a 1960s version of Napoleon Dynamite?! Look at him yourself--you'll see what I mean.

All the while I was watching this boring and dated movie I kept thinking to myself, "This guy (Robert Morse) is trying to be Jerry Lewis and failing!" In fact, this would have been a much funnier movie with the real Jerry Lewis as the star. To me, Morse is just not funny. Given all the positive reviews here, it must be a personal thing. Also, I never saw the original Broadway show, which I suspect would have been a more natural vehicle for someone like Morse.I gave the movie 3 stars rather than 1 because I found it hilarious to see what passed for "good taste in office decor" back then. Yikes. Made me wish I was color-blind.

A few notes of full disclosure here: 1) I love musical theatre 2) I'm old enough to remember this show when it was on Broadway.OK, now: This isn't really a movie. It's a film of a stage show. With the exception of a couple location shots of New York City 40 years ago, it's almost exactly the Bob Fosse staged production that swept the Tony Awards in 1962 and is one of only seven musicals in 90 years to win the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Robert Morse, Rudy Vallee, Ruth Kobart and Sammy Smith reprise their stage roles as the ambitious corporate ladder climber, the pompous executive, his dictatorial secretary and the middle manager who "plays it the company way". Michelle Lee is Morse's love interest, and Maureen Arthur channels Judy Holiday as Vallee's ditzy paramour. The musical numbers are transferred almost verbatim from stage to screen, and if you're not familiar with the show, you won't be disappointed that a few of them were left out.In sum, you have to be ready to accept this as more a stage play than a cinematic experience; but if you are in the mood for a true period piece that truly reflects the American musical theatre of the past century and is unlikely to be replicated or even approximated on the screen in the foreseeable future, you could do a lot worse than watching this on a commercial free channel or grabbing the DVD for an afternoon with your teens, especially if any of them have thoughts of a career on the stage.

A popular hit on Broadway, the film version has much to offer, even though some of the songs were reassigned or left out. Morse plays a scamp who picks up (the real life!) book "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." He goes from a window washer to a high-level executive at the World Wide Wicket Company in record (make that farcical) time. Referring to the book for advice he plays out scenario after scenario to his advantage, ruthlessly clawing his way to the top (much to the consternation of fellow worker and management relative Teague) while stopping occasionally for a flirtation with pretty Lee, a secretary with the firm. Eventually (and predictably), however, he realizes that success in business isn't all there is to life. The world this film takes place in is a day-glo, candy-confection dream-scape in which everyone is clean, neat, stylish and always ready to break into song or dance. Morse, whose stage version of this character was somewhat less sympathetic and more driven, has here the role of his career. He perfectly suits the goofy, ambitious, resourceful part he was given to play. Lee is appealing and talented, with a very nice singing voice. Oddly, she receives some questionable lighting, at times having a shadow over her face and with catch-lights in only one eye during her solo. This is something she would more than take care of during her 12 year run on "Knots Landing", infamous for its flattering lights. Vallee appears to good effect as the preoccupied president of the company. Arthur provides plenty of pneumatic comic relief as his curvy, air-headed, yet resourceful, mistress. She's a sort of goofy blend of Carol Channing, Marilyn Monroe and Gracie Allen. Teague gives a broad, but enthusiastic performance. Hobart, who plays a stern employee with a secret soft spot, would later turn up as a bus driver in "Dirty Harry'! The musical numbers tend to be dispersed fairly evenly among the cast, with many folks getting a crack at a song rather than the leads getting most of them. There's a lot of ensemble work, both in the songs and in the impressively staged (by Fosse) dances. Sadly, one of the memorable dances from the stage show – "Coffee Break" – was eliminated from the finished picture due to a quality issue with the film. Another, "A Secretary is Not a Toy" should drop the jaws of some modern-day audience members with its jubilant incorrectness. The script begins to overstay its welcome and veer off into tiresome subplots, but overall it's a pretty lively and entertaining affair. The opening shots of a shimmering and vintage New York City are to be treasured.