When I'm not playing blogger, I have a full time job in an office. Sounds exciting, doesn't it. Participating in office politics, managing projects, and turning gray has given me a warped interest in "office" films. Some that come to mind:
Female (1933)
Aside from eating her mates alive, it's awesome to see a female CEO (Ruth Chatterton) in the early 30s. Love the assertiveness.
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Another strong-willed businesswoman, Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford) builds up quite the restaurant business only to have murder get in the way. Ok, the murder & business part don't go together (well...), but she has strong management skills.
Executive Suite (1954)
The company president collapses dead and the fun begins. Just adding a dime a year to the dividend...
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)
Yes, someone who is no one can become someone in a big company. In this case it's WWW - World Wide Wickets. I just like saying that. In real life, people sing in the office just as often as in this film - but no dancing. Unlike WWW's office, my office is lacking the presence of Robert Q. Lewis.
Office Space (1999)
The king of office movies (where is your TPS report?) If you live your work day in cubicle-land, you can probably recite the lines to this movie. Do you have your red Swingline? Careful with the audio if you have young ears around (or a boss):
Holiday (1938)
Johnny (Cary Grant) wants to "retire" now rather than wait til he gets old. Amen.
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4 comments:
Office Space and How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying are both brilliant! Regardin HSIBWRT, it's great to see Robert Morse on 'Mad Men,' a great show about office politics in the 1960s :D
Y'know, I really need to watch Mad Men one of these days. I keep hearing about it & say I'll record it. I used to work for an agency and had plenty of weird political stuff go on, but I'll bet that show trumps it!
Another good office movie is Patterns (1956) staring Van Heflin and written by Rod Serling. It was on TCM two weeks ago and as I watched I realized this was Serling's masterpiece. Wonderful movie.
la peregrina, thanks for the recommendation - I'll have to add that to the growing list!
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