RATINGS: IMDB ― 7.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes ― 57%, ME ― 87%
Board Member 1: He could have opened the window.
Board Member 2: Waring Hudsucker never did anything the easy way.Board Member 1: He could have opened the window.
Board Member 3: (weeping) Why? Why did he do it? Everything was going so well
Sidney J. Mussburger: What am I, a head shriker. Maybe the man was unhappy?
Board Member 3: He didn't look unhappy.
Board Member 4: He didn't look rich.
Board Member 5: Waring Hudsucker was never an easy man to figure out. He built this company with his bare hands, every step he took was a step up, except of course this last one.
Sidney J. Mussburger: Sure, sure he was a swell fella, but when the president, chairman of the board and owner of 87% of the company stock drops 44 floors...
Board Member 6: 45.
Board Member 7: Counting the mezzanine.
Sidney J. Mussburger: ...then the company too has a problem. What exactly is the disposition of Waring's stock.
Board Member 8: Well as you know, Hud left no will and had no family; the company bylaws are quite clear in that event. His entire portfolio will be converted into common stock and be sold over the counter as of the first of the fiscal year following his demise.
Sidney J. Mussburger: Meaning?
Board Member 8: Well, meaning simply that Waring stock, and control of the company, will be made available to the public January first.
Sidney J. Mussburger: Do you mean to say any slob in a smelly tee-shirt will be able to buy Hudsucker stock?
Board Member 8: The company bylaws are quite clear.
Board Member 2: Waring Hudsucker never did anything the easy way.
Board Member 3: My God, you're animals. How can you discuss his stock when the man has just leapt 45 floors?
Board Member 6: 44.
Sidney J. Mussburger: Quit showboating Addison, the man is gone. The question now is whether we're going to let John Q Public just waltz in here and buy our company.
Board Member 4: What are you suggesting Sidney? Certainly we can't afford to buy an controlling interest.
Sidney J. Mussburger: Not while the stock is this strong. How soon before Hud's paper hits the market?
Board Member 8: January 1st.
Board Member 2: 30 days.
Board Member 4: 4 weeks.
Board Member 5: A month at the most!
Sidney J. Mussburger: One month; to make the blue chip investment of the century look like a round trip ticket on the titanic.
Board Member 7: We play up the fact that Hud is dead.
All: Long live Hud!
Board Member 4: We depress the stock,
Board Member 5: To the point where we can buy 50%,
Board Member 6: 51.
Board Member 7: Not counting the mezzanine.
Sidney J. Mussburger: It could work.
Board Member 3: It should work.
Board Member 4: It would work.
Sidney J. Mussburger: It's working already. Waring Hudsucker is abstract art on Madison Avenue. What we need now is a new president who will inspire panic in the stockholder.
Board Member 6: A puppet.
Board Member 5: A proxy.
Board Member 2: A pawn.
Sidney J. Mussburger: Sure, sure. Some jerk we can really push around.
Roy Brocksmith, John Wylie, I.M. Hobson, Gary Allen, John Scanlan, Richard Woods, Jerome Dempsey and Peter McPherson as Board Members and Pau Newman as Sidney J. Mussburger
Trivia (From IMDB):
Joel Silver wanted Tom Cruise to star as Norville Barnes, but The Coens insisted on Tim Robbins.
Clint Eastwood was offered the role of Sidney Mussburger.
This is one of the few Coen brothers movies to not be edited by the brothers themselves (under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes) along with Tricia Cooke. Thom Noble was the editor here,
Opening film at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.
The secretary of the Hudsucker brainstormers (uncredited Mary Beth Peil) is reading throughout the Hula Hoop manufacturing sequence the novels "War & Peace" and "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy. The idea is to show that the brainstormers are really taking their time to determine the name of the product since the novels have, respectively, 1225 and 864 pages and are commonly known for being books you would spend a lot of time reading. In her case, if you'd consider 4 minutes per page, 8 hours a day, both books would've taken 18 days to read.
Jennifer Jason Leigh won the role of Amy Archer over Ellen Barkin, Nicole Kidman, Winona Ryder, and Bridget Fonda.
The familiar, quick-tempo song heard when the children are making a mad dash to the toy store to buy the Hula-Hoops is called "Sabre Dance". It was written by Aram Khachaturyan and is featured in his ballet, "Gayane". The song is often associated with juggling acts and such.
The published script is introduced with a fake interview with "producer" Joel Silver (who is uncredited in the film). In this interview Silver claims that the Coens were difficult to work with and among other things wanted Ethan to play Tim Robbins's part and Jeanne Moreau to play Jennifer Jason Leigh's (despite of the age difference of 30+ years).
The line "if a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its ass a-hoppin'", and the name Hudsucker itself, we're also used in the Coens' own Raising Arizona (1987).
The main theme music of the film is the uncredited Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia from the ballet Spartacus by Aram Khachaturyan. This music was also used as the main theme for BBC TV's series The Onedin Line (1971). The music played behind the black and white newsreel is Non-Stop by John Batt, used by Independent Television News in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s to introduce their main news bulletins. Malcolm apparently composed the piece to blow a raspberry at the musical prejudices of his tutor.
Jack Nicholson was considered for the role of Sidney J. Mussburger.
Dr. Hugo Bronfenbrenner, the psychiatrist who evaluated Norville for the board, was likely named after famous developmental psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner.
The movie reunites Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Peter Gallagher who all previously appeared in Short Cuts (1993).
As of 2016, this is the only PG-rated movie directed by the Coen Brothers. All of their other films have carried either R or PG-13 ratings.
The film cast includes three Oscar winners: Tim Robbins, Paul Newman and Thom Noble; and two Oscar nominees: Jennifer Jason Leigh and Charles Durning.
Paul Newman and Jennifer Jason Leigh also co-starred in Road to Perdition (2002).
Paul Newman and Jennifer Jason Leigh would later appear in Road to Perdition (2002).
Cameo ―
Sam Raimi: in the Hula Hoop manufacturing sequence as one of the Hudsucker brainstormers. We don't see his face, only his silhouette and we hear his voice.
Joel Silver wanted Tom Cruise to star as Norville Barnes, but The Coens insisted on Tim Robbins.
Clint Eastwood was offered the role of Sidney Mussburger.
This is one of the few Coen brothers movies to not be edited by the brothers themselves (under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes) along with Tricia Cooke. Thom Noble was the editor here,
Opening film at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.
The secretary of the Hudsucker brainstormers (uncredited Mary Beth Peil) is reading throughout the Hula Hoop manufacturing sequence the novels "War & Peace" and "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy. The idea is to show that the brainstormers are really taking their time to determine the name of the product since the novels have, respectively, 1225 and 864 pages and are commonly known for being books you would spend a lot of time reading. In her case, if you'd consider 4 minutes per page, 8 hours a day, both books would've taken 18 days to read.
Jennifer Jason Leigh won the role of Amy Archer over Ellen Barkin, Nicole Kidman, Winona Ryder, and Bridget Fonda.
The familiar, quick-tempo song heard when the children are making a mad dash to the toy store to buy the Hula-Hoops is called "Sabre Dance". It was written by Aram Khachaturyan and is featured in his ballet, "Gayane". The song is often associated with juggling acts and such.
The published script is introduced with a fake interview with "producer" Joel Silver (who is uncredited in the film). In this interview Silver claims that the Coens were difficult to work with and among other things wanted Ethan to play Tim Robbins's part and Jeanne Moreau to play Jennifer Jason Leigh's (despite of the age difference of 30+ years).
The line "if a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its ass a-hoppin'", and the name Hudsucker itself, we're also used in the Coens' own Raising Arizona (1987).
The main theme music of the film is the uncredited Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia from the ballet Spartacus by Aram Khachaturyan. This music was also used as the main theme for BBC TV's series The Onedin Line (1971). The music played behind the black and white newsreel is Non-Stop by John Batt, used by Independent Television News in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s to introduce their main news bulletins. Malcolm apparently composed the piece to blow a raspberry at the musical prejudices of his tutor.
Jack Nicholson was considered for the role of Sidney J. Mussburger.
Dr. Hugo Bronfenbrenner, the psychiatrist who evaluated Norville for the board, was likely named after famous developmental psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner.
The movie reunites Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Peter Gallagher who all previously appeared in Short Cuts (1993).
As of 2016, this is the only PG-rated movie directed by the Coen Brothers. All of their other films have carried either R or PG-13 ratings.
The film cast includes three Oscar winners: Tim Robbins, Paul Newman and Thom Noble; and two Oscar nominees: Jennifer Jason Leigh and Charles Durning.
Paul Newman and Jennifer Jason Leigh also co-starred in Road to Perdition (2002).
Paul Newman and Jennifer Jason Leigh would later appear in Road to Perdition (2002).
Cameo ―
Sam Raimi: in the Hula Hoop manufacturing sequence as one of the Hudsucker brainstormers. We don't see his face, only his silhouette and we hear his voice.
Spoilers ―
The death of Waring Hudsucker was inspired by a real-life incident. On February 3, 1975, Eli Black, the CEO of the United Fruit Company, smashed an office window with his briefcase and jumped to his death from the 44th floor of the Pan Am Building in New York City.
Both products made by Norville Barnes (the Hula-Hoop and the Frisbee) are products of the Wham-O company.
The deus ex machina towards the end of the movie is actually a god in a machine.
Both products made by Norville Barnes (the Hula-Hoop and the Frisbee) are products of the Wham-O company.
The deus ex machina towards the end of the movie is actually a god in a machine.
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