Review: The Hucksters

Clark Gable plays an ad man, what he calls a ‘huckster’ who goes to work for a top advertising agency headed by Adolphe Menjou. Given the task of promoting Beauty Soap, Gable goes to rich English widow Deborah Kerr to convince her to endorse the product. Being a movie, they fall for one another. Also being a movie, there are obstacles in the way of true love. Sydney Greenstreet plays the intimidating head of Beauty Soap, who very much likes the intimidation he instils in others. Ava Gardner plays a nightclub singer and acquaintance of Gable’s, whilst Keenan Wynn plays an appalling vaudeville comedian Gable is stuck with finding a use for.

Pretty enjoyable, well-acted 1947 Jack Conway (“A Tale of Two Cities”, “Dragon Seed”, “Julia Misbehaves”) romantic comedy boasts a really solid star cast as well as some top character actors in support. Apparently this was Deborah Kerr’s first American film and she’s terrific. She manages to be classy, maternal, and sexy all at the same time. The first two aren’t a stretch for her, but I’ve never seen her achieve the third before as she does here. She’s instantly likeable. She and Clark Gable manage to be different enough here without clashing like oil and water to where it’s off-putting and a poor match. Gable’s good as the slick advertising man who can certainly get the job done, but there’s a certain ill at ease about his character. He almost seems ashamed of his job, and he’s always wanting to seem sincere and respectable, even though the audience can clearly see that he’s not quite the slick, soulless huckster he’s supposed to be. This guy doesn’t much seem to like the company he’s occasionally obligated to keep, and doesn’t much seem to like city life in general. It’s probably one of the more complex characters and performances of Gable’s career, actually. Backing them up splendidly are Adolphe Menjou and Sydney Greenstreet. Greenstreet walks on and immediately walks off with the film in an intimidating, weird, and funny performance. Menjou gives a really good performance and manages to convince as a rather silly old drunk too, at one point. It’s a shame that Ava Gardner is underused because whenever given the chance she and Gable work rather well together. I would’ve liked to have seen more of her. Look out for an hilariously unfunny (that’s not a typo) Keenan Wynn as a twit named Buddy who is the worst comedian of all-time just about. Wynn is very, very convincing in this regard, in a fun little cameo.

To be honest, I couldn’t care less about the world of advertising, which seems to be the focal point of far too many movies as far as I’m concerned. So from a plot point of view, I wasn’t always enthralled by the film, though the cast (forgive me) help sell it. I also think it’s a good 15-20 minutes too long, to be honest. A comedy should rarely, if ever clock in at just under two hours in my view. However, it’s funny, very well-acted, is overall a good, solid film. There’s nothing wrong with that. Based on a Frederic Wakeman novel, the screenplay is by the trio of Luther Davis (“Lady in a Cage”, “Across 110^th Street”), Edward Chodorov (“Undercurrent”, “Kind Lady”), and George Wells (“Angels in the Outfield”, “Ask Any Girl”).

Rating: B-