Cash McCall

I watched this solely because James Garner was in it and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Natalie Wood was beautiful! I thought the plot was somewhat hard to swallow - but it shows how much you would do for love! If you like this movie, rent "Wheeler-Dealers" with Mr. Garner and Lee Remick. It is hilarious!

We are about fifteen minutes into this film before we meet the titular Mr. McCall, but by that time we have an idea who he is, based upon "heresay evidence"-the opinions of industry mavens, those who observe him frequently, and the man on the street who only knows what he reads of the elusive millionaire. So, when we first meet Mr. McCall (James Garner), he is a breath of fresh air.

He seems so likable, so transparent. This man who has a reputation for buying companies and tearing them apart for maximum profit (regardless of the consequences to employees or communities, almost for sport, really) is revealed to be a man of principles.

He approaches the owner of Austen Plastics (Dean Jagger) about purchasing his company. Grant Austen has seen the changing business world pass him by and is anxious to retire. A deal is struck, but it is only the beginning of the drama.

One complication is that Austen's daughter, Lory (Natalie Wood), has a history with Cash McCall. And he is motivated to renew their relationship.

Cash McCall lives in a hotel apartment that is 60s chic. One of the joys of this film is seeing its depictions of fashion and the decorative arts.

Another is the list of actors who play major roles in the film. Garner plays a role suited to him and he fully occupies it. Wood rises to the occasion, perhaps due in part to his efforts, and matches his spirit and romantic chemistry. Among the other actors, two deserve to be mentioned: Dean Jagger, who makes Grant Austen totally believable; and Henry Jones, who plays Gil Clark, the skeptical efficiency expert who is given an education in business by Cash. Check out "The Bad Seed" if you want to see Henry Jones in another masterly performance.

This is an enjoyable film. The romance, though a subplot, is between two affable characters. And the business drama has a point of view and actually gives us a rare cinema hero-the capitalist who is depicted as a moral man.

When you first hear of this flick, you think it is like most of Garner's "Light Comedy" from the 60's - Not so. This film shows the a steamy underside of the Big Business "Scene" and the kind of trickery that goes on... And how even an honest down to earth deal could be made to look like a swindle, with a little jealousy and backstabbing added when least expected- And for that you have to give proper credit to Nina Koch for playing a kind of reverse "Erica Martin" from Executive Suite.

Garner is surrounded with some of the great character actors of the time: Dean Jagger, E. G. Marshall (From "12 Angry Men"), Otto Kruger (From Hitchcock's "Saboteur" and "Magnificent Obsession"), Edward Platt ("Chief" from "Get Smart").

And of course Natalie Wood, and in this film she gives one of her best... She is an absolute firecracker. I like the fact that the interaction between Garner and Wood is a little subdued.

One thing that is amazing, is that this was directed by Joe Pevney, who directed some of the best episodes of Star Trek Original Series.

Cameron Hawley's novel about the politics inherent in corporate boardrooms became the essential business drama Executive Suite (1954). With that film's Oscar nominated cinematographer (George J. Folsey) and supporting actress (Nina Foch) as well as Dean Jagger and character actor Edgar Stehli, this one was made into a comedy featuring James Garner (in the title role) and Natalie Wood. It was adapted by Lenore J. Coffee and Marion Hargrove, and directed by Joseph Pevney.

The story has enough misdirection (and at least one dead end) in it to keep it interesting, even if (at times) it gets somewhat confusing, but Garner's charm and Wood's natural beauty makes it eminently watchable.

The cast also includes E.G. Marshall, Henry Jones, Otto Kruger, Roland Winters and Edward Platt as key players in the various dealings by McCall, an elusive character whose reputation is not unlike Wall Street (1987)'s Gordon Gekko.

McCall wants to buy Grant Austen's (Jagger) plastics company, in part because Austen's daughter is Lory (Wood), a woman with whom he has an unrequited past. Jones (whose boss is Platt) plays McCall's associate, Marshall his lawyer and Kruger his banker. Winters and Foch (her boss is Stehli) are the foe and foil that add conflict to the initially smooth transaction and romance.

In many respects this looks like a 1980s film that has been moved through a hole in the time/space continuum into 1959. From a cynical 1990s perspective, much of it is probably a touch too sweet, especially the romance, but the way high-flying business is portrayed was way ahead of its time. It is very much as we would find it in mid-1980s films such as Wall Street or Other People's Money. In case some of the dialogue/monologue sounds familiar: Pretty Woman seems to have "borrowed" significant chunks.