Cash McCall

James Garner makes a dashing young entrepreneur of the business world in Cash McCall, the second of two films made from Cameron Hawley's business world novels, the other being the acclaimed Executive Suite. Hawley certainly knew how to capture the business world well and put a proper face on it.

Usually it's not a real good idea to mix business with pleasure, but in Cash McCall, Garner succeeds quite well. I now know where some of the plot of Grease came from. If you'll remember John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John have a summer fling which ends, but then find themselves in the same school in different social circles.

Cash McCall begins with Garner already having had that fling with Natalie Wood on vacation in Maine and he discovers she's the daughter of Dean Jagger, president of a plastics firm he's looking to acquire. When he discovers who she is it does complicate matters, but Garner is a most resourceful man. In the end it all works out to everyone's satisfaction, but there are a few bumps in the road. Those bumps are what the film is all about.

James Garner has played so many con men on the big and small screen it would have been an easy matter for him to slip into that familiar characterization for him. But he plays this one absolutely straight and does quite well with the part. Of course if he had been anything less than up front he wouldn't have gotten Wood. Natalie was just radiant in her role as the Philadelphia Main Line princess, a bit more human than Tracy Samantha Lord of The Philadelphia Story.

Besides Dean Jagger, the leads are backed by an established group of players portraying various business types as Edward Platt, E.G. Marshall, Otto Kruger, Parley Baer, and Roland Winters. Two performances that are really outstanding are Nina Foch as the hotel chief housekeeper at the place where Garner resides occupying an entire floor and part of another and Henry Jones as an efficiency expert who Garner recruits.

I'm surprised that Cash McCall was not taken up as material for a prime time soap opera in the Eighties, the decade of such. It certainly has all the ingredients.

Still it remains as one of James Garner's best early film performances and usually on the top 10 list for his fans.

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.

The best part of this Technicolor exercise is the light it shines on high-power business dealings and how these were treated in the Production Code 1950's-- and is worth a quick few words.

In that Cold War decade, Hollywood discovered the drama of corporation boardrooms and big business in such films as the ruthless Patterns (1956), the intrigues of Executive Suite (1954), and the comedic Solid Gold Cadillac (1956). All in all, these movies hold up well despite the passage of years. The trick for films of this type was to be realistic enough with the big money scheming to hold audience interest without at the same time indicting the upper tiers of capitalism. For to do the latter would, among other reasons, serve the interests of the Soviet side of the Cold War then at its peak. As a result, in such movies conscience or a force for good usually prevails at the last minute over ruthless business connivings no matter how unconvincing the abrupt triumph. And that's very much the case in the otherwise routine Cash McCall.

At first, McCall is characterized as a corporate vulture—a wheeler-dealer who buys up struggling companies, disassembles them for profit, and then walks away from whatever communities he may have destroyed in the process. But, of course, it's hard to make a sympathetic lead out of such a ruthless character, even for such a likable personality as James Garner. So the screenplay begins to fudge. He's next characterized as a dis-assembler whose aim is to build up anew from the pieces, though the human consequences are not made clear. And finally, after a thorough conversion, he becomes a full-fledged business humanitarian putting communities first for reasons that also remain rather unclear, but does, of course, produce a happy ending. Thus, the ends of the Production Code, the Cold War, and audience expectations are duly served.

The movie itself is pretty unmemorable. To me the pairing of the mature Garner and the rather callow Wood seems a brittle one, no matter how much the winsome Wood is glamorized. Then too, Garner suppresses his charming Maverick side in the interests of getting into McCall's character, but in the process gives up his special appeal as an actor. On the other hand, it's a fine array of supporting players, especially Henry Jones whose Bassett- hound face registers an unusual array of subtle emotions. His is a very different appearance for that glamour-obsessed time period. Anyway, the movie's a decent enough entertainment, but outside of its wheeler-dealer instruction manual, remains pretty forgettable.

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.

This is a great, fun film with the feel of similar films of the era such as 1962's "That Touch of Mink," whose plot bears more than a passing resemblance to this film's.

James Garner is great as usual, as is the radiant Natalie Wood. Dean Jagger's performance as the plastic company patriarch strikes just the right note and Henry Jones does his usual excellent job as the somewhat smarmy assistant.

But one of the real stars of the film is its 1960 decor. It really sets the period but also has a very distinctive look that is now considered retro-"atomic chic" with more than a little "Googie" thrown in.

I've no idea why this film hasn't been released on DVD (it's perfect for anamorphic DVD at a 1.85:1 aspect ratio). If you don't want to rent or purchase the VHS tape, your only recourse is to await its very infrequent showings on cable (most recently on Encore's "Love" channel some six or so years ago.)