The Hudsucker Proxy

The Coen Brothers new film Hail! Caesar is out in theaters today. And like most movie nerds, I'm a huge Coen Brothers fan. My personal favorite from the brothers is one that doesn't seem to get a lot of attention, 1994's The Hudsucker Proxy.

Tim Robbins stars as Norville Barnes, fresh out of small town business school and ready to take the world by storm. The time is 1958, and Norville goes to New York City thinking that an invention idea he has is going to wow the big business world. But times are tough and Norville can only land a job in the mailroom at Hudsucker Industries. Hudsucker has just suffered a loss. Their founder and President Warren Hudsucker, Charles Durning, has committed suicide. When a ruthless board member named Sydney J. Mussburger, Paul Newman, gets word that Hudsucker stock will soon be sold to the public, he quickly buys controlling interest and hires an idiot to be the President so the public won't want the stock and he could make a fortune. The idiot in question is none other than Norville.

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Amy Archer, knows that something is up and see's a great story. She goes undercover as Norville's secretary. But Norville surprises them all when his invention becomes a big success.

This is a very old school, screwball comedy. The three leads are terrific. Robbins makes a great simpleton. Newman seems to be having a lot of fun with his role as well. He even told the Coen Brothers that he hadn't that much fun with a role since SlapShot. Oddly enough, Clint Eastwood was their first choice, but after he turned it down and Newman took over, they had nothing but praise for the legend. And Leigh is terrific, channeling Katherine Hepburn.

The screenplay, by the Coen's and filmmaker Sam Raimi, was actually written in 1985. They even referenced it in an earlier collaberation, Crimewave. It wasn't until 1991, when big budget action producer Joel Silver wanted to work with the brothers and decided he wanted to produce it. Kind of an odd teaming, but it totally works.

This was a huge flop and doesn't get a lot of love, but like I said, it's my favorite Coen Brothers film and deserves to be rediscovered. It's like a Frank Capra movie but witha more cartonnic tone.

It's available on dvd and blu ray through Warner Archives.