Review of The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956) by Bill T — 30 Jun 2017

It is the Annual General Meeting of International Projects, a large listed company. The board of directors are a shady lot but none of the shareholders ever question their decisions or vote against their motions. Until now. Laura Partridge, a minor shareholder, starts to ask some pretty important questions, questions which the directors don't like. In the aftermath of the meeting the directors are worried that she will form a committee of minority shareholders, and exercise some control of the company. In order to keep her quiet and in line, they offer her a job in the company, as Director of Shareholder Relations. The idea is to give her nothing to do, but Laura has other plans...

Great comedy, lead by the irrepressible, effervescent Judy Holliday as Laura Partridge. Some great lines and wonderful comedic timing. A good satire on the corporate world generally.

Had the potential to be a great drama too, and expose on the ethics and machinations of corporate boards. Here it falls a bit short of great, though it started very well. The initial few scenes are a wonderful indictment of company boards, how they're in it for themselves rather than the shareholders, the people they represent and work for.

However, beyond those few scenes the movie loses focus on the subject. The directors become too cartoonish in their villainousness, and some of the schemes seem unlikely and contrived. Does still make a decent point regarding corporate governance and ethics, though this is dampened somewhat by the final scene, which jars with Ms Partridge's Jane Average "looking out for the little guy" ethic.

The romantic angle involving Ms Partridge and Mr McKeever also set the movie back. Due to the obvious large age difference between them, felt very contrived and even creepy. Was also unnecessary and detracted from the message.

Overall, a great comedy with decent, though not powerful, claims to being a profound drama.