The Secret of My

Success (1987 film)

The Secret of My Success (sometimes

stylized as The Secret of My Succe$s) is a
1987 American comedy film produced and
directed by Herbert Ross and starring
Michael J. Fox and Helen Slater. The
screenplay was written by A.J. Carothers,
Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. from a story
written by Carothers. It was filmed on
location in Manhattan.[2]
 The Secret of My Success

Theatrical release poster

Directed by Herbert Ross

Produced by Herbert Ross

Screenplay by Jim Cash

Jack Epps Jr.
A.J. Carothers

Story by A.J. Carothers

Starring Michael J. Fox

 Helen Slater
Richard Jordan
Margaret Whitton
Music by David Foster

Cinematography Carlo Di Palma

Edited by Paul Hirsch

Production Rastar
company

Distributed by Universal Pictures

Release date April 10, 1987

Running time 111 minutes

Country United States

Language English

Budget $12 million[1]

Box office $111 million

Plot
Brantley Foster (Michael J. Fox) is a recent
graduate of Kansas University who moves
to New York City, where he has accepted
an entry-level job as a financier. Upon
arriving, he discovers that the company for
which he is supposed to work has been
taken over by a rival corporation. As a
result, Brantley is made redundant before
even starting work.

After several unsuccessful interviews to

get another job, mostly because he is
either overqualified or underqualified and
has no experience, Brantley ends up
working in the mailroom of the Pemrose
Corporation, which is directed by a distant
relative though he identifies him as his
uncle, Howard Prescott (Richard Jordan),
the CEO. Pemrose was founded by
Howard's father-in-law; Howard received
presidency of the company by marrying
his boss's daughter, Vera Pemrose
(Margaret Whitton).

Upon inspecting company reports,

Brantley realizes that Howard and most of
his fellow "suits" (executives) are making
pointless or damaging decisions. After
Brantley notices an empty office in the
building due to one of Howard's frequent
firings, he uses his access to the mailroom
and his understanding of company
processes to create the identity of Carlton
Whitfield, a new executive. Brantley then
assumes this character.

While handling two jobs (switching

between casual apparel and business
suits in the elevator), Brantley also sparks
romantic interest in Christy Wills (Helen
Slater), a fellow financial wizard who
recently graduated from Harvard. Brantley
meets Vera after driving her home in a
company limo (at his employer's request),
and she seduces him after persuading him
to stay for a swim. Upon seeing Howard
arriving, Brantley and Vera realize they are
related through marriage. Vera only
seduced Brantley to get back at her
husband for having an affair with a woman
in his office. Brantley then gets changed as
fast as he can and narrowly escapes the
mansion without being spotted by
Howard.

Howard, unbeknownst to Brantley, is

having an affair with Christy. When
Howard asks her to spy on Carlton
Whitfield, Christy falls in love with
"Whitfield", not knowing he is actually
Brantley. The Pemrose Corporation is
preparing for an impending takeover by the
Davenport Corporation. If Davenport
Corporation absorbs Pemrose, everyone
gets fired. Howard, unaware that Whitfield
and Brantley are the same person,
suspects "Whitfield" is a spy for corporate
raider Donald Davenport (Fred Gwynne).
Brantley's double identity is discovered
when he, Christy, Vera and Howard end up
in the same bedroom after a party at
Howard's home that all four are attending.
Brantley and Christy end their blossoming
relationship and Brantley gets sacked from
his job he did as Whitfield, as does Christy
for refusing to continue the affair with
Howard. Vera and Howard are getting
divorced, since she found out that Howard
was having an affair with Christy and was
planning on proposing to her.

While both Christy and Brantley are

moving out of their offices, they end up in
the same elevator and reconcile,
conceiving a revenge plan with Vera. In the
end, they raise enough cash, bonds, and
stocks to remove ownership of the
Pemrose Corporation from Howard, and to
proceed with a hostile takeover bid of
Davenport's Corporation. Vera, already
hating Howard for his inept business
practices, which were driving her father's
empire into the ground, tells the board
about his affair as well. She promptly
replaces him with Brantley, with Jean
(Carlton's secretary), Christy and Melrose
(Brantley's mailroom colleague) at his
side. While security guards escort Howard
and his aide, Art Thomas (Gerry Bamman),
from the Pemrose Building, Brantley and
Christy start planning their future together,
personal as well as professional.

Cast
Michael J. Fox as Brantley
Foster/Carlton Whitfield
Helen Slater as Christy Wills
Richard Jordan as Howard Prescott
Margaret Whitton as Vera Pemrose
Prescott
John Pankow as Fred Melrose
Fred Gwynne as Donald Davenport
Gerry Bamman as Art Thomas
Carol Ann Susi as Jean
Drew Snyder as Burt Foster
Elizabeth Franz as Grace Foster
Christopher Murney as Barney Rattigan
Mark Margolis as elevator repairman
Mercedes Ruehl as Sheila
Cindy Crawford as model in opening
montage
Bruce McGill as W. Shaw (uncredited)
 Bill Fagerbakke as Ron

Soundtrack
 The Secret of My Success (Music from the
Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Soundtrack album by Various Artists

Released April 10, 1987

Genre Soundtrack

Label MCA Records

Producer David Foster

Neil Geraldo
Daryl Hall
Tom "T-Bone" Wolk
Arthur Barrow
 Singles from The Secret of My Success
Soundtrack
1. "The Secret of My Success"
Released: March 28, 1987

The soundtrack was released on LP and

cassette tape on April 10, 1987.[3][4] Seven
of the 10 tracks were produced, and either
written or co-written, by David Foster, who
also scored the film and has three tracks
of his own on the album.

Not all of the songs featured in the film are

included on the soundtrack, or, at least not
in the same version. The film version of
the song "The Secret of My Success" is
slightly different, and also features a mini-
instrumental version. The film version of "I
Burn for You" does not feature vocals,
whereas the soundtrack version does. The
"Restless Heart" track from the film has a
different title ("Something I Gotta Do"), and
different lyrics than the soundtrack
version.

Popular songs "Walking on Sunshine" by

Katrina & The Waves and "Oh Yeah" by
Yello are heard in the film but do not
appear on the soundtrack.

The soundtrack peaked at No. 131 on the

Billboard 200.[5]
The theme from the picture "The Secret of
My Success", performed by Night Ranger,
was one of the songs that competed for
the Golden Globe Award for Best Original
Song in 1988. The winner was "(I've Had)
The Time of My Life", the theme from Dirty
Dancing, performed by Bill Medley and
Jennifer Warnes.[6]

Track listing
1. "The Secret of My Success"
(performed by Night Ranger)
2. "Sometimes the Good Guys Finish
First" (performed by Pat Benatar)
3. "I Burn for You" (performed by Danny
Peck and Nancy Shanks)
 4. "Riskin' a Romance" (performed by
Bananarama)
5. "Gazebo" (performed by David Foster)
. "The Price of Love" (performed by
Roger Daltrey)
7. "Water Fountain" (performed by David
Foster)
. "Don't Ask the Reason Why"
(performed by Restless Heart)
9. "3 Themes" (performed by David
Foster)
10. "Heaven and the Heartaches"
(performed by Taxxi)

Reception
Critical response …

The film received a mixed response from

critics. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-
Times wrote, "The Secret of My Success
seems trapped in some kind of time warp,
as if the screenplay had been in a drawer
since the 1950s and nobody bothered to
update it." He concluded "Fox provides a
fairly desperate center for the film. It could
not have been much fun for him to follow
the movie's arbitrary shifts of mood, from
sitcom to slapstick, from sex farce to
boardroom brawls."[7]

However, Vincent Canby, writing in The

New York Times, felt it was "close to
inspired when the ambitious Brantley finds
himself leading two lives", although he
noted that "Hanging over The Secret of My
Success is the long shadow of Frank
Loesser's classic musical How to Succeed
in Business Without Really Trying."[8]

The film holds a 57% "rotten" rating at

website Rotten Tomatoes based on 21
reviews.[9] On Metacritic, the film has a
rating of 36/100 based on 16 critics,
indicating "generally unfavorable
reviews".[10] Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film an average
grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[11]
Box office …

The film opened on April 10, 1987, and

debuted at number one at the box office,
taking $7.8 million in its opening
weekend.[12] It stayed at No. 1 for 5 weeks,
and was in the top ten films for 2 months.
It grossed $66,995,000 in the US,[13]
becoming the 7th highest-grossing film in
the United States for the year 1987, and
outgrossing such films as RoboCop,
Predator, Lethal Weapon and Dirty Dancing.
The film went on to gross an additional
$44,001,000 worldwide, giving it a total of
$111 million.[14] Additionally, the film made
US$29,856,000 through video rentals.[15]
References
1. "The Secret of My Success" .
Boxofficevoodoo.com.
2. [1]
3. The Secret of My Success: Music from the
Motion Picture Soundtrack at
Amazon.com
4. "The Secret of My Success: Music From
The Motion Picture Soundtrack credits" .
October 17, 1990 [1987]. Retrieved July 1,
2013.
5. The Secret of My Success: Music From The
Motion Picture Soundtrack Billboard 200
at AllMusic. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
 . "Winners & Nominees 1988 Golden
Globes" . HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS
ASSOCIATION. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
7. Ebert, Roger (April 10, 1987). "The Secret of
My Success" . Chicago Sun Times.
rogerebert.com. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
. Canby, Vincent (2007). "The Secret of My
Success" . Movies & TV Dept. The New
York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide.
Archived from the original on November
21, 2007. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
9. "Secret of My Success-critics rating" .
Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster, Inc. Retrieved
July 5, 2011.
10. "Secret of My Success Reviews" .
11. "Cinemascore :: Movie Title Search" .
December 20, 2018. Archived from the
original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved
July 27, 2020.
12. "Secret of My Success' No. 1 at the Box
Office Spot" . The New York Times. April
15, 1987. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
13. "The Secret of My Success box office
figures" . Nash Information Services, LLC.
Retrieved July 5, 2011.
14. "The Secret of My Success" . Box Office
Mojo. IMdb.com,Inc. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
15. "The Secret of My Success box office
data" . The Numbers. Nash Information
Services, LLC. Retrieved July 5, 2011.

External links
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