History Film / TheHudsuckerProxy

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Meanwhile, Mussburger is upstairs trying to calm the board of directors. Apparently, Hudsucker had no will, which means according to company policy his majority stock share in the company must be put up for sale on the open market within six month's time. This means the company would be open to hostile takeover by whomever can buy the expensive shares. Mussburger hits upon the idea of appointing an idiot as a secret "proxy": [[SpringtimeForHitler someone who can be easily controlled and cause the company's profitability to tank without doing any lasting damage.]] With stock prices depressed because of poor profits, Mussburger and the other members of the board can quickly buy up the shares on the cheap when they go up for sale, and thus maintain control of the company.

Meanwhile, Mussburger is upstairs trying to calm the board of directors. Apparently, Hudsucker had no will, which means according to company policy his majority stock share in the company must be put up for sale on the open market within six month's time. This means the company would be open to hostile takeover by whomever can buy the expensive shares. Mussburger hits upon the idea of appointing an idiot as a secret "proxy," [[SpringtimeForHitler someone who can be easily controlled and cause the company's profitability to tank without doing any lasting damage.]] This way, with stock prices depressed because of poor profitability, Mussburger and the other members of the board can buy up the shares on the cheap quickly when they go up for sale, and maintain control.

Soon enough, [[InadvertentEntranceCue Norville appears at Mussburger's door]], with the letter, but Barnes is so eager to mention his ideas for the company that he never does deliver the letter, and ends up nearly killing Mussburger during their first meeting. Mussburger comes away convinced he's an idiot...but just the right kind of idiot for his needs, and so Barnes is quickly made the new CEO of Hudsucker Industries, with Mussburger's secret plan in action, and Barnes has an idea for a new toy - [[CatchPhrase you know, for kids.]]

Norville Barnes (Creator/TimRobbins), a recently graduated business major, makes his way from his hometown of Muncie, Indiana, to New York City to "make it big." He winds up working in the mailroom of the monolithic Hudsucker Industries, whose CEO, Waring Hudsucker (CharlesDurning), has recently committed suicide. On the day he is hired, Norville is given the task of delivering an important letter from Hudsucker to Sidney Mussburger (Creator/PaulNewman), the second-in-command at Hudsucker Industries.

* HotScoop: [[Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh Amy Archer]]

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: After he finds out that Amy is a New York reporter who lied about her background and credentials to get close to him, Norville is shocked to see that kind of dishonesty coming a Muncie girl.

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: Vic Tenetta bears a striking resemblance to Creator/DeanMartin.

-->'''Moses:''' (''after stopping the Hudsucker Industries clock, thereby freezing time itself'') Strictly speaking, I'm never supposed to do this. But have you got a better idea?

* {{Expy}}: Mussburger is [[Film/SweetSmellOfSuccess J.J. Hunsecker]] as a CorruptCorporateExecutive.

Soon enough, Norville appears at Mussburger's door, with the letter, but Barnes is so eager to mention his ideas for the company that he never does deliver the letter, and ends up nearly killing Mussburger during their first meeting. Mussburger comes away convinced he's an idiot...but just the right kind of idiot for his needs, and so Barnes is quickly made the new CEO of Hudsucker Industries, with Mussburger's secret plan in action, and Barnes has an idea for a new toy - [[CatchPhrase you know, for kids.]]

* FalseTeethTomfoolery: Moses knocks out Aloysius' dentures while they fight over the stopped clock. After pulling out his mop handle to defeat the evil repairman, Moses uses the teeth to jam up the gears again and keep Norville from going splat.

You'll be tattered, torn, and hurten\\

-->'''[[Creator/PaulNewman Sidney J. Mussburger]]:''' Plexiglass. Had it installed last week.

* PetTheDog: Mind, he only did it as part of a scheme to smear Norville Barnes as a fraud, but Mussburger ''does'' give Buzz his job back in the process after Norville unjustly fired him.

* KickTheDog: Norville takes hold of the JerkassBall just long enough to fire poor Buzz just for coming to him with an idea for the bendy straw, which is especially dickish because just a short time before, [[{{Hypocrite}} Norville was just a little guy with a big idea, too.]]

* AlmightyJanitor: Moses, keeper of the clock tower, is a good example; the nameless repairman is an evil example. Both seem to have humble jobs in the Hudsucker Industries hierarchy, yet both are capable of [[spoiler:freezing time for the rest of the universe,]] and get into a fight over this ability at the film's climax.

* TheDogBitesBack: Late in the film, Norville runs into Buzz, the bellhop he fired and humiliated earlier. Buzz immediately decks him one for it and then organizes a mob to chase him down.

* MotorMouth: The mail room orientation guy and Buzz the elevator attendant. Amy also has the "fast-talking career gal" shtick down pat (In his autobiography, Creator/BruceCampbell described Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh as an acting ''machine'', able to nail her rapid-fire dialogue perfectly after a single read-through).

* MotorMouth: Amy occasionally, but most prominently the mail room orientation guy. Also, Buzz.

* CreatorCameo: The Coen Brothers are in silhouette during the Hula Hoop {{Montage}}, trying to figure out a name for the toy.

** Mussberger being saved by the fact that even though he refused to pay for it, his tailor decided to give his suit a double stitch anyway -- which ends up saving his life.

* DreamSequence: A hot one, too, showing Norville dancing the tango with a beautiful woman to "Carmen" from ''Habanera''.

** And, of course, Hudsucker himself.[[note]]It isn't revealed until the Blue Letter is read that Hudsucker killed himself because Mussberger stole his woman.[[/note]]
* {{Expy}}: Mussberger is [[Film/SweetSmellOfSuccess J.J. Hunsecker]] as a CorruptCorporateExecutive.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler: Hudsucker killed himself because despite being richer than Midas, Mussberger took the only thing he truly cared about - his girl. In the end, he killed himself and intended to bequeath the company to Mussberger.]]

* LackOfEmpathy: Mussberger is about as cold as you can get.

** The entire process detailing the invention and production of the Hula Hoop (a.k.a. Extruded Plastic Dingus). Detailed blueprints are produced and patented, the entire accounting department performs extensive research to come up with the retail price (of $1.79), a trio of guys run through countless names for the project, safety is practiced using explosives, and a fairly elaborate machine is used to make the things.

* SpeakingSimlish: There's one instance where Norville claims to have studied Finnish and engages in a short discussion with a Mr. Finlandsson- not a single word of Finnish is actually spoken, but a rather Swedish-sounding string of nonsense, and the film plays this as if Barnes spoke something higly offensive to Mr. Finlandsson.

* WhatAnIdiot: [[invoked]] Invoked in-universe by Mussberger on Norville, which makes him a perfect candidate for his plan. [[spoiler: Angelic Hudsucker thinks Norville isn't too bright, either.]]

* {{Beatnik}}: Norville stumbles drunk into a Beatnik juice and coffee bar on New Year's Eve.
* BigApplesauce: The movie is set the late 50's New York City.

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