The Hucksters is about sponsors and advertising agencies in network radio, in New York and Hollywood, circa 1945-47. It's a time when radio is king (just before TV came in). Double-breasted suits and men's hats are in style. People wear tuxedos to go out to fancy nightclubs, and take elegant trains to cross the country, if they can afford it. And ad man Vic Norman (Clark Gable), just back from the war, is determined to make the kind of money that will give him such a comfortable lifestyle. He thinks he has it all figured out.Vic goes to work for the Kimberly (Adolph Menjou) agency, which handles the Beautee Soap account. The big man who manufactures the soap is Even L. Evans (Sydney Greenstreet) a bully who has the ad men cowering because his account is worth several million dollars.The Hucksters is about how Vic loses himself in this crazy ad game, and finds himself again before all his self-respect is gone. It's about his relationships with two women (Deborah Kerr, Ava Gardner), a kindly Hollywood agent (Edward Arnold), and a sub-par comedian, Buddy Hare (Keenan Wynn), for whom Vic must create a radio program on orders from tyrannical nut case Evans.It's an entertaining picture, even if the satire is not quite pointed enough, and the serious side of the film - it's philosophical side, if you will - plays out as somewhat blunted. I think this may have to do with the fact that Hollywood satirizing the ethics and values of Madison Avenue is like the pot calling the kettle black. It just doesn't seem legit. On the plus side, the acting is uniformly good. It's hard to picture anyone other than Gable in the lead. In fact, he makes the film seem a little better than it is. He's possibly 10 years too old for the role, and he shows the beginnings of the tremor that was sometimes too distracting in his later films. But he's still Gable, which is damn good! You don't question for a minute that the younger women in the film would find him attractive. Quite a man. The Hucksters has outstanding cinematography, the score, by Lennie Hayton, is jazzy, yet elegant. Jack Conway's direction is fairly sure-footed. It's all a bit too glossy, and not really as smart as it wants to be. But The Hucksters is a good piece of entertainment, all told.By the way, The Hucksters was sold using the famous phrase, "Gable's New Star Is Deborah Kerr (it rhymes with star)!" Menjou's ad agency couldn't have come up with a better line.

After the World War II, the arrogant and self-confident Victor Norman (Clark Gable) returns to New York and seeks a job in the advertising agency of Mr. Kimberly (Adolphe Menjou). He is assigned to convince the widow Kay Dorrance (Deborah Kerr) to modeling to promote the the flagship of the agency Beautee Soap. The he has a meeting with the rude and capricious millionaire Evan Llewellyn Evans (Sydney Greenstreet, who is the tyrannical owner of Beautee Soap. Victor dates Kay but they have a misunderstanding and Victor returns to the arms of his former lover, the singer and aspirant Hollywood actress Jean Ogilvie (Ava Gardner). But Victor misses Kay and does not like the treatment of the untouchable Mr. Evans to him."The Hucksters" is a film with a great cast, with Clark Gable, the gorgeous and elegant Deborah Kerr and the seductive Ava Gardner that unfortunately has a shallow and pointless story. The female characters are lovely, but Evan Llewellyn Evans is a gross, despicable and stupid character and Victor Norman is arrogant and boastful. In the end, the weak story of "The Hucksters" wastes a magnificent cast. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "O Mercador de Ilusões" ("The Merchant of Illusions")

The screenplay is actually very bad, but the actors are well worth watching.This was Deborah Kerr's first American film, and she is not only beautiful, but also quite young and beautiful. Clark Gable falls in love with her here.Gable is dashing, dynamic and completely likable while Ava Gardner is so young she's almost unrecognizable. Sydney Greenstreet dominates the picture, however, as his character is built up to be a terrifying tyrant amid the film's light atmosphere, but Greenstreet blows hot, pompous air masterfully.The story doesn't make a lot of sense, but Gable, Kerr, Gardner and Greenstreet are at their youngest and/or best in this harmless but enjoyable film.

One cannot but help comparing this film to John Hustons's The Night of Iguana, which also had Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner in major roles. In both films the two ladies are a delight to watch even in the year 2000. This film suffers from the lack of good direction, compared to Huston's work, that was propped up by the director who provided more than the sum of the actors contributions. What is notable is that both Kerr's and Gardner's talent were latent but did not bloom in this film, while Huston's direction of the two ladies in Iguana brought out their maturity years later. Kerr and Gardner are mesmerizing to watch with or without a good director.P.S. Sidney Greenstreet is more interesting as an actor to watch than Clark Gable.