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.

This film is very well done. But I have to say that as it has the 1946 date, and came out in 1947, it was done before the big 'purge' that started in 1948. After that year, Hollywood felt it had to knuckle under to the new political agendas of our nation, and could no longer lightly or even comically criticize big business tycoon, Madison Avenue or the new 'religion' that held making money was all.The performances of all the stars, from Gable to Gardner, but especially Kerr are exceptional; every possible nuance of their responses to each other is made very clear, and yet one cannot know in the course of the film just where it will be going. Keenan Wynn's small role is incredibly well done. I'd never seen it till it appeared recently on TCM. Bravo to them for screening it.

This film is a very cynical look at the advertising business. Gable plays a slick liar who could charm the stripes off a snake who sets out to charm a widow for his own ends. However, over time he grows to hate himself and his sleazy business--ultimately culminating with a confrontation with the revolting and incredibly disgusting Sidney Greenstreet! Speaking of Mr. Greenstreet, he is FABULOUS in the film as the president from a soap factory with no soul. You MUST see the segment when he is first introduced, as it is one of the most memorable and disgusting scenes in the 1940s! You gotta see it to believe it! Also notable is the performance of a young Keenan Wynn as an obnoxious and untalented star. He does a good job of being annoying!

The Hucksters has a lot of good clean fun with the advertising business of the 1940's. Clark Gable, newly discharged from the service, returns to his old haunts as an ad man and finds himself involved with two women, a tyrannical client, and an obnoxious, not too talented radio comedian. This is high class melodrama, and has some pretty good satirical moments, though I don't think that the guys who wrote it were as smart as they thought they were, it's a decent, watchable movie. One can see Gable slipping into middle age here, and though he seems spry enough, he's clearly not the man he was five years earlier, and I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner are attractive if otherwise unremarkable as the women in his life. Sidney Greenstreet does a nice turn as the sinister, demanding client. Keenan Wynn's the one to watch here, as the (so-called) comedian Gable must contend with; and he does a smashing job, managing to be pathetic, sympathetic and obnoxious all at once, not, I imagine, an easy thing for an actor to do. Worth keeping an eye out for: excellent production values from MGM's art department in its glory years. Marvelous sets, expert lighting. The movie is a pleasure to look at, if not always to listen to.