How to Get Ahead in Advertising
Short description
Denis Dimbleby Bagley is a successful British advertising man whose charm and talent have made him a star at his agency. Assigned to create a campaign for an anti-blemish skin cream, he finds himself unable to produce a slogan, and the block turns into an obsession that strains his marriage and unsettles his friends and his boss. Then a boil appears on his neck, and it begins to talk back to him. What follows is a struggle between the man and the growth that seems determined to take over his life.
Bruce Robinson wrote and directed the film, his second behind the camera after Withnail & I, made two years earlier, and he went on to direct Jennifer Eight and The Rum Diary. Richard E. Grant, who also starred in Withnail & I, plays Denis, with Rachel Ward as his wife Julia, Richard Wilson as his boss John Bristol, and John Shrapnel among the supporting cast. Thirty actors and fifty crew members are credited.
Released in May 1989 by HandMade Films and Virgin Films, the film mixes comedy, drama and fantasy across 95 minutes. Its reputation is moderate: on IMDb it holds 6.8/10 from around 7,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.3/10 from a much smaller tally. A critics' rating of 6.3/10 from 17 reviews places it close to the audience scores, suggesting a film appreciated but not embraced.
What's left behind the scenes
- Dennis’s boil grows on his right shoulder, and after it finally bursts, the mark from it appears on both his left and right shoulder.
- During the anniversary party, the strap of Julia’s dress keeps slipping off one shoulder and then the other. There's also a feeling that the color of the dress is changing too.
- After Bagli has lunch with his wife, she drops him off near the advertising agency’s office, but that building differs from the one used for shooting interior scenes. That was a tall red building located further up the street (visible when they show their arriving car), near Lambeth Bridge. This can be noticed from the view out of Bagli and Bristol’s office windows.
- The classic Aston Martin parked in Bagli’s garage belonged to screenwriter and director Bruce Robinson. Robinson owned the 1961 DB4 convertible, of which only seventy exist worldwide, for around 30 years and sold it at auction in 2008.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
