Taglines: Meet Larry the Liquidator. Arrogant. Greedy. Self-centered. Ruthless. You gotta love the guy.
Other People’s Money movie storyline. A corporate raider threatens a hostile take-over of a “mom and pop” company. The patriarch of the company enlists the help of his wife’s daughter, who is a lawyer, to try and protect the company. The raider is enamoured of her, and enjoys the thrust and parry of legal manoeuvring as he tries to win her heart.
Other People’s Money is a 1991 American comedy-drama film starring Danny DeVito, Gregory Peck, Penelope Ann Miller, Piper Laurie, Dean Jones, Mo Gaffney, Bette Henritze, Tom Aldredge, Leila Kenzle and Cullen O. Johnson. It was based on the play of the same name by Jerry Sterner. The film adaptation was directed by award winner Norman Jewison, and written by Alvin Sargent.
Some of the scenes that take place inside the factory were shot in the now defunct “Seymour Specialty and Wire” in Seymour, Connecticut. Also Known As: Reactive Metals Inc., National Distillers and Chemical Co. and Bridgeport Brass Co., Seymour, Connecticut. Other scenes were shot in the (also defunct) Gilbert and Bennett mill in Georgetown, Connecticut.
Film Review for Other People’s Money
The late-1980’s morality play “Other People’s Money” is made cuddlier by the presence of Danny DeVito, who plays the corporate raider known as Larry the Liquidator in Norman Jewison’s glossy, big-hearted, determinedly Capraesque screen adaptation. Larry may say things like “I love money even more than the things it can buy,” but he has a deep-down wholesomeness that makes him soft around the edges, no matter how devilish he means to be.
The film’s love-hate affair with Larry does create a fine showcase for Mr. DeVito’s wicked clowning. But it also reduces Larry to a minor menace. He is underhandedly charming even as he schemes to take over the New England Wire and Cable Company, an old-fashioned business with a kindly, family atmosphere. What that means, in this context, is that its managers (among them Dean Jones, convincingly tormented by the events under way) wear cardigan sweaters, even though most of them turn out to be millionaires. Gregory Peck, well used as the company’s chairman and its pillar of folksy integrity, smokes a pipe.
In marked contrast to this is Kate Sullivan (Penelope Ann Miller), the daughter of one of the company’s high-level executives (Piper Laurie) and the kind of high-powered lawyer who arrives for her appointments by helicopter wearing a sleek, very short outfit and a self-satisfied air. In order to bail out her mother and the other company loyalists, Kate engages Larry in a cat-and-mouse flirtation that is intended to thwart his takeover goals, or at the very least leave him powerfully distracted.
So Kate arrives for a putative business meeting with Larry wearing form-fitting, off-the-shoulder lace. And she opens her mouth suggestively, smiling as Larry feeds her an hors d’oeuvre, before abruptly declaring that the meeting is over and she has to go. On another occasion, Kate declares “I have a proposition for you” to Larry over the telephone in her breathiest tones. And she is seen reclining languidly in slinky white silk as she delivers this message. Let’s just say this vision of how a man and a woman might conduct business together is a lot less entertaining than it would have been a week ago.
Ms. Miller flirts expertly, but she is less successful in convincing an audience that Kate might actually be smart or seasoned enough to save the day. Luckily, Mr. DeVito’s Larry swoons over her so tirelessly that he helps to affirm Kate’s appeal, not to mention his own. Among their more memorable encounters are one in a Japanese restaurant, where both these high-rollers turn out to have the foresight to speak Japanese, and another in which Larry explains that he is a latter-day Robin Hood. “I take from the rich and give to the middle class,” he explains. “Well, the upper middle class.”
Alvin Sargent’s adaptation of Jerry Sterner’s Off Broadway play culminates in a speechy but effective debate about the merits of old-fashioned business versus the corporate takeover, with references to the yen, the dollar, fiber optics and the infrastructure thrown in. This debate, while lively on its own terms and indeed effective in invoking Frank Capra’s potent grandstanding, is — like the rest of the film — too genial to be hard-hitting.
“‘Other People’s Money’ became a cult favorite with the Wall Street crowd, including many of the corporate raider types so deftly depicted in the play,” the film’s production notes explain. That particular crowd may find the screen version even more agreeable. Haskell Wexler’s cinematography gives the film a warm, rosy glow that befits its references to Harry S. Truman. At least one of these is delivered amid inspirational rays of sunlight, and within close range of an American flag.
Other People’s Money (1991)
Directed by: Norman Jewison
Starring: Danny DeVito, Gregory Peck, Penelope Ann Miller, Piper Laurie, Dean Jones, Mo Gaffney, Bette Henritze, Tom Aldredge, Leila Kenzle, Cullen O. Johnson
Screenplay by: Alvin Sargent
Production Design by: Philip Rosenberg
Cinematography by: Haskell Wexler
Film Editing by: Hubert de La Bouillerie, Patrick King, Lou Lombardo, Michael Pacek
Costume Design by: Theoni V. Aldredge
Set Decoration by: Thomas L. Roysden
Art Direction by: Robert Guerra, Nathan Haas
Music by: David Newman
MPAA Rating: R for language and sex-related dialogue.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: October 18, 1991
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