Madison Avenue (film)

Madison Avenue
Film poster
Directed by	H. Bruce Humberstone
Screenplay by	Norman Corwin
Based on	The Build Up Boys 1951 novel by Jeremy Kirk
Produced by	H. Bruce Humberstone
Starring	Dana Andrews Eleanor Parker Jeanne Crain Eddie Albert
Cinematography	Charles G. Clarke
Edited by	Betty Steinberg
Music by	Harry Sukman
Production company	Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Distributed by	Twentieth Century Fox
Release date	April 13, 1961 (1961-04-13) (UK)
Running time	90 min
Country	United States
Language	English

Madison Avenue is a 1961 CinemaScope drama film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, starring Dana Andrews, Jeanne Crain and Eleanor Parker. The film was completed in 1960 but was not released immediately. On April 13, 1961, Madison Avenue opened at the Rialto Cinema in London's West End for a two-week run. In late April, the film had a UK general release as part of a double bill with The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come. The film was not seen in the United States until January 1962.

Plot

Clint Lorimer (Dana Andrews) works for an advertising company run by J.D. Jocelyn (Howard St. John). He is fired after Jocelyn finds out that Clint intends to form his own ad agency and steal a top client.

Out of spite, Clint hatches a scheme to turn a small business, Cloverleaf dairy, into a large and prosperous one through advertising. He approaches reporter Peggy Shannon (Jeanne Crain) to write articles about the dairy, then transforms girlfriend Anne Tremaine (Eleanor Parker), a demure colleague, into a glamorous, dynamic promotional whiz. Clint's next step is to turn Cloverleaf's mild-mannered owner, Harvey Ames (Eddie Albert), into a colorful personality to help publicize the business.

The plan comes apart, first when Peggy grows weary of being used professionally, then when Anne sees a reluctance in Clint to commit to a personal future together and leaves him. A chastised Clint comes back to his senses and decides to pursue a missile project as an account he can bring back to J.D.

Cast

• Dana Andrews as Clint Lorimer
• Eleanor Parker as Anne Tremaine
• Jeanne Crain as Peggy Shannon
• Eddie Albert as Harvey Holt Ames
• Howard St. John as J.D. Jocelyn
• Henry Daniell as Stipe
• Kathleen Freeman as Miss Thelma Haley
• David White as Brock
• Betti Andrews as Katie Olsen

See also

• List of American films of 1961

External links

• Madison Avenue at IMDb
• Madison Avenue at the TCM Movie Database
• Madison Avenue at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films