The Secret of My Success

The Secret of my Success is a comedy film directed by Herbert Ross. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash.

The story is about a young man named Brantley Foster (Michael J. Fox) from Kansas who decides to try his luck in New York City. A recent graduate of Kansas State University; Brantley is optimistic of making it big in New York. Brantley is only 24 years old, and like one of his older co-workers tells him: "you're not allowed to speak until you turn 25" (paraphrasing).

At his lowest point, he finds out from his mother that his uncle Howard Prescott (Richard Jordan) is the president of Pemrose corporation; Howard acquired this high-end job by marrying the owner's daughter Vera (Margaret Whitton). After considerable persuasion from Brantley, Howard decides to give him a chance in the company's mailroom department.

Brantley uses this opportunity to do all sorts of "aerobics" Michael J. Fox style. He pretends (or rather creates a false name for himself and pretends to be a big-shot, or "suits" as they're called in the movie) to be an executive to get ahead and goes through all sorts of ordeals.

He falls in love with Christy Wills (Helen Slater), an executive he meets.

Brantley smooth talks his aunt Vera and she falls hard for him. Vera, already in her 40's, is head over heal with the young Brantley.

Everything comes to a halt. Vera finds out her husband Howard is cheating on her with Christy, and Howard eventually finds out that Christy is cheating on him with Brantley. Of course, everything gets thrown completely out of whack since most people know Brantley's as Carton Whitfield (the fictitious person Brantley created for himself) and not Brantley...at the end: Brantley gets Christy, and the company is spared from the hands of a tycoon.

The movie is an all in one. Romance, comedy, and the stock market are fused into one film. Although this film gets overlooked by other comedy films of that era; the acting in this film is actually quite good. Michael J. Fox and John Pankow are hilarious.

The film is available at amazon.com, netflix.com, hotmoviesale.com, turner classic.movies unlimited.com, dvdesp.com