The American Success Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- William Richert
- Larry Cohen
- Daniel H. Blatt
- Edgar J. Scherick
| The American Success Company | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | William Richert |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Story by | Larry Cohen |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Anthony B. Richmond |
| Edited by | Ralph E. Winters |
| Music by | Maurice Jarre |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The American Success Company is a 1980 American comedy-drama film directed by William Richert and starring Jeff Bridges, Bianca Jagger, Ned Beatty, Belinda Bauer, and Steven Keats. The screenplay was written by Richert and Larry Cohen. Re-edited versions of the film have appeared under the titles American Success, Success, The Ringer, and Good as Gold.
Harry Flowers is routinely humiliated both at home and at work (the German offices of an American credit card company). Fed up, he hires prostitute Corinne to help him gain revenge on his quirky wife Sarah and her father/his boss, the overbearing Mr. Elliott—all while enriching himself financially.
Cast
- Jeff Bridges as Harry Flowers/Mack
- Bianca Jagger as Corinne
- Ned Beatty as Mr. Elliott
- Belinda Bauer as Sarah Flowers
- Steven Keats as Rick Duprez
- John Glover as Ernst
- Mascha Gonska as Greta
- Michael Durrell as Herman
- Eva Maria Meineke as Mrs. Heinemann
- Günter Meisner as maître d'
- Claudia Butenuth as Herman's secretary
- Peter Capell as Lichtenstein
- Marie Bardischewski as landlady
- Sebastian Baur as magician
Production
The film was based on an original script by Larry Cohen. At one stage, he was going to make it starring Rock Hudson and Vanessa Redgrave, but this did not eventuate. Peter Sellers wanted to star, for $100,000, but Cohen could not raise finance on Sellers' name — this was just prior to the release of the 1975 film The Return of the Pink Panther. Michael Caine came close to starring, but Cohen eventually sold the script.[1]
Director Richert and stars Jeff Bridges and Belinda Bauer went to Germany and filmed The American Success Company, whose distribution rights made enough money for Richert to fund the resumption of his oft-delayed 1979 thriller Winter Kills.[2] During production in Germany, The American Success Company was known as The Ringer.[3]
As a result of the executive at Columbia Pictures who bought the film rights leaving the studio before its release,[4] the film never got wide distribution.[5] (Cohen later claimed that Richert's changes to the script ruined the film.)[1]
Writer/director Richert re-edited, re-titled and re-released the film as American Success in 1981 and then again as Success (with a new voiceover narration) in 1983.[4]
The film has never received official home video distribution, but has appeared in bootleg versions under the titles The Ringer and Good as Gold.[6]
