''Other People's Money'' is a 1991 American romantic

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film directed by

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (July 21, 1926 – January 20, 2024) was a Canadian filmmaker. He was known for directing films which addressed topical Social issue, social and political issues, often making controversial or complicated subjects acces ...

, starring

Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi (TV series), Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him ...

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 12th-greatest male ...

, and

Penelope Ann Miller Penelope Ann Miller (born Penelope Andrea Miller; January 13, 1964), sometimes credited as Penelope Miller, is an American actress. She began her career on Broadway in the original run of '' Biloxi Blues'' (1985–1986), later appearing in the ...

. It was adapted by screenwriter

Alvin Sargent Alvin Sargent (April 12, 1927 – May 9, 2019) was an American screenwriter. He won two Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, for '' Julia'' (1977), and '' Ordinary People'' (1980). Sargent's other works include screenplays of the films ...

from the 1989

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

of the same name by Jerry Sterner. This film is notable as Gregory Peck's last major screen performance.

Plot

Lawrence "Larry the Liquidator" Garfield (Danny DeVito) is a successful

corporate raid In business, a corporate raid is the process of buying a large stake in a corporation and then using shareholder voting rights to require the company to undertake novel measures designed to increase the share value, generally in opposition to t ...

er who has become rich by buying up companies and selling off their assets. With the help of a computerized stock analyzing program called "Carmen," Garfield has identified New England Wire & Cable Company as his next target. The struggling company is run by the benevolent and folksy Andrew "Jorgy" Jorgenson (Gregory Peck) and is the primary employer in its small

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

town in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. Garfield decides to take over the company. After Jorgy learns that he has filed a

Schedule 13D Schedule 13D is an SEC filing that must be submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission within 10 days by anyone who acquires beneficial ownership of more than 5% of any class of publicly traded securities in a public company. A filer mu ...

report, and after stubbornly insisting that no outsider can seize control of a business his father began, Jorgy is finally persuaded to hire his stepdaughter Kate (Penelope Ann Miller), a big-city lawyer, to defend against a

hostile takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (law), company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast t ...

. Garfield is instantly smitten with the beautiful Kate, although he is on to her tactics and does not waver from his goal of becoming the majority stockholder of New England Wire & Cable. Garfield tactlessly and unsuccessfully tries to seduce her. Despite their antagonism, Kate finds herself attracted to Garfield's bold nature. The takeover attempt fractured the New England Wire & Cable Company family. Kate's mother, Bea (

Piper Laurie Piper Laurie (born Rosetta Jacobs; January 22, 1932 – October 14, 2023) was an American actress. She is known for her roles in the films '' The Hustler'' (1961), '' Carrie'' (1976), and '' Children of a Lesser God'' (1986), and the miniseries ...

), secretly travels to Garfield's offices to offer one million dollars in

greenmail Greenmail or greenmailing is a financial maneuver where investors buy enough shares in a target company to threaten a hostile takeover, prompting the target company to buy back the shares at a premium to prevent the takeover. Corporate raids invo ...

to Garfield if he'll go away, but he refuses, stating, "I don't take money from widows or orphans." Trusted company president Bill Coles ( Dean Jones), fearful that the takeover will leave him with nothing, offers to let Garfield vote his shares in the company in exchange for a million-dollar payout. Garfield agrees but specifies that Coles will get only half as much if his shares fail to make up the margin of victory. Garfield concedes to Jorgy's offer to let the matter be settled at the annual shareholders' meeting. Relying on the support of longtime friends and investors, Jorgy makes an impassioned plea to save the company, appealing to the traditions of manufacturing as opposed to the new breed of capitalism, which Larry the Liquidator represents, in which buyers of companies create no products or jobs and are interested only in money. The shareholders seem swayed by Jorgy's speech and boo Garfield when he gets up to give a rebuttal. In his rebuttal, Garfield compares New England Wire & Cable to the last

buggy whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

manufacturer, arguing that even though the company's product may be high quality, changing technology has rendered it obsolete. Rather than running a failing business into the ground, he contends that the shareholders should follow his lead and get what value they can from the stock before the company's inevitable demise. At least when this company is liquidated, he says, they'll end up with a few dollars in their pocket. When the vote is taken, the shareholders agree to give Garfield a controlling interest in the company. The margin of victory is greater than Coles' shares, and thus he does not receive the full amount he betrayed Jorgy. Back home in Manhattan, Garfield finds himself uncharacteristically despondent after his victory, realizing he has lost his chance for a romance with Kate. Just then, Kate calls. She's been discussing with a

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese automaker who wants to hire New England Wire & Cable to manufacture stainless steel wire cloth for making automobile

airbag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate in milliseconds during a collision and then deflate afterwards. It consists of an airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. ...

s, something which will make the company profitable again on a new, expanding industrial product. An excited Garfield invites her to dinner to discuss it. Kate tells him, "Lunch; strictly business, you know where.” Garfield blushes and smiles at this.

Cast

as Lawrence ("Larry the Liquidator") Garfield *

as Andrew ("Jorgy") Jorgenson *

as Kate Sullivan *

as Bea Sullivan * Dean Jones as Bill Coles * R. D. Call as Arthur *

Mo Gaffney Maureen E. Gaffney (born November 5, 1958, in San Diego, California) is an American actress and activist. Career Gaffney hosted two of her own television talk shows: ''Women Aloud!'' (which was shown on the Comedy Central network) and ''The Mo S ...

as Harriet *

Tom Aldredge Thomas Ernest Aldredge (February 28, 1928 – July 22, 2011) was an American television, film and stage actor. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for playing the role of Shakespeare in ''Henry Winkler Meets William Shakespeare'' (1978). His Broadway ...

as Ozzie

Production

The film was mainly shot in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The original

7 World Trade Center 7 World Trade Center (7 WTC, WTC-7, or Tower 7) is an office building constructed as part of the new World Trade Center (2001–present), World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The tower is located on a city block bounded by Gr ...

lobby can be seen during the opening credits. Some of the scenes that took place inside the factory were shot in the now defunct "Seymour Specialty and Wire" in

Seymour Seymour may refer to: Places Australia *Seymour, Victoria, a township ** Seymour railway station * Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria * Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria * Se ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. Other scenes were shot in the (also defunct) Gilbert and Bennett mill in Georgetown, Connecticut.

Reception

The film received mixed to negative reviews, with a 31% rating on review aggregate

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on 16 reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, but said, "I didn't like the last scene of 'Other People's Money.' It felt tacked on, manufactured, concocted out of a Hollywood studio's knee-jerk need to provide a smileyface ending that was not in the spirit of the film."

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' said of Sargent's adaptation, "culminates in a speechy but effective debate about the merits of old-fashioned business versus the corporate takeover," but still felt that the film was "too genial to be hard-hitting."

References

External links