Mannequin (1987 film)

Mannequin
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael Gottlieb
Produced by	Art Levinson Edward Rugoff Joseph Farrell
Written by	Michael Gottlieb Edward Rugoff
Starring	Andrew McCarthy Kim Cattrall Estelle Getty James Spader
Music by	Sylvester Levay
Cinematography	Tim Suhrstedt
Editing by	Richard Halsey Frank E. Jimenez
Studio	Gladden Entertainment
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	February 13, 1987 (1987-02-13)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$6 million
Box office	$42,721,196

Mannequin is a 1987 romantic comedy fantasy film starring Andrew McCarthy, Kim Cattrall, Meshach Taylor, James Spader, G. W. Bailey, and Estelle Getty. It was co-written (with Edward Rugoff) and directed by Michael Gottlieb, and the original music score was composed by Sylvester Levay.

Mannequin received a Best Original Song Oscar nomination for its main title tune: "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now", by Starship. (and #1 in the Billboard Hot 100 on April 4, 1987 and reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks the following month.).

Plot

In Ancient Egypt, Ema ‘Emmy’ Hasure hides in a pyramid from her mother, who wants her daughter to marry a camel dung-dealer against Emmy's will. Emmy prays for the gods to get her out of this mess. Her mother denies anything is happening, and goes on about how the gods have more important things to worry about. Yet the gods answer Emmy's prayers; she travels through time, on a hunt for true love.

Philadelphia, 1987; when young mannequin-manufacturer Jonathan Switcher loses himself in his work with a particular model of mannequin (because, according to himself, artwork cannot be rushed), he is fired. Jonathan finds work as a party balloon-artist, a gardener and a chef; yet none of these jobs work out because his sculptor background makes him less than ideal for them. While on a moonlight walk with his girlfriend Roxie Shield, Jonathan sees the mannequin he created (and was fired over) in the window of Prince & Company - an upscale department store.

The next morning, Jonathan waits outside Prince & Company which is preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary. He saves the manager, Claire Timkin, from being crushed to death by a falling sign. The grateful Claire hires Jonathan under protest from Vice-President Richards, who assigns Jonathan to be a stock boy. In his spare time, Jonathan hits it off with flamboyant window dresser Hollywood Montrose who has been working with Jonathan's favorite mannequin. That night, Hollywood and Jonathan construct a window display. They have a run-in with the store's night security chief, Captain Felix Maxwell, and his cowardly bulldog Rambo. When Jonathan is alone with her, the mannequin he is obsessed with comes to life as Emmy (a la Pinnochio). The next morning, Jonathan tells Roxie about Emmy. Being Roxie, she does not believe him.

Jonathan's window-dressing for Prince & Company attracts large audiences, including Roxie and, unfortunately, B.J. Wert - president of Illustra, a department store which is Prince & Company's arch-rival. It does not help that VP Richards is a corporate spy for Wert. At their next board meeting, Richards wants to fire Jonathan (ostensibly for showing off with the window displays), but Claire points out that Jonathan's designs are increasing sales for the store. Richards proposes to sell Prince & Company to Illustra for 10% of the former's value, but Claire will not hear of this. The other board members promote Jonathan to visual merchandising.

Emmy and Jonathan's relationship snowballs over the following week. Every night, she helps him and Hollywood create window displays which dazzle everyone at Prince & Company and which, ultimately, makes the store famous throughout Philadelphia. Both dressers still have to deal with Captain Maxwell and Roxie - the latter of whom also has to deal with Armand (Christopher Maher), who keeps angling for sex with her. One morning, Maxwell is caught sleeping on the job by Claire, who fires him for this. VP Richards sticks up for Maxwell, but succeeds only in getting himself fired to boot. Claire promotes Jonathan again; he is now the youngest vice-president in the history of Prince & Company. Moreover, his window designs are still bringing in a tremendous amount of profits and customers for them, at Illustra's expense. Armand sneaks into Prince & Company at night and takes pictures of Emmy. The jealous Wert sees the pictures and calls in Richards. They plan to steal Emmy - not knowing that she is alive - and put her on display at Illustra. Jonathan takes Emmy for a ride on his motorcycle. Roxie offers Jonathan work at Illustra, but he already has a job; moreover, he and Emmy are in love.

Maxwell and Richards break into Prince & Company. They search for Emmy but cannot tell her apart from all the other mannequins, so they wind up stealing every last mannequin in the store. The next morning, Hollywood and Jonathan discover what has happened to Emmy. They dash to Illustra and look around for her. When Wert offers Jonathan Richards' old job, Jonathan suspects the truth and turns him down. Roxie storms out of the office, swearing that Jonathan will never lay eyes on Emmy ever again. Once more, Jonathan leaps to the right conclusion and chases Roxie into an "employees only" area of the store. He is pursued by a dozen security guards, including Maxwell who has a new attack dog named Terminator. The dog completely ignores Jonathan. Roxie loads Emmy and all the other stolen mannequins into a trash compactor. Jonathan is cornered by Maxwell's security team, but Hollywood assist by bombarding the guards with a fire hose. Jonathan charges up the trash incinerator's conveyor belt to rescue Emmy. She comes to life in his hands; the machine's operator, upon seeing this happen, hits an "Emergency Stop" button. Jonathan's love for Emmy has saved them both; the operator, hoping for a similar result, proceeds to kiss and grope every other mannequin on the conveyor belt.

Maxwell and his fellow guards rush in, followed by Wert, who attempts to have Jonathan arrested for trespassing. Then Claire walks in with a VHS tape from her newly-installed CCTV system. Wert attempts to seduce Claire, who will have none of such; she has him, Richards and Maxwell arrested for breaking and entering, conspiracy and grand theft. Seeing Emmy alive, Maxwell questions his own sanity; the police drag him away to a mental hospital. Wert's final act as president of Illustra is to fire his whole staff, including the treacherous Roxie. Claire, who now owns Illustra as well as Prince & Company, promotes Hollywood to manage the former.

Emmy and Jonathan are married in the shop window of Prince & Company, with Claire as a bridesmaid, and with Hollywood as best man. Looking on, the entire Prince & Company family congratulate them.

Cast

• Andrew McCarthy as Jonathan Switcher
• Kim Cattrall as Ema "Emmy" Hasure
• Estelle Getty as Mrs. Claire Timkin
• James Spader as Mr. Richards
• G. W. Bailey as Captain Felix Maxwell
• Meshach Taylor as Hollywood Montrose
• Carole Davis as Roxie Shield
• Steve Vinovich as B.J. Wert
• Christopher Maher as Armand

Production

The film was made based on the marketing principles of noted Hollywood market researcher, Joseph Farrell, who served as an executive producer: the film was specifically designed to appeal to target demographics. McCarthy, though not a star, was cast after tests of his films showed that he strongly appealed to girls, the target audience. The film, which cost $6 million to make, earned $41 million in the United States and Canada.

Filming

Scenes taking place at the fictitious department store Prince and Company were filmed at Wanamaker's flagship store (now Macy's Center City) in Philadelphia. Additional scenes were filmed in the formal gardens behind Hotel Hershey. Scenes taking place at the fictitious department store Illustra were filmed at Boscov's department store in the former Camp Hill Shopping Mall (now Camp Hill Shopping Center) near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Reception

The film was successful at the box office, grossing over $42 million on a $6 million budget, but received negative reviews on its release; it currently holds a 22% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It has since become a cult classic. It was savaged by Leonard Maltin, who called it "...absolute rock-bottom fare, dispiriting for anyone who remembers what movie comedy should be." Moreover, the film received "Two Thumbs Down" on Siskel & Ebert and The Movies. In his print review, Roger Ebert awarded it a half star, deeming it "dead" and full of clichés.

Rita Kempley of The Washington Post called the film "made by, for and about dummies." Janet Maslin of The New York Times puts the blame on the writer/director: "As co-written and directed by Michael Gottlieb, Mannequin is a state-of-the-art showcase of perfunctory technique."

External links

• Mannequin at the Internet Movie Database
• Mannequin at AllRovi
• Mannequin at Box Office Mojo
• Mannequin at Rotten Tomatoes
• Movie stills