Mannequin ** (1987, Andrew McCarthy, Kim Cattrall, Estelle Getty, James Spader) – Classic Movie Review 12,998

The dizzy 1987 romantic comedy film Mannequin stars Andrew McCarthy as a department-store window dresser who creates a mannequin that becomes inhabited by the spirit of an ancient Egyptian woman (Kim Cattrall).

Co-writer/ director Michael Gottlieb’s 1987 American romantic comedy film Mannequin stars Andrew McCarthy, Kim Cattrall, Estelle Getty, and James Spader.

Andrew McCarthy plays Jonathan Switcher, a straight department-store window dresser with a problem: the mannequin he builds comes to life, but she is really an ancient Egyptian phantom that only he can see. And because she looks like Kim Cattrall, young McCarthy falls in love with her.

Gottlieb’s film is a feeble attempt at fizzy 1930s-style comedy, with a daft script by Michael Gottlieb and Edward Rugoff that doesn’t motor. But there is always relief to be had in the likeable performances of the two stars, the adept performing from Estelle Getty (from TV’s The Golden Girls) and James Spader as Mr Richards, plus the score by Sylvester Levay and Starship’s hit single ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ on the soundtrack.

Also in the cast are Meshach Taylor, G W Bailey, Carole Davis, Steve Vinovich, Christopher Maher, and Andrew Hill Newman.

Michael Gottlieb conceived the plot after he was walking down Fifth Avenue and thought he saw a mannequin move in the window of Bergdorf Goodman, though it is similar to One Touch of Venus (1948) starring Robert Walker, Ava Gardner, Dick Haymes, and Eve Arden.

It was a hit, costing $7.9 million and grossing $42.7 million, and a sequel called Mannequin Two: On the Move followed in 1991, but starring William Ragsdale and Kristy Swanson.

Starship’s main title song ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ (written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song  and reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart.

John Wanamaker’s in Philadelphia (now Macy’s Center City) stands in for Prince and Company in the film. Filming in Wanamaker’s about three weeks at night from 9 pm till 6 am the next day.

Cattrall spent six weeks posing for a Santa Monica sculptor, capturing her likeness, an six mannequins with different expressions were made. She said: ‘I learned a lot from this movie. It’s almost like learning old Hollywood techniques. I’ve always been sort of a tomboy. I feel great being a girl, wearing a dress.’

Production companies: Gladden Entertainment and 20th Century Fox.

Distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Release date: February 13, 1987 (US).

Running time: 90 minutes.

The cast are Andrew McCarthy as Jonathan Switcher Kim Cattrall as Emmy Hesire, Estelle Getty as 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, and Andrew Hill Newman as Compactor Room Janitor.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,998

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