Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?

Riddled with humor and ridiculous situations, “Will Success Spoil Rockwell Hunter?” contains commentary and criticisms on many aspects of American society including the media, the upper class, and the obsession with Hollywood. The main character Rockwell Hunter, played by Tony Randall, is obsessed with the idea of success and strives to be an executive at the advertising agency where he works. In order to further his career, Hunter suggests having actress Rita Marlowe, played by Jayne Mansfield, endorse the Stay-Put lipstick brand. Her endorsement would keep the agency from losing their business with the lipstick company and get him recognition from his boss. Marlowe, however, is running from a difficult relationship with a fellow Hollywood star and, to save her reputation, insists that Hunter act as her lover in order to generate positive publicity for herself. Hunter is then faced with the difficult task of pretending to be Marlowe’s love interest, while also balancing his career and trying not to anger his actual fiancée, Jenny.

The media and Hollywood are satirized extensively in this film, as well as the American fan culture. Rita Marlowe is a beloved actress, however it quickly becomes obvious that she is very ignorant and annoying. Her voice, punctuated by high-pitched gasps and sighs, is at times painful to listen to. And her obsession with making her past love interest jealous reveals her petty nature. Through Rita’s ridiculous actions the movie industry and actors alike are portrayed as senseless individuals, concerned only with gaining the attention of the media which will help further their careers and inflate their egos. The media, too, comes under the fire of the film’s criticism. The media’s attention to Marlowe is excessive and seems to overshadow all other news stories. At one point Hunter turns on the television to find out what Marlowe is saying about him. He asks his friend, Rufus, what channel he should turn on, to which Rufus replies “Any station! It’s like when the President speaks!” It is absurd that an interview with an actress is considered as important and newsworthy as a speech by the President. The media focuses on giving the people what they want: scandalous tabloids. The humorous context of this situation illuminates the decline of journalism. Fan culture is also to blame. As Hunter becomes more well-known people begin to recognize and even chase after him. At one point a mob of women chases him down the street and into an alley. This scene is very funny as Hunter is taken by surprise and does not know how to react, yet it also criticizes the American people for being too interested in living vicariously through famous people rather than valuing their own lives.

Another aspect of American life that is satirized in the film is the idea of success and wealth. All Rockwell Hunter wants is success and to become an executive. Amusingly, one of the few reasons he gives for wanting to be an executive is the privilege of using the “Executive Powder Room.” Hunter really has no concept of success, he only hungers for the pleasantries and comforts that he associates with it. According to hunter, he has never been able to keep a pipe lit; he doesn’t know whether to breathe in or out. Likewise, he does not know what path to take because he is unsure of whether he wants success or failure. Eventually, he is appointed the president the agency with his own private bathroom, but no fiancée, no happiness, and a cold pipe. His own boss retired to chase his dream of being a horticulturist. Hunter finally realizes that success is not having power or a fancy bathroom; true success is when one finds real happiness and fulfillment. Rockwell Hunter ultimately finds his own happiness with Jenny and his niece, April, on a chicken farm, with a lit pipe in his mouth.

The rhetoric in this film satirizes the American obsession with fame and fortune, and suggests that true success can be achieved in a simpler life where an individual truly knows what he wants, symbolically “keeping his pipe lit.”