Over the years there have been numerous film and TV interpretations of the ad biz and the fucked up people who work in it. Perhaps the best known and most factually correct one being the long running TV series, “Mad Men,” which centered around a New York agency during the 60’s and 70’s. Certainly one of the worst was the 1989 movie “How to get ahead in advertising!” starring Richard E. Grant as a high flying ad exec who’s giant neck boil turns into a second head that takes over his body! However, my all time favorite has to be the 1967 classic, “I’ll never forget what’sisname,” about an agency “suit” in London during the “Swinging Sixties,” starring Oliver Reed as the AE, an uber-obese Orson Wells as his obnoxious boss, the normally demure Wendy Craig as his randy wife running around in her bra and knickers, and Marianne Faithfull as one of his many mistresses, before she got totally fucked up with Mick and an excess of Peruvian Marching Powder. Incidentally, the first time the word “Fuck” was spoken in a movie was by Marianne in this one.
My ultimate Mad Man hero, then, has to be Oliver Reed, who during the 70’s was a neighbour of mine in Wimbledon where we used to drink in the same pub, ‘til he got thrown out for starting too many fights, including one that required him having 36 stitches in his face and leaving him with a pronounced scar. Some of Oliver’s quotes are absolute keepers, including… “You meet a better class of people in pubs.” And “My only regret is that I didn’t drink every pub dry and sleep with every woman on the planet.”
And “I was disappointed in Sonja Henie, Her legs were muscle-bound and unattractive and didn’t give me the urge to give her one.”
On a final note. Whilst shooting his last movie, “Gladiator.” He died of a heart attack in a bar in Malta after downing three bottles of Captain Morgan’s Jamaica rum, eight bottles of German beer, numerous doubles of Famous Grouse whisky and Hennessy cognac, and beating five much younger Royal Navy sailors at arm-wrestling. His final bar bill was 270 Maltese lira, about £450 or $600.
As I said earlier…That’s my ultimate Mad Man!
