MovieChat Forums > The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) Discussion > MAD MEN

MAD MEN

posted 11 years ago by Alwood
3 replies | jump to latest

I hadn't seen this film for years until watching it again a few nights ago on TCM. It remains one of the best films of the 1950s, but what really stood out for me is how much Matthew Weiner and the makers of MAD MEN must have used this film as their bible.

The Gregory Peck character and that of Don Draper have so many parallels that there isn't room to list them all here, so I'll just list a few:

1. Both are haunted by their experience during the war (WW II here, Korea in MM).

2. Both wrestle with issues of infidelity.

3. The "look" of the two men is remarkably similar. Would love to ask Jon Hamm if he studied Peck's performance in this.

Then there's the "look" of the movie and its production design, which is almost spot-on with that of MM, particularly during its first couple of seasons, which were set in the late '50s.

Also, the head of Peck's firm has issues with his high-maintenance daughter and ex-wife, much like the John Slattery character in MM. And the similarities don't end there.

I'm certainly not accusing the makers of MM of plagiarizing this classic, but its influence on their own masterpiece is undeniable.

Anyone else agree/disagree?

[–] motorhead100 11 years ago

As soon as the movie was over, my wife commented that the makers of "Mad Men" must have loved this film. The comparisions you've made are spot on.

[–] Druff 10 years ago

The reason I watched this movie was because it was mentioned in a behind the scenes featurette on one of the MM blu-rays. They openly admitted to referencing it.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Mad Men Season One actually took place in 1960. But culturally, the time was still basically a continuation of the 1950s. The 1960s had yet to actually become "the sixties" as we would later think of them.