The High Cost of Loving

1958
Approved
1h 27m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

José Ferrer and Gena Rowlands in The High Cost of Loving (1958)

When he's not invited to a boardroom luncheon with the company president and his executives, during the company's merger and downsizing phase, purchasing manager Jim Fry fears he is to be la... Read allWhen he's not invited to a boardroom luncheon with the company president and his executives, during the company's merger and downsizing phase, purchasing manager Jim Fry fears he is to be laid-off.When he's not invited to a boardroom luncheon with the company president and his executives, during the company's merger and downsizing phase, purchasing manager Jim Fry fears he is to be laid-off.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

408

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos7

Top cast46

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José Ferrer

Jim Fry
(as Jose Ferrer)

Joanne Gilbert

Syd Heyward

Jim Backus

Paul Mason

Gena Rowlands

Ginny Fry

Bobby Troup

Steve Heyward

Philip Ober

Herb Zorn

Edward Platt

Eli Cave

Charles Watts

Boylin

Werner Klemperer

Joseph Jessup

Malcolm Atterbury

Harry Lessing
(uncredited)

Henny Backus

Mrs. Mason
(uncredited)

Jeanne Baird

Jean
(uncredited)

Rodney Bell

Bill Cady
(uncredited)

Jane Buchanan

Mason Guest
(uncredited)

Dee Carroll

Secretary
(uncredited)

Dick Cherney

Worker
(uncredited)

Nick Clooney

Freddy
(uncredited)

Richard Collier

Clayton Fraser
(uncredited)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
José Ferrer's brother-in-law and actor/television personality Nick Clooney, the father of George Clooney, appears in a parking lot scene where he greets Ferrer in passing. Singer Rosemary Clooney, his sister, was at the time married to The High Cost of Loving star José Ferrer.

Goofs
On the last day in the film when Jim goes to work, the rear license plate of his car changes between home and his company's parking lot.

Quotes
Jim Fry [Purchasing agent]: [going over their expenditures] What else do we owe on?
Ginny Fry: Well, there's that new hot water heater. That runs 9 dollars and 27 cents a month... six months to go on there. And, we still owe two payments of 21 dollars and 56 cents for that washer-dryer you gave me for Christmas two years ago.
Jim Fry [Purchasing agent]: I know. Anything else?
Ginny Fry: Well, there's the, uh, TV and the hi-fi... and the new divan... those two silly chairs that match... that lamp... and the gas range, and the deep freeze... the power mower... the electric barbecue? And the dining room suite... the bedroom suite... those two new box springs and mattresses...
Jim Fry [Purchasing agent]: [sighs] Gee, I guess we really don't own anything.

Connections
Referenced in It Happened to Jane (1959)

User reviews11

Review

Featured review

6/10

Executive Not So Sweet

Ferrer and Gena Rowlands (in her big screen debut) think she may be expecting after nine years of marriage. They're overjoyed about it, but there's trouble at work. Ferrer's company has just been taken over, and despite the statement of the new management that they don't expect to make changes, except to promote people, Ferrer reads the winds and concludes he's going to be fired.

The audience is quickly assured that he is not going to lose his job. Indeed, he's going to be promoted. This turns the movie into a comedy. In support, a lot of the roles are taken by players who would later distinguish themselves in TV comedies, like Edward Platt, Werner Klemperer, Nancy Kulp, and Jim Backus. Ferrer, who also directs, plays his role absolutely straight The result is a peculiar study of 1950s middle-class anxiety in an insulated environment.