Clark Gable’s Mad Men: Reviewing Warner Archive’s ‘The Hucksters’

Jack Conway‘s The Hucksters is Mad Men if Don Draper were played by Clark Gable — and instead of being married and constantly cheating on his wife, he was in a love triangle with the beautiful Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner

Recently returned from serving in the army, Victor (Cable) is looking for work and thinks he’ll find it in his old profession of advertising. After power-playing himself into a position at Kimberly Advertising Agency, however, he starts to wonder whether he still has the stomach for the job after watching his boss (Adolphe Menjou) bend over backwards for a client (Sydney Greenstreet) who thinks being rich means getting your way and breaking anyone who tries to stand up to you.

This commentary on the rich and how the pursuit of money can mean compromising your morals unfortunately remains extremely relevant today. Greenstreet’s outrageous performance especially feels like something viewers in 1947 might’ve thought exaggerated, but has been all-too-visibly real in 2026 from billionaires and politicians who act worse than children and care only for profits, not people. At one point, Victor actually says outright how scary it is to know one man can hold so much sway over what gets played on the radio and — as we watch the recent Paramount and Warner Brothers merger unfold — it’s impossible not to see the parallels, even if it’s always startling to be confronted with definitive proof of how long these concerns have been going on. 

The Hucksters is strongest when it’s raising the alarm against capitalist inclinations and putting work first (at least if it’s a job you feel slimy doing). It does gloss over the reasons people need jobs and why completely bucking the system isn’t always possible for people who have loved ones to support and need to make a living. It also can feel a bit bloated at times, especially in the parts devoted to Victor’s love life. As anyone whose seen Mad Men knows, these are not guys who apologize and watching Victor string Ava Gardner (in a thankless part, yet so electric on screen) while also gaslighting Deborah Kerr (another powerhouse actress, even if the trailer for this movie tries to paint her out as a newbie just because this was her first “American” film) is extremely irritating. It is manageable because, again, any excuse to watch these two ladies act. Should they be fighting over Clark Gable? No, but that’s the story this film assumes is a given.

Another fun side game you can play while watching the film: getting a kick out of how hard this movie tries (and fails) to convincingly hide the fact that it was made on soundstages and not on location in New York. This isn’t even New York specific, but there’s one scene where they try to fool viewers into thinking the characters are in a long hallway by placing an extra in front of a matte painting and telling them to act like they’re scrubbing the floors. Is the eye fooled? No, but I’ll forever argue matte paintings beat CGI every time.

The bonus features on this release aren’t real selling points. “Give Us the Earth” is an uncomfortable white savior, Good Neighbor policy propaganda piece. “Salt Water Taffy” is a Tom and Jerry cartoon in which Jerry unintentionally and then deliberately interferes with Tom’s flirting on the beach. The film itself, though, is great, especially for fans of the three leads or Greenstreet, who gets to use his stature and presence to induce disgust.

The Hucksters is on sale now from Warner Archive and can be purchased from Movie Zyng.

Warner Archive provided me with a free copy of the Blu-Ray I reviewed in this article. The opinions I share are my own.