I recall seeing a movie when I was a kid (early 70s) with two
memorable scenes. It was a black & white movie rebroadcast on
television, and I would estimate it was released in the 50s.

Scene 1: two men are in an office, I believe. They are talking to each
other as they try to outdo each other in acrobatics. One is doing
repetitive backflips, one after the other. The second one (I think) is
doing sideflips. As I recall, they are dressed formally, as if it is
just another day at the office. I think they may then proceed to
collaborating on more complicated maneuvers before they are
interrupted by someone entering the room. My recollection has always
been that they are talking about advertising.

Scene two: A convertible is shown driving down a big city street,
possibly in a parade. A man is standing up in the back seat waving.
He's got a cigarette in his hand and the ashes fall down into the
cleavage of a blonde sitting next to him. She wipes them away and
looks mildly irritated.

I would really like to see that first scene again because I remember
being amazed by it. (Of course, as a young boy I was probably equally
amazed by the second.) Does anyone recall what movie this was?

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Request for Question Clarification by robertskelton-ga on 06 Dec 2002 17:21 PST

Are you sure it was in B&W? I have found a 1957 comedy about
advertising and featuring a blonde starlet with ample cleavage which
sounds like your film, except it is in color.

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Clarification of Question by jbbarnes-ga on 06 Dec 2002 19:38 PST

I should probably back off on that. No, I can't swear it was B&W. Now
that I think about it, I don't know why I said it was. I should have
just said "classic" movie or "movie from the '40s or '50s."

To follow up on the first comment, it was definitely not Cary Grant,
though it was a good guess. He's an all-time favorite and I would
certainly remember him. I've also probably seen every single movie
it's possible to see him in.

Also, something else that didn't occur to me at the time I entered the
question: I saw a bit of it within the last couple of years. It was on
cable television (possibly AMC or TNT). I saw a brief part of the
acrobatic scene. I grabbed a TV listing and also checked the
tvguide.com site. And can you believe it--it was mislisted. Some
completely different movie I was familiar with was listed for that
time slot. I checked the other timeslots for the day and looked up
descriptions on-line for the ones I didn't recognize by name. Nothing.
All I can figure is that someone either made a mistake, or had a
last-minute change in lineup after the listings were submitted. But it
did at least confirm that I didn't dream up the movie.

Hi there,

I'm quite sure you must mean: 

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)     
 
In this spoof of the TV advertising industry, Rockwell Hunter is the
low man on the totem pole at the advertising company where he works.
That is, until he finds the perfect spokesmodel for Stay-Put lipstick,
the famous actress with the oh-so-kissable lips, Rita Marlowe.
Unfortunately, in exchange, Rock has to act publicly as Rita's
"Loverboy", and Rock's fiancée Jenny isn't too happy about it either.
http://us.imdb.com/Plot?0051196

The leads are Tony Randall and Jayne Mansfield. Jayne Mansfield has
memorable cleavage, and although I couldn't find a specific mention of
acrobatics, mentions of the slapstick nature, the satire and of it
being the "greatest live-action cartoon of them all" suggest to me
that this would be the film you mean.

Many viewers comments can be found at the Internet Movie Database:
http://us.imdb.com/CommentsShow?0051196

and at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6303957021/ref=ase_internetmoviedat/102-8285258-0840136

Here's a promo picture for the film:
http://www.marxbrothers.nu/video24ax.JPG

It is available on VHS at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6303957021/internetmoviedat/102-8285258-0840136


Search Strategy: I searched IMDB Pro using the keyword 'advertising',
and browsed the results.


Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga

I'm not sure that's it, but it looks very likely. Thanks for your help.

Your first movie might have been a Cary Grant movie.. he was a trained acrobat.
The time period is right, and it's the kind of scene he would have played.
It also sounds vaguely familiar.