Nell Minow: 10 Movies No Board Member Should Miss
from Summer 1999
A principal of Lens Inc., Nell Minow is probably best known as a shareholder activist. But this so-called CEO slayer has many sides. She’s the mother of two—Ben, 15, and Rachel, 13. She teaches corporate governance to middle managers studying for MBAs at Virginia’s George Mason University. And she runs a website, The Movie Mom, where she reviews films suitable for kids.
Recently Minow, 47, took some of her downtime to suggest various movies that might help company directors do their jobs better. In her own words:
The Solid Gold Cadillac, 1956. Judy Holliday plays a feisty young investor who impulsively asks a question at an annual meeting that ends up toppling a corrupt board of directors. The film is still remarkably relevant. I show it to my MBA students to introduce them to the role of the shareholder and to my children to explain what Mom does at the office.
Roger and Me, 1989. The son of an autoworker, filmmaker Michael Moore is outraged to see how mass layoffs by GM affect his hometown of Flint, Michigan. The documentary shows the devastating consequences of a lack of accountability by both managers and employees.
Wall Street, 1987. Corporate raider Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) claims, “Greed is good. Greed works.” But this movie about the rise and fall of a young stockbroker shows how easily greed corrupts.
The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1938. In the Errol Flynn version (the only one worth watching), Robin is an outstanding example of a corporate executive. He is an inspirational leader with a focused strategic goal.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, 1967. This musical satire about a man with big ambitions (Robert Morse) is a remarkably accurate portrayal of the perverse incentives and petty turf wars in big corporations.
The Apartment, 1960. This dark comedy looks at the impact of moral compromise on the soul. Jack Lemmon rises through the ranks not through hard work or talent but because he lends his apartment to executives for activities that today would be considered sexual harassment.
The Godfather (Parts I and II), 1972, 1974. Just like executives who operate within the law, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and Robert DeNiro have to deal with competition, diversification, and betrayal, while ever reminding themselves, “This is business, and this man is taking it very, very personal.”
The Pajama Game, 1957. In this delightful musical about relations between labor and management, we share Doris Day’s joy when she finds a way to pay the workers an extra seven and a half cents an hour.
The Hudsucker Proxy, 1994. When the CEO commits suicide, the bent board (led by Paul Newman) puts the biggest idiot it can find in the job so the stock will tank and the directors can buy it cheaply. Alas for them, mailroom clerk-turned-CEO Tim Robbins turns out to have a great idea.
Executive Suite, 1954. The CEO dies and the board must choose quickly between Fredric March (a fan of the numbers) and William Holden (who prefers the products and the employees).
