Mannequin



Mannequin is a 1987 romantic comedy written and directed by Michael Gottlieb, about a struggling old department store gets revitalized thanks to the crazy window displays designed by a new employee, and his girlfriend who turns into a store mannequin when other people are around.

This is 1980s High Concept, that still never tries to be anything other than silly and fun. Stars Andrew Mc Carthy and Kim Cattrall, who of course would later star in Sex and the City.

This seems to be based on an old episode of The Twilight Zone, but the director just came up with the idea after seeing an optical illusion in a store window that made one of the mannequins appear to move. It also shares striking similarities with the 1948 film One Touch of Venus, in which a statue of the goddess comes to life when kissed by a young window dresser.

There was also a sequel.

Contains Examples Of:

 * Ambiguously Gay: Arguably Mr. Richards, who, while not as flamboyant as Hollywood, has his gay moments.
 * And This Is For: Spoofed.
 * Award Bait Song: Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, by Starship
 * Camp Gay: Hollywood (that's his name).
 * Doing It for the Art: In-Universe. Switcher gets fired for trying to be expressive in jobs that don't need it, until Prince & Company turns out to need someone like him.
 * Dude, She's Like, Out Cold In A Pile Of Trash!: Roxie clearly didn't appreciate the on-the-lips wake up kiss she got from the janitor near the end of the film.
 * The Eighties: Part of the film's charm.
 * Empty Piles of Clothing: The mummy bandages that are left after our protagonist gets whisked away magically.
 * Large Ham: Hollywood.
 * The Loins Sleep Tonight
 * Pet Homosexual: Hollywood Montrose.
 * Pretty in Mink: One scene has her in a huge fur coat and then flashing her Black Bra and Panties underneath.
 * Pygmalion Plot: Almost literally.
 * Queer People Are Funny
 * Rule of Funny: They didn't even try to go for accuracy with Ancient Egypt. It was all evidently for laughs.
 * Sexy Coat Flashing
 * Take My Hand