Brewster's Millions meets My Fair Lady.
Based on a short story by Mark Twain, A Million Pound Note (1954) (aka Man with a Million) follows an American, Henry Adams (Gregory Peck), who is washed ashore in England without a penny. He runs into two gentlemen (Wilfrid Hyde-White and Ronald Squire) who will give him a job if he will keep a £1,000,000 banknote intact for a month.
Reminiscent of the plot in My Fair Lady (in which Hyde-White also appears), the catalyst of the action in Million is a bet between two men who enjoy toying with social experiments.
The film's title in Denmark is translated "Mr. Adams in Paradise," however, as it is with stories of this kind, the suddenly wealthy person has fun only initially. After that, problems begin. In the case of Mr. Adams, now that charities and stock brokers hang on his every word, the strain of weighty responsibilities leaves him sleepless and tormented, quite the opposite of utopia.
There's even a lady (Jane Griffiths) who might be disappointed if she discovers the truth about her new beau and his millions.
A Million Pound Note doesn't always hit the right comic notes, but it makes up for it with social commentary (as only Peck can do it) about the disparate treatment of the same poor man once he's perceived worthy of everyone's time.
Further Resources
Based on a short story by Mark Twain, A Million Pound Note (1954) (aka Man with a Million) follows an American, Henry Adams (Gregory Peck), who is washed ashore in England without a penny. He runs into two gentlemen (Wilfrid Hyde-White and Ronald Squire) who will give him a job if he will keep a £1,000,000 banknote intact for a month.
There's even a lady (Jane Griffiths) who might be disappointed if she discovers the truth about her new beau and his millions.
- Read the short story "The £1,000,000 Bank-Note" by Mark Twain
Now this title I have heard of many times and yet always forget to put on my "search" list. It's going on there tonight! Sounds too good to pass up...I love those British films and who can resist Wilfred Hyde-White?
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of it before seeing it on Youtube. Just when you think you've seen every Peck film...
DeleteThanks for stopping by.
Hi, Java!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen this film and I was a bit surprised because I had no idea, given the title that it was a comedy. (Well, tried to be!) ha ha
Always glad to sit through a Peck film, good or mediocre. What could go wrong? Apparently a weak script. YIKES!
Have a nice weekend!
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You can't go wrong with Peck. It's a bit slow-paced, but you could do worse. Cheers.
Delete-- Java