Brewster's Millions | |
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Directed by | Allan Dwan |
Screenplay by | Sig Herzig Charles Rogers Wilkie C. Mahoney |
Based on | Brewster's Millions (1902 novel) Brewster's Millions (1906 play) |
Produced by | Edward Small |
Starring | Dennis O'Keefe Helen Walker June Havoc Eddie "Rochester" Anderson |
Cinematography | Charles Lawton Jr. |
Edited by | Richard Heermance Grant Whytock |
Music by | Hugo Friedhofer |
Production company | Edward Small Productions |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 79 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $750,000 (est.) [1] |
Brewster's Millions is a 1945 American comedy film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Dennis O'Keefe, Helen Walker and June Havoc. It is one of many film adaptations of the 1902 novel of the same name by George Barr McCutcheon and the subsequent smash-hit play adaptation by Byron Ongley and Winchell Smith. In the novel, Brewster is a stockbroker; in this version, he is portrayed as a returning soldier.
Louis Forbes was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
Montague L. Brewster, a newly discharged American soldier back from fighting in Europe during World War II, rushes home in New York City to marry his sweetheart, Peggy Gray. However, he has to postpone the wedding after he learns of a strange windfall.
His deceased uncle has left him $8 million, but he can inherit the money only if he can spend a million of it before his 30th birthday, October 13, 1944, only two months away, without keeping any assets. The lawyer explains that Brewster's uncle hoped it would make him so sick of spending that the rest of the fortune would not be wasted. The conditions include not telling anyone what he is doing. Brewster reluctantly agrees.
He sets up his own investment company, Brewster & Company, and hires his wartime buddies Hacky Smith and Noppy Harrison as vice presidents and Peggy as his private secretary. However, despite his best efforts, most of his schemes to lose money become profitable.
Worse, Peggy becomes jealous of Brewster spending a great deal of time with first, socialite Barbara Drew, then showgirl Trixie Summers, even though he is only using them to help squander the million. Smith and Harrison (thinking that Brewster has gone crazy), begin to thwart his schemes. At the same time, Peggy breaks up with Brewster, but her wise mother persuades her to go on a costly cruise with him and the cast of a failed play he financed after Smith and Harrison close it down.
During the cruise, Smith and Harrison stage a rebellion by confining Brewster to his quarters and ordering Brewster's chartered yacht turned around to return to New York. When the yacht is disabled by a leftover U-boat mine, he escapes and goes to the bridge to order the captain to radio for help. Brewster learns that getting a tow from a passing Brazilian freighter to a nearby Florida port will cost him a huge salvage fee of $450,000. He becomes jubilant, realizing that the fee, the cost of the cruise, and the losses from the failed stage play will use up his million dollars.
Several days later, as the deadline approaches, Brewster is back in New York at Peggy's house with the receipts of his spending sprees, thinking he has met his goal, only to have his friends present him with $40,012 that they have recovered from his failed ventures. Luckily, he is able to get rid of the money by paying the executor's fee, an old $10 debt, and $2 for cab fare, just before time runs out. Having secured his inheritance, Brewster then takes Peggy out, saying that they have to go downtown to the nearest justice of the peace to get married right away. On the way out the door, he is confronted by a door-to-door salesman. The salesman tries to sell an item for two cents more than it costs in a store. For this reason, Brewster throws him out.
Edward Small originally wanted to film another farce, Are You a Mason? and bought the rights from Paramount in 1942 intending to make a vehicle for Jack Benny. However, there was confusion over European rights so he decided to adapt Brewster's Millions instead. [3] He bought the rights in June 1944. [4]
Garry Moore was originally cast but was replaced after one day of filming by Auer. [5]
Allan Dwan called it "probably one of the best pieces of material I ever had" as a director. [6]
Time Out London described it as "no masterpiece but really quite inventive". [7]
The film was banned in Memphis, Tennessee, on the grounds that it was "inimical to the public welfare" because the servant character, played by African American actor Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, had "too familiar a way about him." The Memphis Board of Motion Picture Censors complained that the picture presented "too much social equality and racial mixture" for Southern audiences, and expressed fear that the film would "encourage" racial problems. [8]
The Lux Radio Theatre adaptation featured Jack Benny as Brewster. Eddie Anderson played Benny's butler and conscience on The Jack Benny Program .
Allan Dwan was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.
Douglass Rupert Dumbrille was a Canadian actor who appeared regularly in films from the early 1930s.
Arsenic and Old Lace is a 1944 American screwball black comedy crime film directed by Frank Capra and starring Cary Grant. The screenplay by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein is based on Joseph Kesselring's 1941 play of the same name. The contract with the play's producers stipulated that the film would not be released until the Broadway run ended. The original planned release date was September 30, 1942. The play was hugely successful, running for three and a half years, so the film was not released until 1944.
Brewster's Millions is a comedic novel written by George Barr McCutcheon in 1902, originally under the pseudonym of Richard Greaves.
Edmund Lincoln Anderson was an American actor and comedian. To a generation of early radio and television comedy he was known as "Rochester".
Brewster's Millions is a 1985 American comedy film directed by Walter Hill. The film stars Richard Pryor, John Candy, Lonette McKee, Stephen Collins, and Hume Cronyn with supporting roles by Jerry Orbach, Pat Hingle, and Tovah Feldshuh. The screenplay by Herschel Weingrod and Timothy Harris was based on the 1902 novel of the same name by George Barr McCutcheon. It is the seventh film based on the story, focusing on a Minor League Baseball pitcher who accepts a challenge to spend $30 million in 30 days in order to inherit $300 million from his great-uncle.
Broadway Rhythm (1944) is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Technicolor musical film. It was produced by Jack Cummings and directed by Roy Del Ruth.
Brewster's Millions is a lost 1921 American comedy film starring Fatty Arbuckle. It is an adaptation of the 1902 novel written by George Barr McCutcheon as well as the 1906 Broadway smash hit play of the same name starring Edward Abeles.
Brewster's Millions is a 1914 American comedy film directed by Oscar Apfel and Cecil B. DeMille and starring Edward Abeles. It is an adaptation of the 1902 novel written by George Barr McCutcheon. The novel had also been turned into a successful 1906 Broadway play of the same name that also starred Edward Abeles. Abeles's success in the play led to his being cast in this film.
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Buck Benny Rides Again is a 1940 American Western comedy film from Paramount Pictures starring Jack Benny and Ellen Drew. The film featured regulars from Benny's radio show including Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Andy Devine, Phil Harris, and Dennis Day. It also included a debut film appearance for radio star Lillian Cornell. The film was directed and produced by Mark Sandrich and produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
Three on a Spree is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Jack Watling, Carole Lesley and John Slater. It is based on the 1902 novel Brewster's Millions by George Barr McCutcheon, which became the hit 1906 play written by Winchell Smith and Byron Ongley. It had been previously filmed by Edward Small in 1945.
Brewster's Millions is a 1935 British musical comedy film directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Jack Buchanan, Lili Damita and Nancy O'Neil. It is based on the 1902 novel and subsequent 1906 play, with the action relocated from the United States to Britain.
Up in Mabel's Room is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Marjorie Reynolds, Dennis O'Keefe and Gail Patrick. It is based on the 1919 play by Wilson Collison and Otto A. Harbach. The film's composer, Edward Paul, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1945.
Abroad with Two Yanks is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Helen Walker, William Bendix and Dennis O'Keefe as the title characters. It was Bendix's third and final role in a film as a US Marine and the first of Dwan's three films about the United States Marine Corps.
Miss Brewster's Millions is a 1926 American silent comedy film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Clarence G. Badger directed and the ever-popular Bebe Daniels starred. It was based on the 1902 novel by George Barr McCutcheon and a 1906 play adaptation of the same name by Winchell Smith and Byron Ongley, which had been filmed before in 1921 with Roscoe Arbuckle.
Not to be confused with the 1920 George M. Cohan play or The Meanest Man in the World
High Tension is a 1936 American comedy drama film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Brian Donlevy, Glenda Farrell, and Norman Foster. It was released by 20th Century Fox on July 17, 1936. The film was based on the story written by J. Robert Bren and Norman Houston.
One Mile from Heaven is a 1937 American drama film directed by Allan Dwan and written by Lou Breslow and John Patrick. The film stars Claire Trevor, Sally Blane, Douglas Fowley, Fredi Washington, Joan Carroll and Ralf Harolde. The film was released on August 18, 1937, by 20th Century Fox.
Alias the Deacon is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Christy Cabanne and written by Nat Perrin and Charles Grayson. It is based on the 1925 play The Deacon by John B. Hymer and LeRoy Clemens. The film stars Bob Burns, Mischa Auer, Peggy Moran, Dennis O'Keefe, Edward Brophy, Thurston Hall, Spencer Charters, Jack Carson and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. The film was released on May 17, 1940 by Universal Pictures.