I'll Give a Million (1938 film)

Last updated

I'll Give a Million
I'll Give a Million (1938 film).jpg
Directed by Walter Lang
Written by Boris Ingster
Milton Sperling
Story byGiaci Mondaini
Cesare Zavattini
Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck
Starring Warner Baxter
Marjorie Weaver
Peter Lorre
Cinematography Lucien N. Andriot
Edited by Louis R. Loeffler
Music by Cyril Mockridge
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • July 22, 1938 (1938-07-22)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

I'll Give a Million is a 1938 American romantic comedy film directed by Walter Lang and starring Warner Baxter, Marjorie Weaver and Peter Lorre. It is a remake of the Italian film I'll Give a Million (1935).

Contents

Plot

In the south of France, wealthy American businessman Tony Newlander is fed up with life. It seems everyone is friendly with him only because of his money or influence, including his ex-wife Cecilia and his valet.

While on his yacht, he spots Louie, a tramp drowning in the water. Unable to attract the crew's attention over the sound of the ship's whistle, Tony jumps in to rescue him. The yacht sails away, so Tony drags a strangely uncooperative Louie ashore. It turns out that Louie was trying to commit suicide. However, since he has been saved, he desists from trying again. Louie takes him to his shack on the beach.

The next morning, the tramp discovers that Tony has taken Louie's clothes and left his tuxedo and money behind in exchange. Louie dresses up in his new finery and goes to a cafe for breakfast. The proprietor thinks he stole the money he flashes. Louie insists that an eccentric millionaire, dressed like a tramp, gave him a million francs and will do the same to anyone who is kind to him in his disguise. A reporter publishes his story, and soon everyone is being extra generous to anybody who looks down on his luck.

Meanwhile, Tony encounters a mischievous chimpanzee named Darwin. Jean Hofmann, a performer at the Circus Primerose, enlists Tony to capture Darwin. The chimp indulges in a favorite pastime, setting off a fire alarm. Tony is blamed for the rash of phony alarms, taken into custody and sentenced to ten days in jail. However, after the judge reads the newspaper article, he lets Tony go.

Tony flips a borrowed coin, which sends him to the circus. Jean gets Anatole Primerose, the proprietor, to give him a job as a relief night watchman.

Meanwhile, tramps flood the region to take advantage of the situation. Soon there are complaints, and the newspaper editor is pressured to either produce the millionaire or retract the story. He in turn threatens to accuse Louie of murdering the millionaire and stealing his money and gives him one last chance to find the man. The police round up all the tramps in town for Louie to look over.

Tony and Jean start falling in love, but to stop Max, the jealous son of the proprietor, from getting Tony fired, Jean lies (so she thinks) and tells him she is being friendly to Tony only because he is the millionaire. Unfortunately, Tony overhears her.

To save himself from a possible charge of murder, Louie identifies a tramp at random as the millionaire: Kopelpeck. Disillusioned, Tony decides to end the charade and expose the imposter, but no one will believe him. In fact, he is thrown in jail for making a nuisance of himself. Jean bails him out. Then Tony discovers that Jean does not believe he is the millionaire. His identity is finally confirmed by the captain of his yacht and others. The public surrounds the police station, demanding to be compensated for their misguided efforts. To prevent a riot, Tony agrees to donate half a million to the poor and the same amount to the city, but only if Jean will marry him. She holds out for a while, but then gives in.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>City Lights</i> 1931 American silent film

City Lights is a 1931 American synchronized sound romantic comedy-drama film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl and develops a turbulent friendship with an alcoholic millionaire.

<i>The Circus</i> (1928 film) 1928 film by Charlie Chaplin

The Circus is a 1928 silent romantic comedy film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film stars Chaplin, Al Ernest Garcia, Merna Kennedy, Harry Crocker, George Davis and Henry Bergman. The ringmaster of an impoverished circus hires Chaplin's Little Tramp as a clown, but discovers that he can only be funny unintentionally.

<i>Quack Pack</i> 1996 American animated sitcom television series

Quack Pack is an American animated sitcom produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, featuring Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. The show debuted on September 3, 1996 as a part of the "Disney Afternoon" programming block, following the success of Goof Troop, and ran for one season with 39 episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fritz Feld</span> German-American actor (1900–1993)

Fritz Feld was a German-American film character actor who appeared in over 140 films in 72 years, both silent and sound. His trademark was to slap his mouth with the palm of his hand to create a "pop" sound.

<i>Ill Be Home for Christmas</i> (1998 film) 1998 film by Arlene Sanford

I'll Be Home for Christmas is a 1998 American Christmas family comedy film directed by Arlene Sanford. The plot follows a college student who must make it from his campus in Los Angeles, California to his family's home in Larchmont, New York in time for Christmas dinner in order to win his father's Porsche. It stars Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Jessica Biel, Adam LaVorgna, Sean O'Bryan and Gary Cole and was released on November 13, 1998.

<i>The Millionaire</i> (TV series) US television series

The Millionaire is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1955 to 1960. It was originally sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive. The series, produced by Don Fedderson and Fred Henry, explored the ways that sudden and unexpected wealth changed life, for better or for worse. It told the stories of people who were given one million dollars from a benefactor who insisted they must never know his identity, with one exception.

<i>Brewsters Millions</i> (1985 film) 1985 film by Walter Hill

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. 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, and 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Ernest Garcia</span> American Actor (b.1887–d.1938)

Allan Ernest Garcia was an American actor and casting director, best known for his long association with Charlie Chaplin.

<i>The Yearling</i> 1938 novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

The Yearling is a novel by American writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, published in March 1938. It was the main selection of the Book of the Month Club in April 1938. It won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel.

<i>The Brain</i> (1969 film) 1969 French film

The Brain is a 1969 French comedy film directed by Gérard Oury, about a second train robbery by the brain behind the Great Train Robbery of 1963. It stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Bourvil as a pair of French petty crooks, David Niven as a British Army officer who is secretly a criminal mastermind and Eli Wallach as a Sicilian mafioso.

<i>Three Strangers</i> 1946 film by Jean Negulesco

Three Strangers is a 1946 American film noir crime drama directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Peter Lorre, and featuring Joan Lorring and Alan Napier. The screenplay was written by John Huston and Howard Koch. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marjorie Weaver</span> American actress

Marjorie Weaver was an American film actress of the 1930s through the early 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Porcasi</span> Italian actor (1879–1946)

Paul Porcasi was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 140 films from 1917 to 1945.

<i>A Modern Hero</i> 1934 American film by G.W. Pabst

A Modern Hero is a 1934 American pre-Code romance drama film starring Richard Barthelmess and directed by G. W. Pabst. It is based on the novel with the same title by Louis Bromfield. It was Pabst's only American talking film and the next-to-last film that Barthelmess made under contract to Warner Brothers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Black</span> American actor (1891–1938

Maurice Black was an American character actor known for his portrayal of mobsters. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1928 to 1938, when he died of pneumonia, four days after his 47th birthday. He was married to Edythe Raynore.

<i>Johnny Come Lately</i> 1943 film by William K. Howard

Johnny Come Lately is a 1943 drama film directed by William K. Howard starring James Cagney, Grace George, Marjorie Main and Hattie McDaniel. It was the first film produced by Cagney's brother, William Cagney.

<i>Ill Give a Million</i> (1935 film) 1936 film

I'll Give a Million is a 1935 Italian "white-telephones" comedy film directed by Mario Camerini and starring Vittorio De Sica. It is based on the first screenplay by Cesare Zavattini which tells the story of a disillusioned millionaire who, tired of the attempts of greedy friends and relatives to sponge off of him, becomes a bum in order to find a decent human being. It had an American remake in 1938, again titled I'll Give a Million and starring Warner Baxter as the millionaire.

<i>Mom</i> (TV series) American sitcom

Mom is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre, Eddie Gorodetsky and Gemma Baker for CBS. The series was broadcast for eight seasons from September 23, 2013, to May 13, 2021. Set in Napa, California, it follows dysfunctional mother/daughter duo Bonnie and Christy Plunkett, who, after having been estranged for years while both struggled with addiction, attempt to pull their lives together by trying to stay sober. It stars Anna Faris and Allison Janney, with Mimi Kennedy, Jaime Pressly, Beth Hall, William Fichtner, Sadie Calvano, Blake Garrett Rosenthal, Matt Jones, French Stewart and Kristen Johnston in supporting roles.

<i>Tender Scoundrel</i> 1966 film

Tender Scoundrel is a 1966 French-Italian comedy film starring Jean Paul Belmondo and directed by Jean Becker.

Le baron de l'écluse, titled in English The Baron of the Locks, is a 1960 French drama film directed by Jean Delannoy. Based on a novel of the same name by Georges Simenon, the screenplay is by Maurice Druon with dialogue by Michel Audiard.

References