A Major Disappointment

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

"Man with a Million" is one of the few comedy films that Gregory Peck made. Known as a dramatic actor, Peck didn't play characters who could spew witticisms or clever lines, or who went through hilarious antics. But, he could hold his own in comedic situations, as in this film. He is mostly a straight man who gets into situations that are comedic and in which the cast around him are more the sources of humor. I think his best comedy was "Designing Woman" of 1957 with Lauren Bacall. He had some very laughable situations in that film. This movie is based on a Mark Twain short story, "The Million Pound Bank Note," published in 1893. It closely follows the Twain story with a few changes. The one thing I would like to have seen unchanged was the ending in Twain's story. One of the Montpelier brothers is revealed as the stepfather of Portia. The movie was filmed in London and at the Pinewood Studios in England. It was released there in January 1954 under the title, "The Million Pound Note." The J. Arthur Rank Organization made the movie and it was distributed in America by United Artists. The cast are all quite good. Peck is Henry Adams and Jane Griffiths plays the girl he falls for, Portia Lansdowne. Hartley Power is the Adams family friend, Lloyd Hastings. The Montpelier brothers are played by Ronald Squire (as Oliver) and Wilfrid Hyde-White (as Roderick). Joyce Grenfell is Portia's mother, the Duchess of Cromarty. The large supporting cast includes a number of people in various business settings who are very good and humorous with their airs and then humbling demeanor after learning that Adams has a one million pound note. These include George Devine as the Chop House proprietor, John Kelly as the Bumbles Hotel manager, and Maurice Denham as the exclusive tailor, Jonathan Reid. Mark Twain (nee, Samuel Clemens) set a number of stories in England. He was an avowed Anglophile. From his first trip to England in 1872, he fell in love with the culture, the people and the country. But this didn't stop him from poking a little fun at the Brits from time to time. He was taken under wing by the upper-class and wrote glowingly of the people, their love of history and tradition, and the countryside. This story is a soft satire of both England and America. The Duke of Frognal says rhetorically to the Bumbles Hotel manager, "Are you trying to tell me that American money means more than an Englishman's name? I won't stand for it. This country's going to the dogs."This movie is a fine production from the Twain story set in England. It doesn't have rollicking laughter, but it has warmth and an endearing tale amidst the mostly gentle humor. A later film, made in America, did a successful take off on the Twain story. "Trading Places" of 1983 was an adult comedy that starred Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd.

Gregory Peck is Henry Adams, a raggedy, good-natured American shipyard worker stranded in London and penniless. Poundless too, and this was 1903 when a pound was worth a pound. He's picked off the street at random by two millionaires of a betting disposition who hand him one of only two existing notes for one million pounds. If he returns the note intact at the end of one month, he'll have any sort of job he wants. Peck doesn't discover until later that he's rich beyond imagining. And he's aghast, as is the suspicious waiter who has just served this ill-groomed customer an expensive meal. Peck tries to return the note but his benefactors are on holiday for the month. It's all up to him.That plot point is a little confusing. Maybe I missed something. But suppose that, instead of giving the note back in a month, Peck just said, "The hell with it," and skipped town? He could live like a Pasha for the rest of his life.At any rate, when the public discovers that Peck has the note, everyone kisses his ring. Tailors give him a free wardrobe, Bumbles Hotel puts him up in the Bridal Suite, London society opens its doors to him, and when rumors start that Peck has invested in the New Hope Gold Mine, the price of shares skyrockets.There are less harmless memes. Nobody has seen the note recently. They've been operating on the sociological principle that "if men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences." Does he really HAVE such a note or is Peck "an adventurer"? Peck's fortune goes down, then up again, and he winds up in a clinch with Lady Bracknell's niece or something.It's based on a story by Mark Twain, a curious writer. He had a fine sense of irony, perhaps because he'd lived through the Civil War and was even briefly in the Confederate Army. "Tom Sawyer" is a child's adventure story but "Huckleberry Finn" is not. Twain poked understated fun at European pretensions and especially nobility. Huck and Jim pick up two scalawags who get into a quiet conflict over their social status, until one finally admits that he's the lost son of the King of France, which Huck swallows.That European nobility business gets a poke in the eye with a sharp stick in this film. So does capitalism. The question that wafts like a bouquet through the comedy is whether simply having a lot of money is better than being a gentleman. Is it better to be rich or to be a Duke?Peck's forte was never comedy. He seemed by nature to be upright and bourgeois. And, to the extent that he was amusing on screen, rather than only likable, it was because that air of self righteousness was made ludicrous by events. His reaction is always one of masked embarrassment. It requires only the slightest change in his features. He must have had a very good time playing a mad Nazi scientist in "The Boys From Brazil." The cast is filled out with familiar faces from British movies of the period.It may have been written by Mark Twain, whose name is itself a joke, but it's veddy British, colorful, and funny. You'll like it.

Gregory Peck is a "Man with a Million" in this 1954 British film directed by Ronald Neame. Besides Peck, the stars are Ronald Squire, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Hartley Power, Maurice Denham, Bryan Forbes, and Portia Lansdowne.An out of work, broke American sailor, Henry Adams (Peck) is given a one million pound bank note by two men who have made a bet. If Adams can return the note in one month, intact, the two gentlemen will help him find work.Turns out that all he has to do is show the note, and he's showered with clothes, a swanky hotel room, and introductions into high society.This is a slight but entertaining film about the power of money or even implied money. When Adams goes to get help from the consulate originally, they can't do anything for him. When he shows the note, they offer him a loan. It rings true in today's economy, where wealthy people have no problem getting loans from a bank, but if you really need one - forget it! Peck is young, very handsome, and quite good. All in all, this isn't much, but it is a good watch.

Oliver and Roderick Montpellier, two English brothers, make a bet that any man given a one million pound note, can live off the fat of the land just by showing off the good fortune of having it in his possession. Then, if by the end of a month, if he can show the intact bill, he will indeed be a man worthy of whatever fortunes might befall on him because of the sheer luck of proving the brothers right.The lucky recipient of the note is one Henry Adams, an American in London who is just a poor man with no money, or prospects of a job in the near future. He tests his good fortune when he decides to dine at a modest restaurant. As the bill comes, he shows his one million pound note, which of course, the owner can't possibly change. The meal is free.Henry Adams then discovers how he can go through his present situation relying on the fact that he is a millionaire, without really being one. He is given a set of smart clothes, a suite at one of the best hotels in town, and an introduction to high society, something that is not always available to Americans, even rich ones, as Henry appears to be.This delightful comedy of 1954 was a total surprise. The film, made in England at the famous Pinewood studios, was directed by Ronald Neame. Based on a Mark Twain story, which we haven't read, it counts on the great work of Gregory Peck, a man that was one of the most charismatic performers during his years in the cinema. Mr. Peck is the whole movie; it's unimaginable to think of any other actor playing Henry Adams.The supporting cast shows familiar faces of consummate English players who contribute to create the Edwardian atmosphere. Ronald Squire and Wilfrid Hyde-White are the Montpellier brothers, whose bet trigger the action. Reginald Beckwith is the mute valet who sticks by Henry through thick and thin. Jane Griffiths plays Portia, the woman that conquers Henry Adams heart. Also in the cast we saw Hugh Griffith, in a non-credited role. Joyce Grenfell, another delightful character actress, has some brilliant moments as the Duchess of Cromarty.An enjoyable movie. Catch if it ever plays on your classic movie channel. You won't be disappointed!