Les millions de Brewster

Brewster's Millions (1945)

*** (out of 4)

Screwball comedy has Monty Brewster (Dennis O'Keefe) returning home from the war and finding himself with an inheritance for $8 million. The only catch is that he must spend $1 million within a two month period in order to collect the rest of the money. One of the deals is that he can't tell anyone so the people around him, including his fiancé (Helen Walker) and best friend (Joe Sawyer) thinks he's crazy. This was the fifth version of this famous story and two more would follow with the most recent being the 1985 version with Richard Pryor and John Candy. Having only seen tha version (the 1914 Cecil B. DeMille film is lost) this one here plays much better, although there aren't quite as many laughs. For a comedy one might say this fails because there aren't too many laughs but I didn't find that to be the case because there's so much innocent charm that one can't help but get caught up in the story and the situation O'Keefe finds himself in. O'Keefe really makes the film go with his frantic performance, which is very good. The way he slowly starts to lose his mind as he can't get all the money spent is priceless and makes for a good time. June Havoc, Gail Patrick, Mischa Auer and John Litel add nice support as well. Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, a black actor, does a great job playing O'Keefe's servant and delivers most of the laughs in the film. It's also worth noting that this movie was banned in Memphis because it was deemed that their relationship was too "equal in nature" and the people of Memphis didn't want people watching a movie where the races were shown as equal. While the film isn't a major success or a masterpiece of comedy, it does work for what it is. The nice performances by the now forgotten actors is another reason to watch this film even though it's rather rare.

Dennis O'Keefe never became a top-tier star and today is mostly forgotten. It's a shame, as although he may not have had 'the look', he was quite enjoyable in gangster and light comedy films. Here, he and decent dialog manage to take a silly plot and make it worth watching.

The film begins with Monty Brewster (O'Keefe) coming back home after the war. He plans on marrying his sweetie, Peggy (Helen Walker) and settling down to a happy life. However, he soon is contacted by a lawyer. Apparently a VERY eccentric distant uncle has died and left his $8,000,000 to Monty...IF he manages to spend a million of it in two months. Supposedly it's to make him appreciate the value of money and make him sick of spending--though this makes no sense. He also cannot give much of the money to charity. In the process, a funny thing happens...the more he invests in stupid schemes, the more money he seems to make!! And, Peggy is getting sick of him because Monty is NOT allowed to divulge the crazy conditions of the will.

While the film goes a bit overboard when Monty starts acting crazy when he can't get rid of his money, it's a fun and frenetic film. Not deep or sophisticated--just funny. So, provided you can just turn off your brain and enjoy, you'll like this film very much.

Hook these folks up to a generator and there's enough high energy to light up a city. It's the nutty premise, of course, that carries the movie. Brewster (O'Keefe) must squander a million in order to inherit seven. Trouble is that he can't seem to squander it fast enough— the money comes back faster than it goes out. What a predicament, as the audience wonders what they would do in his place.

It's the wacky idea of giving money a negative value that's so engaging. It's like the economic counterpart to disbelief in religion, and we see that in the astonished reactions to Brewster's unorthodox behavior. After all, in a monetary economy money amounts to something of a secular god. So, simply getting rid of it heedlessly looks not only like an act of disbelief, but also of rank insanity. The comedic set-ups flow from this central idea, as time grows short and Brewster grows increasingly frantic.

Too bad O'Keefe has been largely forgotten. Though not front-rank, he's quite good at working himself into a humorous lather. Those two uninhibited farces Getting Gertie's Garter (1945) and Up in Mabel's Room (1944) are also lots of fun thanks to both O'Keefe and director Dwan who has a real feel for the material. Hard to think of better wartime escape than this trio of films. Then there's the lovely, star-crossed Helen Walker whose "upside- down" eyes look like no other actress of the period. No wonder Brewster thinks she's worth a million.

The movie's been made a number of times, but never better than here. The fact that all three Dwan comedies were produced by the independent Ed Small Productions likely accounts for their relative obscurity. Too bad because each stands as a talent showcase for its lead star and comedy director, and is still a lot of fun. Especially the one here since last time I checked, we're still in a money economy and Brewster still looks amusingly loony.

Home from service in World War II, business-minded Dennis O'Keefe (as Montague "Monty" Brewster) wants to marry curvy blonde sweetheart Helen Walker (as Peggy Gray) right away. The couple has clearly waited long enough. However, a lawyer arrives with news that postpones the nuptials and Mr. O'Keefe's longed-for honeymoon. He has inherited one million dollars from his anthropologist uncle - but there are stipulations. O'Keefe must spend the million in two months to obtain the real prize - seven million dollars. He must not reveal the will's million-dollar detail to anyone, including Ms. Walker. His deceased uncle believes O'Keefe should "learn to hate spending money." O'Keefe thinks spending the million will be a "cinch," but you know otherwise...

"Brewster's Millions" is a fun, fast-paced version of the classic story...

By speed-reading the lead performance, O'Keefe and director Allan Dwan help make it more believable; if you stopped to catch your breath, you would likely think of some better ways to spend the million. This also distracts from the fact that the self-described "poor" couple already look like millionaires - they are beautifully-dressed, live in what looks like a mansion and are waited on by loyal Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (as Jackson). By the way, Mr. Anderson infuses his role with more dignity than expected. Another obvious strength is Mr. Dwan giving the old stage play an almost three-dimensional quality. Observe, for example how Dwan introduces Anderson through a soapy window. And throughout the film, Dwan uses his sets, cameras and players exceptionally well.

******** Brewster's Millions (4/7/45) Allan Dwan ~ Dennis O'Keefe, Helen Walker, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, June Havoc

This is a harmless screwball romp (one of the last of its kind) from the '40s starring DENNIS O'KEEFE as a man who, to satisfy the whim of a wealthy relative, has to spend $1,000,000 within a short amount of time in order to qualify for a $7,000,000 inheritance.

The script makes sure that he has a hard time ridding himself of dough. Seems everything he touches suddenly has the Midas touch. It's stretching it a bit when he even gets a telephone call from some radio show blithely announcing that he just won $25,000. It should happen to all of us, most of whom are still waiting for the Prize Patrol to show up at our door from Publisher's Clearing House.

Anyway, the script makes sure that O'Keefe has to mug his way through many hapless situations involving show biz connections, a fancy yacht, horse racing, everything that conceivably could give him a chance of losing money--but of course there's a happy ending.

Nice to see so many '40s players in the supporting roles. HELEN WALKER, NEIL HAMILTON, JOHN LITEL, JUNE HAVOC,MISCHA AUER, GAIL PATRICK, EDDIE "ROCHESTER" ANDERSON among others.

Allan Dwan directed and keeps things moving at a fast clip. And whatever happened to DENNIS O'KEEFE? He was a good light comedian and did a lot of straight dramatic roles too. Then suddenly he was out of sight in the movies, swallowed up by television for most of his career.