Je veux un millionnaire

Sometimes going back for a fun-filled romp in one of those old situation-comedies, is just the tonic for an otherwise uneventful day. This film is one of those "feel-good" movies that used to abound back in the early Fifties. Fred MacMurray has always been adept at handling light comedy, and Eleanor Parker shows a humorous side that a lot of you will be impressed by. The plot is zany, but it's a "good" craziness that permeates this film. I found myself giggling aloud at some of the passages, and even tried to teach the couple how to speak Spanish. (You'll see what I mean when you watch the movie).

It's in black and white, but it's so entertaining, you won't miss the splash of color. It also introduces and old love standard, which is not featured, but playing in the background in a lot of the scenes. The song is, "I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you".

Get comfortable...click the remote, and travel back to when "real" people had "real" fun.....oh yes, there IS a love story here as well.

Richard Carlson has been one of my favorites since my childhood, but I don't recall ever seeing him so loose, so allowed to shine and sparkle as he does in "A Millionaire for Christy."

Fred MacMurray and Eleanor Parker are terrific as a somewhat pompous radio performer and a somewhat dizzy attorney's assistant who is sent to tell the former he has inherited money.

Her friend and office mate, and romance encourager, is played, wonderfully (of course), by Una Merkel, who by herself makes a movie more than watchable.

As silly as the story's premise might seem, when one watches this movie, one realizes it's plausible enough. More important, there are lots of likable or at least watchable people to overcome any script flaws.

It's light entertainment, well directed, filled with good actors, including Lane Chandler, uncredited and with only one line (but he has a good and recognizable voice), but above all, it gives Richard Carlson a chance to break loose and show the world what a talent he was.

Christabel Sloane (Eleanor Parker) is a cash-strapped secretary at a law firm who would love nothing better than to marry a millionaire and forget all about her money troubles. The reluctant gold-digger is assigned to inform Peter Ulysses Lockwood (Fred MacMurray) that he has inherited $2 million. This is her chance, but he is marrying an heiress.

Most gold-diggers are a little annoying, but this is a cute way for her to get into it. The screwball situation is rather convoluted non-sense. I don't think that I can root for her quest even though Parker makes the character as appealing as possible. The basic gold-digging premise remains a problem for me. It's always been rather anti-romantic for me. Don't get me wrong. I'm not rooting for the original marriage either. I don't ship anybody in this situation.

After some highly dramatic items like The Detective Story and Caged, Eleanor Parker got to strut her comic self in A Millionaire For Christy. She certainly had the talent for comedy, but in that genre she's best in Many Rivers To Cross.

Parker plays a secretary in Douglass Dumbrille's law firm and she gets a cross country assignment. Travel from NY to LA and inform Fred MacMurray that he's inherited two million dollars. With a little advice from co-worker Una Merkel, Parker decides to set her cap for him if he's not a total beast.

MacMurray is considerably more than that. He sounds like the replacement for Clifton Webb as Waldo Lydecker from Laura before he got all enamored with the title character and paid dearly. He's got a radio program like Webb and he's called the sunshine man. Only problem is that he's getting married to Kay Buckley the same day.

After Parker breaks up the wedding quite hilariously things get wilder and crazier. Do I have to say what happens to both of them?

A Millionaire For Christy is a nice, but vain attempt to recapture the spirit of the screwball comedies of the Thirties. Public tastes had changed post World War II and the movie-going audience wanted some more serious fare. Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn were doing more serious type work, in the Thirties they owned this kind of film.

Richard Carlson plays MacMurray's best man and rival for Kay Buckley. He turns in a droll performance trying to turn MacMurray's situation to his best advantage. He's a psychiatrist, but with a few drinks in him he's crazier than whom he treats. I wish we saw a lot more of Una Merkel in the film as well.

A Millionaire For Christy is amusing, but a throwback from another era.

The movie tries hard to bring back the madcap comedy of the 1930's. But that may be one reason it doesn't fully succeed—it tries too hard, coming across at times as more frantic than zany. That's not to say the comedy doesn't have its moments. The first twenty minutes amount to a promising set-up as drab single-girl Christy (Parker) crashes celebrity Peter's (MacMurray) wedding party to deliver an inheritance, but is mistaken instead for an old flame. As a publicist might say— hi-jinks ensue. The only question is how long it will take for Christy to win Peter's affection. In the meantime, she's got to act loopy to stay out of trouble.

For a heavy dramatic actress, e.g. Caged (1950), Parker adapts well to the Katherine Hepburn role, while the underrated MacMurray does some expert mugging. However, some of the scenes go on long after we've gotten the point, especially the kissy-face, which is surprising given that old comedy pro George Marshall is directing. I suspect the level of embraces, plus a lot of surprising innuendo, are attempts to combat the growing inroads of TV on audiences of the day. Be that as it may, it's a lively if less than sparkling 90-minutes of Hollywood make-believe.