Milioni in pericolo

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.

Dennis O'Keefe in a field day romp in Brewster's Millions.

He becomes an instant millionaire through inheritance but in order to get the full $8 million, he must spend $1 million by age 30, which is in 2 months.

He is not permitted to tell anyone why he is spending money as if there is no tomorrow. Naturally, his love-life will be adversely affected.

Of course, when this occurs, O'Keefe gets that Midas Touch. Everything and everyone he touches yields a gold-mine.

As his butler, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson has lots of fun here and you can see that he is enjoying himself..

The film co-stars Helen Walker as his befuddled girlfriend and there is a nice turn by June Havoc, as a flashy Broadway show-girl, caught up in this mayhem.

The picture succeeds because of the fine performance of O'Keefe who has the part of the suddenly wealthy ex-G.I. down to a science. We feel his emotions of joy, frustration and comic desires.

Ever since 1902 when the novel was first written and a play debuting on Broadway in the same decade, Brewster's Millions has had an enduring popularity that will never change. Who would not want to be in Montgomery Brewster's shoes and be given a chance to inherit a fortune and all you have to do is spend a small fortune to make it happen.

In this case returning war veteran Dennis O'Keefe is given said opportunity with certain restrictions. After all it would be no fun to just write a check for a million dollars to charity. No, he has to invest some of it, spend some of it, hire people at extravagant salaries, stuff like that.

But in this case O'Keefe proves to have a Midas touch. Everything he touches including the biggest losers turns into money makers. His war buddies Joe Sawyer and Herbert Rudley along for the ride think he's flipped his lid. So do the women in his life Helen Walker and Gail Patrick, not to mention showgirl June Havoc whom he backs in a flop show, but still winds out on top. Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder should have learned that secret.

Whether he makes it or not is for you to watch the film for and which girl he winds up with. Mischa Auer is also around as a ham actor from Havoc's show and so is Eddie Anderson just transferring his Rochester character to a different employer than Jack Benny.

I'm sure most people are familiar with Richard Pryor's 1985 version, but O'Keefe's version stand on its own measure and it measures well.

Monty Brewster (Dennis O'Keefe) arrives home from WWII, ready to marry his beautiful fiancée (Helen Walker), when he learns that he has inherited eight million dollars from an eccentric uncle. There's a catch in the will, however. Monty must spend one million dollars in two months, and have nothing to show for it, in order to inherit the rest of the money. He also can't tell anyone about the terms of the will and he must postpone his wedding until after he has completed his task. Naturally, this leads to all sorts of chaos and has Monty's fiancée and friends thinking he has lost his mind.

One of Dennis O'Keefe's best roles. It's a very funny and likable screwball comedy with a solid cast, including the always fun Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. The plot's about as contrived as it gets so I recommend you put your inner critic to bed before watching.