Million Dollar Weekend

30s screen idol Gene Raymond's sole directing credit and one of his last leading roles is a nifty thriller which sees him play a trusted bank employee who, uncomfortably aware that life is passing him by, steals $1m in bonds from his employer. The robbery is simple, but reaching his ultimate destination of Shanghai proves less straightforward when he finds himself sat opposite possible femme fatale Osa Massen (credited as Stephanie Paull), who's being blackmailed by fellow passenger Francis Lederer. The routine plot is energised by a series of twists and is further bolstered by the interplay between the three leads, with Lederer standing out as a pleasingly slimy antagonist.

It seems as if the late 1940s was a time when every aging Hollywood pretty-boy star from the 1930s was trying to revitalize his career by film noir. MILLION DOLLAR WEEKEND was Gene Raymond's attempt. He not only starred and co-produced, he directed it, and DP Paul Ivanov offers some noir touches almost immediately: when Raymond is confirming his airplane reservation, the desk clerk sits in a room well shadowed by Venetian blinds.

Raymond leaves his brokerage office and takes that plane. First to Honolulu, for a brief stopover while waiting for his flight to Shanghai. On the way, however, he is waylaid by Osa Massen. She is being blackmailed by a smarmy Francis Lederer, who also steals Raymond's briefcase. This leads them back to San Francisco (where else for a film noir?) and revelations.

Despite the film noir touches, for most of its length, it doesn't fit so neatly into the category. Mostly, it seems a tired retread, in which we are forced to guess what is going on, because everyone is keeping secrets. Then, just before the hour mark, Raymond and Massen tell each other what is going on, their hopes and failures, and it's clear that Mr. Raymond was not just another pretty face, but an actual actor.

The movie didn't do well at the box office. It was released by Eagle-Lion, still working its way out of its PRC roots, and film noir was a drug on the market in 1948, even with topnotch talent at the height of its fame. Even so, it's a worthy addition to the genre, if only for that one scene, of two actors talking to each other about their human frailties.

Gene Raymond and Osa Massen are on a plane bound for a stopover in Hawaii in Million Dollar Weekend, also starring Francis Lederer.

Raymond has just stolen a million dollars in securities from the firm where he works. Massen is running away, but to no avail. Lederer is on the plane and tells her that he knows she killed her husband.

Lederer causes no end of trouble once in Hawaii, and Massen and Raymond find they are attracted to one another. This leads to a big decision on both their parts.

Okay movie though I did not pick up a lot of chemistry between the leads. The end harkens back to Til We Meet Again.

Entertaining.

Gene Raymond was a huge star in the 1930s. His lovely singing voice and pretty face meant stardom and a long marriage to a big leading lady, Jeanette MacDonald. However, by the 1940s, his pretty-boy looks were not quite so evident and film roles dried up. Here in 1948, he's far from pretty, but proves in "Million Dollar Weekend" that he was quite talented, as aside from starring in the film, he directed and co-wrote the screenplay! Overall, this B-movie is quite good.

It begins with Nicholas Lawrence at work as a stock broker. However, instead of just going home that Friday afternoon, Nick steals a million dollars worth of his companies money and bonds. His plan is to head to China and live the high life. However, on the way, he gets pulled into a young lady's problems, Cynthia (Osa Massen) is being pursued and blackmailed by a slime-bag, Alan (Frances Lederer). Alan allegedly saw her kill her husband and vows to take her for everything AND have her for his own. She is appalled and seeks help from a stranger, Nick. What's going to happen next? See the film.

The film has a few logical problems. Why would Nick CARE if a woman was in trouble? After all he IS an embezzler! Why would he leave a briefcase filled with a million sitting in his room where someone could steal it? And, why would the film co-star Osa Massen? Massen had very little charisma and really was very poor in the film. It wasn't just her odd accent--after all, Lederer also had a strong accent yet he was wonderful in the film. HOWEVER, and this is fortunate, Raymond's strong performance and the plot were able to overcome much of this. So, despite the film being in the public domain, it IS quite watchable and interesting.

I have no idea why this is classified as a comedy on this site! There are no comedic elements to this film - it is in fact a quite dark, 'film noir'-ish drama, and a very good one.

Quiet middle-aged businessman Nicholas Lawrence is fed up with his life and decides to embezzle his firm of a million dollars and flee to Shanghai. However, it becomes his misfortune to find himself seated with a dodgy pair of passengers on the plane: a beautiful young widow, Cynthia Strong, taking a trip to Hawaii to get away from it all after the untimely death of her husband, and tooth-clenchingly irritating Alan Marker, who has trailed her in an attempt to blackmail her by threatening to frame her for the murder of her husband.

When Alan has to make a trip to the gents', Cynthia begs Nicholas to help her by pretending he's an old friend of hers whom they have just mutually recognised, in the hopes that Alan will take the hint and go away. However, he instead sticks himself to the both of them like glue for the entire stopover in Hawaii and makes life miserable, culminating in his stealing Nick's stolen million and hightailing it to San Francisco. Needless to say, Nick is not now able to continue on to his destination of Shanghai, but instead he and Cynthia go in pursuit of Alan.

This is a very absorbing, well-acted dark drama with a sympathetic hero, a lovely and mysterious leading lady, and a memorably obnoxious villain (Francis Lederer, who played Alan, was the founder of the American National Academy of Performing Arts and apparently was still teaching acting up to the end of his life - so he certainly knew how to play a truly obnoxious bad guy).

Very recommended film which should be better known - you can easily imagine Bogart and Bacall in the leading roles, and if that had been the case, I think this film would have been a well-known classic, but the actors who do star in this film carry off their parts very well.