Pour un million

Warner Baxter plays a millionaire who is sad to discover that no one cares about him for anything but his money. This includes his butler (and he thought friend) of many years, as we see in one pathetic scene early on. He's drowning himself in pity on a yacht when he sees hobo Peter Lorre drowning himself in the ocean. So he jumps in and helps out. This leads to some soul-searching on Baxter's part and some wrong assumptions on Lorre's part, which sets up the movie's game of telephone screwball plot where the word gets out that a millionaire is disguising himself as a hobo and will give a million dollars to anyone who is kind to him.

I enjoyed this movie but I admit to being a little let-down it wasn't better than it is. Lorre is not in it much, for one thing. He's great when he's around but ultimately he's a minor character, screen time-wise. It's also not a particularly funny movie. Pleasant is a good word for it. The second half is weaker than the first. I would recommend you see it if you find the plot and cast interesting. After all my 6 might be your 7 or 8.

This Fox B remake of a a farce starring De Sica is nicely directed by Walter Lang with a sprawling supporting cast that the big studios' B departments could use when given the chance.

The story has millionaire Warner Baxter dive off his yacht to rescue suicidal Peter Lorre, then head off to deal with the real world instead of the parasites on board. Lorre spreads the word that a millionaire is wandering around in tramp clothes, and will give a million francs to anyone who is kind to him without any pecuniary interest. With a cast of dozens of character actors, this is an example of why I consider Fox' B movies in this period the best....and often better than most studios' As.

In the heart of the Depression, moviegoers needed screwball comedies to cheer themselves up for a quarter. In that vein, they were heartily treated to some of the best comedy of all time from Laurel and Hardy to Frank Capra. This film is tn that tradition. Similar to Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Sullivan's Travels in the sense that a powerful person is living as a common man among the masses of the poor, the film has a certain charm that is no longer found in films after the Golden Age of Hollywood. Fortunately, we have Youtube to access some of these gems from the past. Lots of fun.

This film starts out with great promise. Tony (Warner Baxter) is a wealthy man, out on his yacht, who suddenly becomes aware that everybody onboard is just nice to him because of his money. As he stands leaning over the railing of the yacht, pondering this fact, he notices a man yelling for help, apparently drowning in the ocean. His yells of man overboard are not heard, so he jumps in and rescues the man. The yacht is out of range, so he swims to shore with Louis (Peter Lorre) in tow.

They camp on the beach for the night, and Tony tells Louis that if he could find just one person who was nice to him and not expecting a payout that he would give that person one million francs (today one dollar = 5 francs). The next day Louis awakens and finds Tony gone but his clothes and money still there. He goes into town wearing Tony's clothes and spending Tony's money. This gets the attention of the police, where Louis tells the story of the rich man, incognito dressed like a tramp, who will give one million francs to anybody who does a good deed for him with no expectations of reward. Soon everybody is being nice to all of the hobos. Meanwhile, Tony has become friends with a woman in a circus who knows nothing about this . Complications ensue.

Now all of this sounds pretty good, but it just seems to bog down a bit after Tony and Louie separate. A 1930s Fox screwball comedy is a rarity, and there is a reason for that. This would have been even better and probably ringed a bit truer if it had been made over at Warner Brothers, retaining the natural performance of Baxter as the millionaire and Lorre as the impish tramp and maybe using some of Warners' great contract players to fill in the blanks.

Still, it is funny and like "My Man Godfrey" has something to say about how your pocketbook often dictates your treatment by your fellow man towards the end of the Great Depression. A rare message-comedy from Fox.

20th Century-Fox did this Hollywood remake of a 1935 Italian film of the same translated title, the setting switched to the South of France, featuring a cast filled with contract players led by Warner Baxter ("The Prisoner of Shark Island"). His character, Tony Newlander, is the millionaire tiring of the sycophants around him, none of whom he can rely on as a trusted friend, who rescues a drowning man known as Louie 'The Dope' Monteau (Peter Lorre), a homeless derelict. Tony would be happy just to find one person who could befriend him without the promise of monetary gain, leaving Louie a million dollars for his troubles. Once the newspapers publish a story claiming that a millionaire is masquerading as a bum, a fortune awaiting the person who shows him any kindness, the entire city is quickly overrun with derelicts looking for handouts, while Tony finds himself falling for an impoverished circus performer (Marjorie Weaver) with a trained chimp named Darwin, who excels at judo and cigarette smoking. Amidst the Moto series, Peter Lorre thoroughly enjoys this comic change of pace, joined in mischief during the latter stages by John Carradine's Kopelpeck, resplendent in top hat and cane. Among the many familiar faces are Fritz Feld, Jean Hersholt as a clown, and Frank Reicher as the Prefect of Police, who himself takes in a bum off the street and ends up getting robbed.