IMDb RATING
7.3/10
1.3K
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In order to get even with the pompous president of a soap company, an eccentric genius goes on his quiz show in order to bankrupt his company.In order to get even with the pompous president of a soap company, an eccentric genius goes on his quiz show in order to bankrupt his company.In order to get even with the pompous president of a soap company, an eccentric genius goes on his quiz show in order to bankrupt his company.
- Awards
- 1 win total
Ellye Marshall
- Frosty
- (as Ellie Marshall)
Vici Raaf
- Waters' Secretary
- (as Vicki Raaf)
Featured review
Excellent comedy starring comic Ronald Colman as Beauregard Bottomely, who is described as being the last scholar in America. He takes his "cornflakes with Schopenhauer", basically spends the whole day reading. Anyway he doesn't seem to do very well in the world of work, he's such a know-it-all that he doesn't last long anywhere. Believe me, and I know, correcting a boss who is talking nonsense on a matter of fact will earn you no brownie points.
One evening Beauregard goes to the TV store with his sister and the nightly crowd to watch the evening shows, specifically in his case, a science show where they send a radar beam to the moon. Afterwards there is a quiz show on that his sister forces him to watch. It's a "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" type show where you are asked 7 successive questions, each time you answer a question correctly the prize doubles. The prize is not much, it's more of a masquerade program where you dress up as a historical personage or an inanimate object, or an animal, and the questions they ask you are based on your costume, a bit of fun really.
Beauregard is (rightly) disgusted by what he presciently sees as the the herald of intellectual Armageddon: "If it is noteworthy and rewarding to know that 2 and 2 make 4 to the accompaniment of deafening applause and prizes, then 2 and 2 making 4 will become the top level of learning." Anyway quite by chance he ends up applying for a job at the company that sponsors the show, only he doesn't get it because he's too superior in the interview (not arrogant mind you, he actually is superior, but that just doesn't do in a hierarchy). When he is given the cold shoulder he decides to get his own back by appearing on the quiz show.
Hilariously, he turns up dressed as the Encylopaedia Britannica, which basically means the quizmaster can ask him any question he feels like. Of course Beauregard gets all seven question right and wins something paltry like $120. But he says he wants to continue and the showbiz guys think it will be a ratings spinner so they ask him some more questions on a next show. The problem is when the amounts of prize winning get too high and the soap company wants to take the show off the air. They make the questions more and more harder in order to get him off, but with mounting hilarity they're unable to. One question for example: "How many dental plates are there on the molar of an Asiatic elephant", Beauregard comes straight back with "24".
It's well plotted with lots of twists and a great ending, there's also a lot of unashamed raunch in the movie. You can't help but enjoy yourself, and Vince Price is simply hilarious in what is perhaps a career best performance as the anti-intellectual soap company boss Burnbridge Waters with solipsistic tendencies.
One evening Beauregard goes to the TV store with his sister and the nightly crowd to watch the evening shows, specifically in his case, a science show where they send a radar beam to the moon. Afterwards there is a quiz show on that his sister forces him to watch. It's a "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" type show where you are asked 7 successive questions, each time you answer a question correctly the prize doubles. The prize is not much, it's more of a masquerade program where you dress up as a historical personage or an inanimate object, or an animal, and the questions they ask you are based on your costume, a bit of fun really.
Beauregard is (rightly) disgusted by what he presciently sees as the the herald of intellectual Armageddon: "If it is noteworthy and rewarding to know that 2 and 2 make 4 to the accompaniment of deafening applause and prizes, then 2 and 2 making 4 will become the top level of learning." Anyway quite by chance he ends up applying for a job at the company that sponsors the show, only he doesn't get it because he's too superior in the interview (not arrogant mind you, he actually is superior, but that just doesn't do in a hierarchy). When he is given the cold shoulder he decides to get his own back by appearing on the quiz show.
Hilariously, he turns up dressed as the Encylopaedia Britannica, which basically means the quizmaster can ask him any question he feels like. Of course Beauregard gets all seven question right and wins something paltry like $120. But he says he wants to continue and the showbiz guys think it will be a ratings spinner so they ask him some more questions on a next show. The problem is when the amounts of prize winning get too high and the soap company wants to take the show off the air. They make the questions more and more harder in order to get him off, but with mounting hilarity they're unable to. One question for example: "How many dental plates are there on the molar of an Asiatic elephant", Beauregard comes straight back with "24".
It's well plotted with lots of twists and a great ending, there's also a lot of unashamed raunch in the movie. You can't help but enjoy yourself, and Vince Price is simply hilarious in what is perhaps a career best performance as the anti-intellectual soap company boss Burnbridge Waters with solipsistic tendencies.
- oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx
- Feb 13, 2009
- Permalink
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn 1950 it was common to have the TV in the windows of shop, turned on and its sound transmitted outside the shop via speakers. Not a lot of TV's were in homes and it was not uncommon to see crowds packed in front of TV stores watching Uncle Miltie and other popular shows at the time.
- GoofsThe quiz program is shown as a TV show complete with cameras on set but is sometimes referred to as a radio show, so it must be broadcast simultaneously on both media.
- Quotes
Happy Hogan: You have five seconds to tell us the Japanese word for goodbye. 1... 2...
Beauregard Bottomley: Sayonara. Not to be confused with cyanide, which is, of course, goodbye in any language.
- Crazy creditsOpening and closing credits run against a background of champagne bubbles.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Les Soprano: The Knight in White Satin Armor (2000)
- SoundtracksRock-a-bye Baby
(uncredited)
Traditional lullaby
- How long is Champagne for Caesar?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Kvitt eller dubbelt
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 39 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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