☆ ☆ ☆ ½
If
I Had a Million (1932) – Multiple Directors
Steel magnate Bennett is ill and near
death but can’t stand his bickering relatives or grovelling employees. So, he decides to give away his millions to
six random people, drawn from the telephone book. Six different writers (including Mankewicz)
and directors (including Lubitsch) created sketches to be played by an array of
stars (including W. C. Fields, Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, George Raft, and
Charlie Ruggles). The result is, as you
would expect, a mixed bag. However,
there are more hits than misses, particularly Fields and Alison Skipworth
buying old cars to crash “road hogs”, Laughton’s raspberry to the boss, and
Ruggles’ china smashing hurrah. A little
pathos is thrown in with the comedy for good measure, this being the Depression
and all.
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