Help, I'm a millionaire
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Help, I'm a millionaire |
| Original title | Brewster's Millions |
 | |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1945 |
| length | 79 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Allan Dwan |
| script |
Sig Herzig Wilkie C. Mahoney Winchell Smith |
| production | Edward Small |
| music |
Louis Forbes Hugo Friedhofer |
| camera | Charles Lawton Jr. |
| cut |
Richard Heermance Grant Whytock |
| occupation | |
| |
Help, I'm a Millionaire (Original title Brewster's Millions ) is an American comedy film from 1945 directed by Allan Dwan and starring Dennis O'Keefe and Helen Walker . The film is based on the novel Brewster's Millions (1902) by George Barr McCutcheon .
action
Montague L. Brewster returns to native New York after completing his military service in Europe during World War II to marry his bride, Peggy Gray. When he learns that he may inherit eight million dollars from a deceased uncle, Brewster postpones the upcoming wedding. The thing has a little catch. Brewster will only receive the warm cash rain if he manages to spend a million of it within two months, by his 30th birthday. However, he is not allowed to invest the money in order to become even richer. The idea behind it: The uncle hoped that one day his nephew would be fed up with just pointlessly spending money so that at least the remaining seven million would be protected from squandering. Brewster is not particularly enthusiastic about this news at first, especially since the conditions forbid him from telling anyone about the circumstances of his financial boon. Nevertheless, he also sees the opportunities behind the offer, and so he accepts the inheritance conditions.
He quickly founds his own company called Brewster & Company, which is to deal with investments of all kinds. Since Brewster thinks he has no idea about it, he is absolutely certain that he will quickly squander the million to be invested. To be on the safe side, he hires two more financial rivets, his war buddies Hacky Smith and Noppy Harrison, whom he believes are the perfect misclosures, and makes them vice presidents of his newly founded company. Brewster is amazed, because no matter how hard he tries, all his plans to lose money with his own company fail, because Brewster's investments turn out to be consistently profitable. While Peggy, who was hired as a secretary, can hardly believe her luck, Brewster's mood is getting worse. In order to lose the money after all, Brewster embarks on all sorts of antics, which on the one hand scare Peggy, and Hacky and Noppy on the other hand immediately try to counteract. How can Montague's future wife also suspect that Brewster's hooking up with the society lioness Barbara Drew and with the showgirl Trixie Summers is only for unrestrained spending? Peggy becomes increasingly jealous, and Brewster's buddies try desperately to keep his money together by trying to thwart all of his "crazy" plans.
Peggy, who can neither understand her fiancé's antics nor is willing to endure any longer, separates temporarily from Montague. But her mother persuades her to go on an expensive cruise with Brewster, on which Brewster also wants to take the entire cast of a failed play - one of his other hair-raising investments - with her. But Montague's plan to lose money as quickly as possible just doesn't work out. As Vice Presidents, Hack and Noppy have their hands full, undoing everything that their obviously crazy friend and boss instigates. The yacht chartered for the cruise, for example, is promptly made to return to New York. However, a lost submarine sea mine prevents the return of the luxurious, ailing ship. So Brewster is just right that a Brazilian freighter crossing the sea route offers to tow him to a port in Florida, which would cost the proud sum of $ 450,000. After all the cost of that crashed cruise, Brewster would finally have raised the million dollar expense.
Back in New York, Brewster believes he is closer to the goal of the seven million inheritance than ever before, when Hacky and Noppy bring him the "happy" news that they have recovered $ 40,012 from all his crazy expenses. Brewster thinks he'll be hit because the money must be used up at noon sharp. He only has a few hours left when he remembers that he has not yet paid the executor's fee. With that sum, plus two other small sums of debt that he settles immediately, Brewster wasted a million dollars on time. He pocketed the remaining seven million and took Peggy by the hand to get married to her as soon as possible. Montague L. Brewster is about to leave the building when he meets a hawker who wants to sell him something that costs two cents more than a store. Marked by the experiences of the past two months, Brewster throws the poor man out of the house.
Production notes
Help, I'm a Millionaire was created in the late phase of World War II , between August 7th and mid-September 1944 and was premiered on April 7th 1945. The German premiere took place on January 19, 1984 in the third program of WDR television.
The musical director Louis Forbes , unlike Hugo Friedhofer , who is not mentioned as a composer , received an Oscar nomination for his work .
Joseph Sternad created the film structures, Odette Myrtil created the costumes.
useful information
Brewster's Millions is a popular movie material and has hit the silver screen multiple times, including (selection):
- 1914 by Cecil B. DeMille
- 1921 by Joseph Henabery
- 1926 by Clarence G. Badger (as Miss Brewster's Millions )
- 1935 by Thornton Freeland
- 1961 by Sidney J. Furie (as Three on a Spree )
- 1984 by Walter Hill
synchronization
The following synchronization is from 1983.
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Montague L. Brewster | Dennis O'Keefe | Eckart Dux |
| Peggy Gay | Helen Walker | Monica Bielenstein |
| Trixie Summers | June Havoc | Anita Kupsch |
| Servant Jackson | Eddie "Rochester" Anderson | Helmut Krauss |
| Barbara Drew | Gail Patrick | Barbara Adolph |
| Hacky Smith | Joe Sawyer | Klaus Sunshine |
Reviews
The Movie & Video Guide called the comedy a “luminous, energetic film adaptation”.
Halliwell's Film Guide stated succinctly: "Competent American remake."
The lexicon of international films says: "A turbulent, hectic comedy, more silly than funny, with only a few original ideas."
Individual evidence
- ↑ Help, I'm a millionaire in the German dubbing index .
- ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 164.
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 141.
- ↑ Help, I'm a millionaire. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 9, 2020 .
Web links
- Brewster's Millions in the American Film Institute Catalog
- Brewster's Millions in Turner Classic Movies
- Help, I'm a millionaire in the Internet Movie Database (English)