The Million Pound Note [Man with a Million] *** (1954, Gregory Peck, Jane Griffiths, Ronald Squire, Joan Grenfell, Ernest Thesiger, A E Matthews, Wilfrid Hyde White) – Classic Movie Review 9372

Gregory Peck came to Britain in the 1950s to film two movies for the Rank Organisation and sadly neither did very well (the other is The Purple Plain).

In Ronald Neame’s 1954 The Million Pound Note [Man with a Million], a mildly amusing, zestily handled movie based on Mark Twain’s short story The Million Pound Bank Note, he plays Henry Adams, a poor American sailor handed the note of the title by rich, eccentric British brothers Oliver and Roderick Montpelier (Ronald Squire and Wilfrid Hyde White) as a wager between the brothers. They have persuaded the Bank of England to issue a one million pound bank note.

Oliver’s idea is that the note’s existence would enable its owner to obtain whatever he needs, while Roderick believes it would have to be cashed. And so Henry Adams has to live like a lord for a month without cashing it, but he can keep it if it remains intact, so it eventually proves to be his entry into society.

Peck seems subdued by a script by Jill Craigie that doesn’t develop much from its intriguing premise, but there is some fun among the home team support cast, particularly Joan Grenfell as socialite Duchess of Cromarty, Ernest Thesiger, A E Matthews, Reginald Beckwith, Wilfrid Hyde White and Hartley Power.

Also in the cast are Maurice Denham, Brian Oulton, John Slater, Wilbur Evans, Jane Griffiths, George Devine, Harold Goodwin, Bryan Forbes, Ronald Adam, Joan Hickson, Gudrun Ure [Ann Gudrun], Eliot Makeham, Percy Marmont, Richard Caldicot, Hugh Latimer, Laurence Naismith, Andrew Faulds, Ian Wilson, Hal Osmond, Gibb McLaughlin, Hugh Griffith, Willoughby Goddard, Peggy Ann Clifford, Ronnie Corbett, Larry Dann, Fred Griffiths, Harold Goodwin, Christopher Hewett, Roddy Hughes, Totti Truman Taylor and Mona Washbourne.

The Million Pound Note [Man with a Million] is directed by Ronald Neame, runs 91 minutes, is made by Group Film Productions, is released by General Film Distributors (1953) (UK) and United Artists (1954) (US), is written by Jill Craigie, based on Mark Twain’s short story The Million Pound Bank Note, is shot in Technicolor by Geoffrey Unsworth, is produced by Earl St John (executive producer) and John Bryan, is scored  by William Alwyn and is designed by John Box and Jack Maxsted.

Previously Mark Twain’s short story had been adapted for British TV in 1950 by Rex Rienits and producer Daniel Angel bought the film rights for the adaptation. It is thought to be a precursor to the 1983 Trading Places.

Future director Clive Donner is the film editor.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9372

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