Brewster's Millions (1945) Dennis O'Keefe (TVRip)

Brewster's Millions (1945)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037557/

Directed by
Allan Dwan

Writing credits
Sig Herzig writer (as Siegfried Herzig)
Wilkie C. Mahoney writer (as Wilkie Mahoney)
George Barr McCutcheon novel
Byron Ongley play
Charles Rodgers writer
Winchell Smith play

Monty Brewster is a pennyless, former U.S. Army soldier back from World War II Europe who learns that he has inherited $8 million from a distant relative. But there's a catch: he must spend $1 million of that money in less than two months before his 30th birthday in order to inherit the rest.

Cast
Dennis O'Keefe ... Montague L. 'Monty' Brewster
Helen Walker ... Peggy Gray
June Havoc ... Trixie Summers
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson ... Jackson
Gail Patrick ... Barbara Drew
Mischa Auer ... Mikhail Mikhailovich
Nana Bryant ... Mrs. Gray
John Litel ... Swearengen Jones
Joe Sawyer ... Hacky Smith
Neil Hamilton ... Mr. Grant
Herbert Rudley ... Nopper Harrison
Thurston Hall ... Colonel Drew
Eddie Acuff ... Cab Driver (uncredited)
Chester Conklin ... Stage Doorman (uncredited)
Joseph Crehan ... Notary (uncredited)
Helen Dickson ... Woman at Yacht Party (uncredited)
Eddie Dunn ... Police Detective (uncredited)
William Forrest ... Yacht Captain (uncredited)
Byron Foulger ... Attorney Lyons (uncredited)
Eddie Kane ... Eddie (uncredited)
Perc Launders ... First Mate (uncredited)
Matt McHugh ... Lefty Leach (uncredited)
Barbara Pepper ... Cab Driver (uncredited)
Grady Sutton ... Packard - Costume Designer (uncredited)
Harry Tyler ... Door to Door Salesman (uncredited)
George Tyne ... Cab Driver (uncredited)
Charles C. Wilson ... Charlie - the Stage Director (uncredited)

Produced by
Edward Small .... producer

Cinematography by
Charles Lawton Jr. (as Charles Lawton)

Film Editing by
Richard V. Heermance (as Richard Heermance)

Art Direction by
Joseph Sternad

Set Decoration by
Sydney Moore

Costume Design by
Odette Myrtil (as Odette)

Makeup Department
Otis Malcolm .... makeup artist

Production Management
Walter Mayo .... production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Burch .... assistant director

Sound Department
John R. Carter .... sound (as John Carter)
Harold E. McGhan .... sound effects editor

Editorial Department
Grant Whytock .... supervising editor (as Grant Wytock)

Music Department
Louis Forbes .... musical director (as Louis E. Forbes)

Other crew
Grant Whytock .... assistant to producer (as Grant Wytock)

User Comments (Comment on this title)
20 out of 25 people found the following comment useful.
The best of the several versions, 3 May 2002

Author: RtRj from Los Angeles

Tune your brain to the days when a dollar bought a LOT. Then watch this version of "Brewster's Millions." It is absolutely hysterical, and none of the more recent versions come close.

13 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
screwball comedy that's worth the money, 7 January 2004

Author: ST from Peoria, Illinois

Unfortunately, mention of the film title today always stops with Richard Pryor. While the Peoria comedian deserves mention, his 1985 film is not the definitive version. You have to go back to 1945 to pick up the Dennis O'Keefe rendition. It's wild and wacky, silly enough to amuse but also throws a spotlight on Hollywood's special ability to let one escape from the real world for an hour or two. Good luck finding it!

13 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
where oh where?...why oh why?, 28 January 2006

Author: JJ from Bay Area, California

Where has this wonderfully funny movie been hiding all these years? And why? It's long been on my short list of films I wish would show up on home video, along with Mel Brooks' "High Anxiety" and Altman's "A Perfect Couple" and "A Wedding". Though most of what Allan Dwan directed before and after WWII was more or less serious, he made nothing but a dozen or so comedies/musicals from 1940 through 1945. And this may have been the best of them, certainly vastly superior to the 1985 Richard Pryor remake. The all-but-forgotten Dennis O'Keefe starred in the last several, including 2 that can still be found on VHS -- "Up in Mabel's Room" and "Getting Gertie's Garter". These may have constituted the last flowering of the screwball comedy genre that had produced so many hilarious films since the mid-30s. To be fair, "My Friend Irma", which introduced Martin & Lewis just a few years later, was probably the very last really worthy film of the genre. These Dwan/O'Keefe gems were not so much the Three Stooges/Marx Bros./Lucy breathless kind of silly as they were softer slapstick fare. In fact, they were the precursor of some of the earliest and funniest TV sitcoms -- Marie Wilson as "My Friend Irma", Elena Verdugo in "Meet Millie", Joan Davis in "I Married Joan" and Eve Arden as "Our Miss Brooks" -- all of which debuted in 1952. Granted, "Brewster's Millions" is by no means a great film, but it's typical of a kind of good light-hearted entertainment that many might enjoy today if given the chance.

7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
A late screwball comedy, 8 February 2009

Author: S from United States

I originally saw this film when I was a boy of 7 (assuming it was in the year the film was released, 1945) and I've been waiting all those 64 years to see it again, since it stuck permanently in my childish mind as a delightful experience. Well, upon finally seeing it again on TCM, on February 2, 2009, like several other of your commentators, I still think it's a delightful experience, and I couldn't believe my ears when it was announced to be broadcast as a TCM premiere. I believe it's the non-stop snappiness of the dialogue in true screwball comedy fashion which makes it so endlessly entertaining. Up till now I've given the prize for snappy dialogue to the biopic of Dorothy Parker called "Dorothy" (year?) in whose opening scene all the witty Algonquineers throw verbal shafts at one another as the camera pans across them one by one; but BM is right in there as a contender for that title. The one-liners went by so fast I can't remember a single one of them; but they're all good. Who wrote such witty stuff? I was sure it must have been a Preston Sturges comedy until the deco logo flashed across the screen "An Edward Small Production." Edward who? This was the first time I had ever seen or noticed that name before. Yet on IMDb his bio and filmography as a producer are a mile long. I'll have to investigate more of ES' work.

1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
A lot of Charm, 13 February 2009
Author: ME from Louisville, KY

Brewster's Millions (1945)

Screwball comedy has Monty Brewster (Dennis O'Keefe) returning home from the war and finding himself with an inheritance for $8 million. The only catch is that he must spend $1 million within a two month period in order to collect the rest of the money. One of the deals is that he can't tell anyone so the people around him, including his fiancé (Helen Walker) and best friend (Joe Sawyer) thinks he's crazy. This was the fifth version of this famous story and two more would follow with the most recent being the 1985 version with Richard Pryor and John Candy. Having only seen tha version (the 1914 Cecil B. DeMille film is lost) this one here plays much better, although there aren't quite as many laughs. For a comedy one might say this fails because there aren't too many laughs but I didn't find that to be the case because there's so much innocent charm that one can't help but get caught up in the story and the situation O'Keefe finds himself in. O'Keefe really makes the film go with his frantic performance, which is very good. The way he slowly starts to lose his mind as he can't get all the money spent is priceless and makes for a good time. June Havoc, Gail Patrick, Mischa Auer and John Litel add nice support as well. Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, a black actor, does a great job playing O'Keefe's servant and delivers most of the laughs in the film. It's also worth noting that this movie was banned in Memphis because it was deemed that their relationship was too "equal in nature" and the people of Memphis didn't want people watching a movie where the races were shown as equal. While the film isn't a major success or a masterpiece of comedy, it does work for what it is. The nice performances by the now forgotten actors is another reason to watch this film even though it's rather rare.

1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Money Can Be Everything-Brewster's Millions ***1/2, 2 February 2009

Author: eg from United States

Dennis O'Keefe in a field day romp in Brewster's Millions.

He becomes an instant millionaire through inheritance but in order to get the full $8 million, he must spend $1 million by age 30, which is in 2 months.

He is not permitted to tell anyone why he is spending money as if there is no tomorrow. Naturally, his love-life will be adversely affected.

Of course, when this occurs, O'Keefe gets that Midas Touch. Everything and everyone he touches yields a gold-mine.

As his butler, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson has lots of fun here and you can see that he is enjoying himself..

The film co-stars Helen Walker as his befuddled girlfriend and there is a nice turn by June Havoc, as a flashy Broadway show-girl, caught up in this mayhem.

The picture succeeds because of the fine performance of O'Keefe who has the part of the suddenly wealthy ex-G.I. down to a science. We feel his emotions of joy, frustration and comic desires.

We're in the Money, 2 February 2009

Author: bl from New York City

Alan Dwan was sent out in 1911 to find a missing film crew. According to the story, the director was out on a bender and he cabled the home office "You have no director. Suggest you disband company." Back came a telegram saying "You direct." With this telegram he went to the crew and said "Either I'm a director or you're out of a job." "You're the best director we ever saw!" And direct he did for the next fifty years, sometimes shorts, sometimes prime features with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and often in the Bs, but always doing his best.

This is one of his best Bs, based on a story written by George Barr McCutcheon, which he wrote under a pen name to prove he could write a best-seller without depending on his name to sell it. It was a best seller. The stage play that this movie was based on was also a hit, and this farce, directed at top speed with a great cast. If it ever shows up anywhere you can reach it, go to see it.

He's "in the money" but has to lose it..., 2 February 2009

Author: nd from U.S.A.

This is a harmless screwball romp (one of the last of its kind) from the '40s starring DENNIS O'KEEFE as a man who, to satisfy the whim of a wealthy relative, has to spend $1,000,000 within a short amount of time in order to qualify for a $7,000,000 inheritance.

The script makes sure that he has a hard time ridding himself of dough. Seems everything he touches suddenly has the Midas touch. It's stretching it a bit when he even gets a telephone call from some radio show blithely announcing that he just won $25,000. It should happen to all of us, most of whom are still waiting for the Prize Patrol to show up at our door from Publisher's Clearing House.

Anyway, the script makes sure that O'Keefe has to mug his way through many hapless situations involving show biz connections, a fancy yacht, horse racing, everything that conceivably could give him a chance of losing money--but of course there's a happy ending.

Nice to see so many '40s players in the supporting roles. HELEN WALKER, NEIL HAMILTON, JOHN LITEL, JUNE HAVOC,MISCHA AUER, GAIL PATRICK, EDDIE "ROCHESTER" ANDERSON among others.

Allan Dwan directed and keeps things moving at a fast clip. And whatever happened to DENNIS O'KEEFE? He was a good light comedian and did a lot of straight dramatic roles too. Then suddenly he was out of sight in the movies, swallowed up by television for most of his career.

Movie connections for
Brewster's Millions (1945)
Brewster's Millions (1914)
Brewster's Millions (1921)
Miss Brewster's Millions (1926)
Brewster's Millions (1935)
Three on a Spree (1961)
Brewster's Millions (1985)
Brewster's Millions (2012)

Spoofed in
Dough Ray Me-ow (1948)

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