Customer Reviews

If I Had a Million [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

IF I HAD A MILLION isn't going to top anybody's list of best movies of all time, but I found it to be a fascinating little picture. A previous reviewer claims that the only segment worth watching is the one with W. C. Fields. I loved it, but it wasn't the only one I liked and it wasn't even my favorite. (It's not the only funny one, either, as the reviewer says.) The plot centers on a dying millionaire who refuses to leave his money to his family, who are waiting like vultures for him to die. Instead, he picks eight names at random from the telephone book and for the rest of the movie we watch a diverse group of people receive a million dollars and how it impacts their lives. Not all of them are lucky to receive the money. The group includes a nervous, hen-pecked husband who works in a china shop and can't stop breaking china; a sympathetic prostitute; a known forger who can't cash his $1,000,000.00 check precisely because he's a known forger; a guy on death row about to be electrocuted; a rowdy marine (played by Gary Cooper) who gives his check away because he thinks it's an April fool's joke; a man working a desk job in the bowels of a gloomy office building; a little old lady in a nursing home who, after receiving the check, buys the home and turns it into a rolicking party house. Some of the segments work better than others, but I found all of them interesting in one way or another. The movie was made during the Great Depression (1932) and has historic value on that basis since it's clearly a Depression-era movie geared to lifting people's spirits via wish fulfillment. Aside from Cooper, the film stars Charles Laughton and W. C. Fields (among other stars of the time). The acting ranges from barely mediocre to simply excellent. Ernst Lubitsch wrote and I think directed one of the segments.

The now out-of-print DVD featured here was released in 2006 by a company called Hollywood's Attic. It's full screen. The transfer, while not digitally remastered or anything, is actually pretty good. There are no extras. The menu gives two options: Play and Select Chapter. Still if all you want is the movie, this DVD is fine. I definitely enjoyed it.

This is the ultimate episodic film, full of Paramount's biggest stars at the time including Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, Charlie Ruggles and George Raft. Each star is featured in short one or two reelers based on the theme-What would happen if a tycoon gave a million dollars to a random person in the phone book? The results are funny, poignant, sad, and all are interesting. The comic segments include a memorable one (very short and to the point) by Laughton, and one by W.C. Fields which helped to resurrect his movie career.

The shame of it is that Universal Pictures Video has this movie and thousands others of Fields and other comedies and features locked in a vault and never released for video. One wonders why they are keeping secret all of these films that they could be making money on as a retail item. It is interesting to note that W.C. Fields basically began his premium sound career with his short bit from this film, and ended it in 1942 in another episodic film (recently restored to include him), "Tales of Manhattan" by Fox Video. At least Fox knows the value of bringing an old chestnut like that one to the market. If we are lucky, maybe someone at Universal will wise up and release "If I Had A Million", too.

Like others, I purchased this DVD-R, together with "Tillie & Gus" and "Mississippi". A week ago I was thumbing through some UK sites (AmazonUK) and discovered Universal has released a 17 movie box set of WC Fields.
Included are the 10 already released in the 2 Fields Box sets, plus "Six of a Kind", "Big Broadcast of 1938" AND RESTORED COPIES OF "Million Dollar Legs", "Follow the Boys", "Mississippi", "If I Had a Million" and "Tillie and Gus". Had been selling for 60-odd English Pounds, I bought it for @ $50 AU (about $45 American dollars). I'm stoked!!! Now, there's only "Mrs Wiggs", "Her Majesty Love", "Alice in Wonderland", "Songs of the Open Road" and "Sensations of 1945" to go. (Fields' bits in "Tales of Manhattan" is already out on a Fox DVD).

I SAW THIS MOVIE DECADES AGO AND HAVE SEARCHED THE WORLD FOR A COPY. IN THIS MOVIE, WC FIELDS AND HIS WIFE ARE SICK OF HAVING PEOPLE RUN THEM OFF THE ROAD. AFTER RECEIVING ONE MILLION DOLLARS THEY BUY A FLEET OF CARS AND DRIVE THE STREETS SMASHING INTO "ROAD HOGS". THEY THEN GET OUT OF THEIR DAMAGED CAR, GET INTO THE ONE IN BACK OF THEM THAT IS BEING DRIVEN BY A CHAUFFER, AND START ALL OVER AGAIN! A TOTAL SCREAM THAT HAS NEVER BEEN AVAILABLE UNTIL NOW. WHEN I SAW IT ON AMAZON AND BOUGHT IT SO FAST MY HEAD IS STILL SPINNING WITH JOY!!. .....DENNIS

I'm not a Fields fan, but I was totally charmed by the delightful chemistry between him and Skipworth as they casually buy and crash cars into road hogs. The other segments vary depending on your taste. Stars like Gary Cooper and Charles Ruggles have some interesting segments.

Well worth watching just for nostalgia

The "If I Had A Million" VHS (83 minutes) copy was 7 minutes less than the film's original version of 90 minutes. Missing was 95% of the hilarious W.C.Field's "Road Hog" segment. What a disappointment that this copy was made from a local TV station's print which cut the film to allow more commercial time. I reordered when I finally found the original 90 minute version.

A quintessential Depression-era gem of a film, critical to any 30's/40's collection...seven or eight directors at the top of their games (with different writers for each episode) take turns with Hollywood stars who have one thing in common: their characters suddenly receive $1,000,000 from an eccentric millionaire, no strings attached.

Some episodes will tickle your funny bone; some may provoke tears; some will prompt serious thought...and the ending is most novel (for the times). Thanks to the wonders of dvd remote, one can skip a bit or two and enjoy time and again personal favorite scenes without losing continuity.

The movie was the inspiration for the popular 1950's show, "The Millionaire."

Good, crisp picture, and sound much better than most films of this era. A first-class flick and one-of-a-kind!

This is one of those fantastic films that few people know about. A great film that says so much in the little stories of how the diverse people spend their millions. A great look at the times and attitudes as well.

This is a great collection of short films with fabulous actors and comedians. My absolute favorite is "Road Hog" with W.C. Fields. Wonderful! And from a time that is gone forever....

This "episodic" movie is mostly a slow Melodrama with the only comedy coming from W.C. Fields' 10 minute sequence in the middle.

An ailing Millionaire decides to give away some of his wealth to those less fortunate ( this later bacame a television show in the 1950's ). The affects on the recipient's lives is dramatized in this multi-story movie. The highlight is the comedy relief story of W.C. Fields mid-way through. Fields buys a new (for that time) car and encounters a road hog.

The rest of the film is more interesting for the historic value of seeing Paramount's stars of that time.

Of historic note: in the 1960's & 1970's Castle Films sold the 10 minute Fields segment for home use on 8mm & 16mm film. In 1979 MCA Home Video sold the entire movie on "DiscoVision" Video Laserdisc as one of their first home video releases. Since then there has been no official release of this title to the home market ( the source of this DVD release is uncertain ).