Customer Reviews

Million Pound Note (1954) (PAL Format)

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

 

 

This Black and White film, released in 1954 in Britain as "The Million Pound Note" and in the USA as "Man with a Million", is an interesting and entertaining comedy.

It is based on a classic Mark Twain story: focusing on how a man's true worth is not determined by externals (in this case, the Million Pound note that Peck's character carries, but cannot spend, as he agreed with the two English capitalists who rescued him from the street).

Many of the scenes, such as Peck's Character walking into a men's clothiers shop in rags, and then seeing the clerk's reaction to him before (and after) learning that he carried such a note, are really hilarious - and do a good job of illustrating how much all of us value others based on externals.

Gregory Peck was very conscious of social issues and active in campaigning against social ills and wrongs. This film is one of the earliest examples of his expressing his strong feelings in this area through his art.

Although the film satirizes British ideas about class and "good breeding", the underlying lesson really applies to us all, regardless of our country of origin. Highly recommended!

NB: VHS copies of this film can be found, with some digging, through classic video sites located in the US and Canada. DVD copies can also be found, but those I've located are not viewable on North American DVD Players.

I was delighted to find this great comedy in DVD format here in Amazon. The quality of image and sound of this import is surprisingly pretty good, definitely better than VHS.
Note:
You need to know if your DVD Player plays Pal and NTSC. Most new players in the US do these days.

I have this movie on VHS tape, but wish it would be put in a U.S DVD format. THis movie was made in 1954 and is based on a short story by Mark Twain. Gregory Peck plays a penniless American sailor lucky enough to be passing the house of two rich British men. They offer the sailor a loan in the form of a single banknote in the amount of one MILLION POUNDS. The sailor finds that whenever he tries to spend it, no one is able to make change, therefore they let him have whatever he desires on account, assuming that he is a very wealthy man. Ultimately, the money turns out to be more of a curse than a blessing. It has a good ending.
As I said, I wish this movie would be put on DVD for Region 1. It seems like foreign countries are luckier than the United States in having these great, old movies put on DVD. Wish our movie distributors would get on the ball and let us see these wonderful movies, too!

This movie is a wonderful classic comedy. I was very happy to find this movie in DVD available now here on Amazon. A charming and funny movie to watch again and again.

I have always loved this movie, a story based on a Mark Twain writing. I saw it last on TV years ago and wanted to get a copy for myself and for the college film class I teach. The DVD sucks! The color is off just enough to to be irritating and the initial recording is in Chinese! While you can change the language, the dubbing is off....lips moving, no words or words and people just standing there. Unless you want to waste several dollars, I would not buy this knock off copy. I did find a very scarce VHS copy which restored my sanity. I should say the purchase of the "Chinese version" wasn't all bad, my students got a good laugh and a lesson in purchasing DVDs.