The Million Pound Note (1954)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Ronald Neame

Writers:

Mark Twain (story)
Jill Craigie (writer)

Release Date:

18 June 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Great fun... you can bank on it!

Plot:

Two rich British men offer a penniless American a loan, without telling him that the amount is £1,000,000, and this in the form of a single banknote.

Plot Keywords:

American | Money | Rowboat | Based On Short Story | Tailor

Cast

Gregory Peck	...	Henry Adams
Ronald Squire	...	Oliver Montpelier
Joyce Grenfell	...	Duchess of Cromarty
A.E. Matthews	...	Duke of Frognell
Maurice Denham	...	Mr. Reid
Reginald Beckwith	...	Rock
Brian Oulton	...	Lloyd
John Slater	...	Parsons
Wilbur Evans	...	American Ambassador
Hartley Power	...	Hastings
George Devine	...	Lloyd Hastings
Bryan Forbes	...	Todd
Gudrun Ure	...	Renie (as Ann Gudrun)
Hugh Wakefield	...	Duke of Cromarty
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Roderick Montpelier (as Wilfrid Hyde White)

Also Known As:

Man with a Million (USA)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Group Film Productions Limited

Trivia:

The prop £1,000,000 note was larger in both size (about 7 x 9 inches) and value than any real note produced by the Bank of England up to that time, even notes for internal use. However, the bank still imposed strict regulations, which were violated when posters advertising the movie showed a reproduction of the note. This had to be covered over before the posters were allowed to be used.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The flag outside the U.S. consulate features 48 stars, although an American flag in 1903 would have had only 45 stars.

Quotes:

Mr. Reid: Now what about a cycling suit, Mr. Adams ? Cycling is all the rage nowadays. And then of course there is Ascot.
Henry Adams: I'm not gonna do any cycling and I'm not gonna do any Ascotting. Sailing is my hobby.
Mr. Reid: Ah ! The sport of kings. Very right and proper for a personage such as yourself.
Henry Adams: I thought racing was the sport of kings ?
Mr. Reid: [unperturbed] Then it ought to be sailing !
[to his assistant]
Mr. Reid: Nip in the waist a bit.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Trading Places (1983)

Soundtrack:

The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo

Man with a million

Arriving home, with a long day of work behind me, and another ahead, I was in the mood for something friendly and undemanding. Ronald Neame's 'The Million Pound Note (1953)' was exactly what the doctor ordered. This lightweight British comedy is, for one, wholly and absolutely pleasant: notice how there is not a single villain in the entire film, every character likable in their own, distinctively-British way. The old family friend, whom we are certain is a grumbling and untrustworthy shyster, turns out to be an honest entrepreneur. The man who arranges to deprive Henry Adams (Gregory Peck) of his wealth is merely a doddering old eccentric who just wants to show some patriotism for a personal lark. This is the sort of film whose conclusion is never in any doubt: Peck will get the girl, achieve happiness, and learn to live without the extravagance to which he thought he would become accustomed. Frankly, I can't imagine the film ending any other way.

When penniless American stowaway Henry Adams (Peck, probably on his way to Italy to film 'Roman Holiday (1953)') requests a small loan from the US embassy in London, he is flatly denied by an indifferent official. However, a pair of childish millionaires (Ronald Squire and Wilfrid Hyde-White) have an even greater plan for him. They loan Henry a rare million pound note, which he is forbidden to cash in, for just a one month engagement. Pretty soon, every store and hotel owner in the city is tripping over themselves to offer him free services, irrationally smitten with the honour of serving a wealthy American, however unorthodox his dress manner may be. Of course, the arrival of "millionaire" Henry Adams doesn't go unnoticed in the high societies of London, and Portia Landsdowne (Jane Griffiths) is soon love-struck with the humble American, though his apparent wealth hinders rather than aids their love affair. Will the couple be together by the film's end? You don't need me to tell you.

Though I had expected 'The Million Pound Note' to be a slightly wooden comedy, it was great to find the film regularly inciting a hearty chuckle. Two moments stand out above all the others. Firstly, Gregory Peck opening the brothers' envelope for the first time to pay for a hearty meal, and dazedly apologising for not having anything smaller (the store-owners accept Henry as an "eccentric millionaire" and offer the meal for free). Secondly, the charity auction event in which the famous American millionaire carefully counts the coins in his hand to bid £82 12s, before inadvertently bidding £5000 for a rather commonplace vase. As lightweight as it may be, the film also aims a few modest jabs at the superficiality and hypocrisy of British society, most of the characters welcoming Henry Adams only when under the impression that he is absurdly wealthy; there's a harsh but all-too-true irony in the fact that Henry can only secure a cash loan once the American embassy believes that he doesn't need it.