Fitzwilly (1967)

When Miss Vicki's father dies, she becomes the world's greatest philanthropist. Unfortunately, she is flat broke! Her loyal butler, Claude Fitzwilliam, leads the household staff to rob from... See full summary »

Director:

Delbert Mann

Writers:

Isobel Lennart (screenplay), Poyntz Tyler (based on a novel by)

Stars:

Dick Van Dyke, Barbara Feldon, John McGiver

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dick Van Dyke	...	Claude R. Fitzwilliam
Barbara Feldon	...	Juliet Nowell
John McGiver	...	Albert
Edith Evans	...	Miss Victoria Woodworth
Harry Townes	...	Mr. Nowell
John Fiedler	...	Mr. Morton Dunne
Anne Seymour	...	Grimsby
Norman Fell	...	Oberblatz
Cecil Kellaway	...	Buckmaster
Stephen Strimpell	...	Byron Casey
Helen Kleeb	...	Mrs. Mortimer
Paul Reed	...	Prettikin
Albert Carrier	...	Pierre
Nelson Olmsted	...	Simmons
Dennis Cooney	...	Assistant D.A. Elliot Adams

Storyline

When Miss Vicki's father dies, she becomes the world's greatest philanthropist. Unfortunately, she is flat broke! Her loyal butler, Claude Fitzwilliam, leads the household staff to rob from various businesses by charging goods to various wealthy people and misdirecting the shipments, all to keep Miss Vicki's standard of living. After Fitzwilly's mother died Miss Vicki helped raise him and he loves her like a mother and would do anything for her. With Fitzwilly's encouragement, Miss Vicki writes a "Dictionary for Dopes" which contains all possible phonetic spellings of a word, and gives the reader the correct one, and for that she needs a secretary. Juliet is the one who is hired, soon she is caught up in the intrigue and falls in love with Fitzwilly. They agree to carry out one more caper before they get married, to keep Miss Vicki comfortable for the rest of her days.

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Plot Keywords:

wealthy | dictionary | philanthropist | spelling | butler | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 1968 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The One with the Fuzz

Filming Locations:

High Street, Moorpark, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Fitzwilly's thrift store is named for St. Dismas, the "good thief," in Christian tradition.

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Goofs

When Fitzwilly is picking out a piano there is a moving shadow from a piece of equipment.

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Soundtracks

"Jingle Bells"
(uncredited)
Written by James Pierpont

User Reviews

An ethical & fun film

I was surprised by one review deeming it unethical. The butler was in the wrong though for unselfish reasons. The story both had romance (& like another reviewer I too had a crush on Barbara Feldon in my preteen 1960's years) and rebuke: she saw the butler's heart and insisted that he end his life of crime and help the old lady only through honest ways. Good heart & bad action was changed to good heart & good action, wasn't it. And it was great fun too. This is a film that I'm looking to get my hands on. Dick van Dyke has had some good films (eg Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), and this is one of his best.