The Fortune (1975)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Mike Nichols

Writer:

Carole Eastman (written by)

Release Date:

16 October 1975 (Argentina)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

It takes three to tango (if you don't count the chicken)

Plot:

Two bumbling hustlers in the 1920s attempt to gain the fortune of an heiress. Nothing will stop them . not even murder.

Plot Keywords:

Scheme | 1920s | Heiress | Will | Across State Lines

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Stockard Channing	...	Fredrika Contessa 'Freddie' Biggars / Sullivan
Jack Nicholson	...	Oscar Sullivan aka Oscar Dix
Warren Beatty	...	Nicky Wilson
Ian Wolfe	...	Justice of the Peace
Rose Michtom	...	His Wife
Brian Avery	...	Airline Steward
Florence Stanley	...	Mrs. Gould
Dub Taylor	...	Rattlesnake Tom
Catlin Adams	...	Girl Lover (as Nira Barab)
Christopher Guest	...	Boy Lover
Scatman Crothers	...	Fisherman
Tom Newman	...	John the Barber
Jim Antonio	...	1st Policeman
Vic Vallaro	...	2nd Policeman
Richard B. Shull	...	Chief Detective Sergeant Jack Power

Also Known As:

Spite and Malice

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:L | Sweden:11 | UK:12 (video rating) (2005) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:PG | UK:15 (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Culver City Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In an interview on Trio's series "Face Time" (2002), producer Peter Guber revealed that the film Shampoo (1975) was only made because its creators insisted on its being green-lit along with The Fortune (1975). Everyone concerned was convinced The Fortune (1975) would be a huge hit, given its stellar line-up of filmmakers, so the deal was accepted. As it turned out, The Fortune (1975) was a flop and Shampoo (1975) was the huge hit.

Quotes:

Nicky Wilson: [To Frederica who's screaming because Oscar is walking on the plane's wing during flight] Just ignore him.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Lion Roars Again (1975)

the cinematic world entails many fortunes; we can debate whether or not it includes this one

When I read about "Silkwood" in a movie encyclopedia, the caption said that Mike Nichols's career had come to a halt eight years earlier with "The Fortune". Watching the latter, I laughed but also felt like the movie was a little bit low for the director of "The Graduate" and "Catch-22". Portraying uptight Warren Beatty and over-conspicuous Jack Nicholson transporting Stockard Channing to California for what were deemed immoral purposes by the Mann Act in the 1920s, it seems like much of the flick consists of Beatty getting angry at Nicholson for not taking their predicament too seriously. But the last twenty minutes were a hoot, I will say that.

So, this may be Mike Nichols's only movie that you sit around in your underwear and watch. I gotta pity the characters for having a landlady like the one portrayed in the movie. Also starring Scatman Crothers (that's right, the cook from "The Shining") and a very young Christopher Guest.