Million Dollar Mystery (1987)

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writers:

Rudy De Luca (writer)
Tim Metcalfe (writer)

Release Date:

12 June 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

There are millions hidden somewhere nearby, and these wild and crazy people will do almost anything to find it.

Plot:

A disparate group of travelers is eating in an isolated restaurant when a man drops dead of a heart attack...

Plot Keywords:

Audience Participation | Contest | Product Placement | Bridge | Car Crash

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Jamie Alcroft	...	Bob
Royce D. Applegate	...	Tugger
Penny Baker	...	Charity
Eddie Deezen	...	Rollie
Mack Dryden	...	Fred
Douglas Emerson	...	Howie Briggs
Tawny Fere	...	Faith
H.B. Haggerty	...	Awful Abdul
Rich Hall	...	Slaughter Buzzárd
LaGena Hart	...	Hope
Mona Lyden	...	Barbara Briggs
Pam Matteson	...	Dottie
Daniel McDonald	...	Crush
Gail Neely	...	Officer Gretchen
Rick Overton	...	Stuart Briggs

Also Known As:

Money Mania

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Bisbee, Arizona, USA

Company:

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG)

Trivia:

Glad Bags and DeLaurentiis Entertainment co-sponsored a real-life million-dollar "treasure hunt" to coincide with this film's release. At the end of the movie, the cash is still missing, and moviegoers were invited to find the location of the hidden stash, using clues provided in the film (the sponsors also emphasized that the money wasn't PHYSICALLY hidden anywhere, lest anyone injure themselves or damage property while searching for the loot; the audience just had to GUESS where the money was hidden). Ticket buyers were even given game cards shaped like American currency--with a big photo of Dino De Laurentiis where the President should be. In the end, it was a big disaster for the studio. The film was one of the major flops of the 1980s, barely grossing a million dollars at the box office, which the studio wound up forking over to the contest winner, a woman in Bakersfield, California. (Incidentally, the money was hidden in the bridge of the Statue of Liberty's nose).

Quotes:

Tugger: Why did he have a paper-shredder this big anyway?
Stuart: Well, he worked for the government, didn't he.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Rat Race (2001)

Soundtrack:

Million Dollar Mystery

It was sponsored by Gladbag. Need I say more?

***SPOILER WARNING***

Is it me? Or are you just asking for trouble when your movie is sponsored by a company that makes trash bags? Many movies use huge ad campaigns but I swear 'Million Dollar Mystery' is the only movie that I can think of that IS an ad campaign.

Commercials at the time featured Tom Bosely informing us that there was a million bucks stashed somewhere in the United States. Half the clues were in boxes of Gladbags, the other half were in this movie.

The movie is more or less beside the point. It is a dimwitted remake of Stanley Kramer's 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'. A dying man (played by Bosley) stumbles into a diner and just before he dies he informs the other cast members that he has hidden $4 million bucks and gives them clues on where to find it. Maybe I'm being greedy but don't you feel kind of gypped that they get 4 million bucks for their troubles and we only get one?

The funniest scene in Kramer's comedy is when Jimmy Durante kicks the bucket, literally. It's a classic gag that filmmakers of this movie wisely chose not to steal. If they did it would have taken time away from the other 25 plus sponsors who have product placements throughout the movie.

Once upon a time Walt Disney took a gamble at whether or not audiences would sit through a movie where the cartoon was the feature and made 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. Producer Dino De Laurentis apparently took a gamble on whether or not audience would sit through a movie where the commercial was the feature and failed miserably. How many people do you know who have seen this movie?

Rating: * (of four)