The Million Dollar Nickel (1952)

The title of this short refers to the 5-cent stamp required to send a letter overseas from the USA. In the war against Communism, these letters are worth a million dollars, because they ... See full summary »

Stars:

Pier Angeli, John Nesbitt, Ricardo Montalban

Cast

Cast overview:
Pier Angeli	...	Herself
John Nesbitt	...	Narrator
Ricardo Montalban	...	Himself
Leslie Caron	...	Herself
Zsa Zsa Gabor	...	Herself

Storyline

The title of this short refers to the 5-cent stamp required to send a letter overseas from the USA. In the war against Communism, these letters are worth a million dollars, because they counter Soviet dis-information against the United States. Immigrants are urged to send letters to their families and friends back in their native countries, describing their experiences in the USA. If they tell the truth in these letters, people will know that the anti-USA propaganda is untrue. Hollywood stars Pier Angeli, Ricardo Montalban, Leslie Caron, and Zsa Zsa Gabor, speaking in their native languages, urge their fellow countrymen to get involved in this effort.

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Plot Keywords:

cold war

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Genres:

Short

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

French English Hungarian Spanish Italian

Release Date:

1952 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

10 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Here in Philadelphia since 1793, they make money. Silver dollars, and half dollars, quarters and dimes, and pennies and nickels. And of all the coins minted in this building the nickel was once the most important to the average American. Yes, for a nickel any of us could buy most of the little things we needed. Remember when for a five cent piece we could get this... and in moist cases, a free lunch bees ides? And for that same nickel we could buy ourselves a shave, and for two ...

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Crazy Credits

All credited performers are identified by subtitles.

User Reviews

Nice Look at Some History

Million Dollar Nickel, The (1952)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

MGM short is pretty much a Cold War propaganda piece. The documentary starts off by showing us what we use to be able to buy with a nickel and then we just to current times where a nickel won't buy much. We learn, however, that a nickel will buy us a stamp that will allow us to write to people overseas and let them know what a wonderful country America is. We also learn that it's very important to try and get letters into Russia since their government is evil and we would be making America proud if they fall. As you can tell, this is a pretty out there little short but it remains entertaining throughout its 9-minute running time. The entire propaganda here could be cut up and thrown out and a lot of what was said then is probably why certain issues are here today. The highlight of the film was visiting a plant in Philadelphia where coins are made and then to NYC to see a post office and how letters were handled back in the day.