The Fortune Cookie (1966)

A crooked lawyer persuades his brother-in-law to feign a serious injury.

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond

Stars:

Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ron Rich

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Lemmon	...	Harry Hinkle
Walter Matthau	...	Willie Gingrich
Ron Rich	...	Luther 'Boom Boom' Jackson
Judi West	...	Sandy Hinkle
Cliff Osmond	...	Purkey
Lurene Tuttle	...	Mother Hinkle
Harry Holcombe	...	O'Brien
Les Tremayne	...	Thompson
Lauren Gilbert	...	Kincaid
Marge Redmond	...	Charlotte Gingrich
Noam Pitlik	...	Max
Harry Davis	...	Dr. Krugman
Ann Shoemaker	...	Sister Veronica
Maryesther Denver	...	Nurse
Ned Glass	...	Doc Schindler

Storyline

A cameraman is knocked over during a football game. His brother in law as the king of the ambulance chasing lawyers starts a suit while he's still knocked out. The cameraman is against it until he hears that his ex-wife will be coming to see him. He pretends to be injured to get her back, but also sees what the strain is doing to the football player who injured him.

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Plot Keywords:

crooked lawyer | lawyer | cameraman | injury | brother in law brother in law relationship | 

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Taglines:

Dough is the most important ingredient in...

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 October 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Glückspilz

Filming Locations:

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,705,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$6,000,000, 31 December 1966

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,800,000, 1 January 1968

Company Credits

Production Co:

Phalanx-Jalem,The Mirisch Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Billy Wilder shot the opening sequence during an actual Vikings-Browns game on October 31, 1965. The Vikings won 27-17.

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Goofs

Reflected in the apartment window when Harry is holding the candle.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Harry Hinkle: You can fool all of the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time!

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Connections

Featured in The 70th Annual Academy Awards (1998)

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Soundtracks

You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Sung by Judi West
Also strains played throughout the movie

User Reviews

Matthau saves what could have been a tragically dull film...

"The Fortune Cookie" is a light, lovable con/slapstick film about Harry Hinkle (Jack Lemmon), a sports cameraman who is accidentally knocked down by NFL star Boom Boom Jackson (Ron Rich) at a football game. Hinkle suffers a minor concussion but his lawyer brother-in-law, Willie Gingrich (Walter Matthau) is immediately on the seen. Willie thinks that they can sue for millions of dollars if Harry plays that he's got a "compressed vertebrae", and Harry reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile Boom Boom is feeling desperately guilty and is taking care of Harry to make himself feel better.

This movie is labeled as a comedy but most of the humor is dry and subtle. I'd go as far as to call it out-dated, it was probably considered a lot funnier when it first came out.

Though I guess the only character that is supposed to be actually funny is Matthau's, and he is. Hilarious, in fact. He never misses a beat, every movement and line is delivered in perfect accordance to his character. And considering the guy had a heart attack while working on the film, his drive and proffesionalism is admirable.

Aside from Matthau the movie is a little bland, but not bad. The other performances, from Lemmon, Rich and Judi West as Hinkle's gold-digging ex-wife, are all well-played, Rich gives the most notable performance as the guilt-ridden Boom Boom.

The style, direction and other componets of the film are well too...but in the end Matthau's performance is the only real benefit of this film, but it's a big benefit, and gets a 7.5/10 from me.