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 CBS cameraman is accidentally knocked out during a football game in Cleveland. His brother-in-law, William "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich, is the king of the ambulance chasing lawyers and starts a suit while he's still unconscious. 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 Cleveland Browns 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:

Some people will do anything for $249,000.92

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marked the first pairing of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, who subsequently worked together on 11 additional films (including Kotch (1971), in which Lemmon directed Matthau).

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Goofs

When Harry is injured, his camera flies out of his hands and the cables are missing. In the previous scene, the cables were shown attached using a screw-in type connector that would not have come off, even when being tackled.

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Quotes

Harry Hinkle: Florida and Mustangs and foxes, how are you gonna pay for all of this?
Willie Gingrich: Our credit is good.
Harry Hinkle: Well don't you think we better wait 'til we see some of that insurance money?
Willie Gingrich: Wait? Who waits nowadays? Take the government. When they shoot a billion dollars worth of hardware into space, do you think they pay cash? It's all on the Diner's Club!

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Connections

Featured in TCM Guest Programmer: Kristina Kingsley (2018)

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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

One to remember Walter Matthau for....

If I had to buy a single movie showing Walter Matthau's genius as an actor, this may be the one, for as good as Jack Lemmon always is in a movie, Walter shines here as the shyster brother-in-law lawyer, and the Best Supporting Oscar was awarded to him rightly for this role. Matthau, always the man who acted through sicknesses went through a heart attack during this one. The scene that he runs up the stairs after receiving the settlement check, a keen eye could notice that he is thinner at the top of the stairs. That was because he shot that scene after his attack. This movie begins the long association with Lemmon/Matthau. The next movie was to be "The Odd Couple". What a great bunch of entertaining movies they were. And this was the first one.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 October 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Fortune Cookie

Filming Locations:

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,705,000 (estimated)

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