Brewster's Millions (1935 film)
| Brewster's Millions | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Swedish poster | |
| Directed by | Thornton Freeland |
| Written by | Arthur Wimperis Donovan Pedelty (scenario) Clifford Grey Wolfgang Wilhelm Douglas Furber |
| Produced by | Herbert Wilcox |
| Starring | Jack Buchanan Lili Damita |
| Cinematography | Barney McGill Henry Harris (uncredited) |
| Edited by | David Lean (uncredited) Merrill G. White (uncredited) |
| Music by | Ray Noble Douglas Furber (lyrics) Geraldo Harry Perritt Marr Mackie (uncredited) |
Production company | Herbert Wilcox Productions (for) British & Dominions Film Corporation |
| Distributed by | United Artists (UK) |
Release date | January 1935 (UK) |
Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Brewster's Millions is a 1935 British musical comedy film directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Jack Buchanan, Lili Damita and Nancy O'Neil.[1] It is based on the novel Brewster's Millions with the action relocated from the United States to Britain.
Cast
- Jack Buchanan - Jack Brewster
- Lili Damita - Rosalie
- Nancy O'Neil - Cynthia
- Sydney Fairbrother - Miss Plimsole
- Ian Maclean - McLeod
- Fred Emney - Freddy
- Allan Aynesworth - Rawles
- Laurence Hanray - Grant
- Dennis Hoey - Mario
- Henry Wenman - Pedro
- Amy Veness - Mrs Barry
- Jean Gillie - Miss Tompkins
Critical reception
The New York Times wrote, "take an inventive young man who is required to spend a quarter of a million dollars in six months, and you possess the germ of a successful farce. If this sounds a trifle uncertain, it is because the new British screen edition of "Brewster's Millions" leaves you with just that rueful impression. Instead of telling the story in the swift and eventful terms of screen comedy, the present gentlemen have used it simply as the libretto for a big, eye-filling musical photoplay in the combustible Hollywood style. There are songs, dances, girls and more girls, and a great fiesta scene featuring a mass dance called la caranga, which seems to be a compound of all the recent variations on the rumba. Although the English ladies of the ensemble are lovely, the tunes quite acceptable and Mr. Jack Buchanan an able and versatile performer, the film never comes off as musical comedy. Those song-and-dance interludes during which Mr. Buchanan abandons his money-spending campaign are useful chiefly to remind the audience that "Brewster's Millions" is still a sufficiently sturdy comedy to stand on its own feet. When the piece is being played straight, it is always bright and amusing in a slightly desperate British style...Mr. Buchanan is an engagingly frantic Brewster and he is assisted pleasantly enough by Lili Damita as the malicious chorus girl who wants to snare him and by Nancy O'Neil as his conservative sweetheart. But "Brewster's Millions" is more hilarious in theory than in practice in this British rendition"; [2] while TV Guide noted, "the witty, energetic Buchanan has a field day with this craftily scripted comedy. The over-produced musical numbers and the elaborate Italian fiesta scenes are delights, as is every scene of this classic example of British wit." [3]
References
External links
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