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Quick Millions (1939 film)

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Quick Millions
Directed byMalcolm St. Clair
Written byBuster Keaton (story)
Joseph Hoffman (story)
Produced byJohn Stone
StarringJed Prouty
Spring Byington
Edited byHarry Reynolds
Distributed by20th Century-Fox
Release date
  • August 25, 1939 (1939-08-25)
Running time
62 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Quick Millions is a 1939 American comedy film directed by Malcolm St Clair and co-written by Buster Keaton, one of the series of seventeen 20th Century Studios Jones Family films beginning with Every Saturday Night (1936) and ending with On Their Own (1940).[1]

Spring Byington appeared in all seventeen; Jed Prouty in all but the last one. Quick Millions is one of the two Jones Family films with gags and a story line provided by Keaton, briefly moonlighting from MGM for his old friend Malcolm St. Clair, tdirector of seven in Jones Family series.[2][3]

Plot

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After returning from an adventure in Hollywood, patriarch Jones na d his clan discover they have inherited a gold mine from his uncle Ezra. When the family travels to the Grand Canyon to inspect the claim, they are approached by swindlers, who assure them that they have inherited a rich gold mine. At the remote mountain cabin, John Jones and his brood discover no fortune. Mr. Jones is almost fleeced by a fraudulent collector of Indian artifacts, and is soon mistaken for a notorious bank robber by the local sheriff. Son Jack and daughter Lucy seek romance with undesirables. After a number of misadventures, the Jones’ safely escape back to their small town.[4]

Cast

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Reception

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Frank Nugent in the New York Times rates Quick Millions “the weakest entertainment to date” in the Jones Family saga, but finds merit in vaudevillian Eddie Collins in the role of Henry “Beaver” Howard, “who practically steals the show.”[5]

Film archival status

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Film archivist Ruth Anne Dwyer reports that a copy of Quick Millions exists only on “delicate nitrate stock,” and, as such, is unavailable for viewing.[6]

And yet you can see Quick Millions here, [[1]][7]

Notes

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  1. ^ Dwyer, 1996 p. 147: On “...the production of seventeen films” in the series.
  2. ^ Keaton, the Man Who Wouldn't Lie Down, Tom Dardis, pgs. 246-248
  3. ^ Dwyer, 1996 p. 147: “...seven of which St. Clair directed…” And p. 42: The other film in the series on which Keaton worked is The Jones Family in Hollywood (1939).
  4. ^ Dwyer, 1996 p. 228-228: Filmography, plot synopsis
  5. ^ Nugent, 1939
  6. ^ Dwyer, 1996 p. 57: Footnotes p. 57, no. 6
  7. ^ https://ok.ru/video/1615272872543

References

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  • Dwyer, Ruth Anne. 1996. Malcolm St. Clair: His Films, 1915-1948. Filmmakers Series, No. 38. The Scarecrow Press, Lanham, MD & London. ISBN 0-8108-2709-3
  • Nugent, Frank S.. 1939. THE SCREEN: FOUR FILMS IN REVIEW; FEATURED IN NEW PICTURES HERE. New York Times, September 22, 1939. https://www.nytimes.com/1939/09/22/archives/the-screen-four-films-in-review-featured-in-new-pictures-here.html Retrieved 17 June, 2024.
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