The Tatlock Family who are a more comic version than the greedy grasping Hubbards of The Little Foxes are most concerned about the will of their family
patriarch who didn't think all that much of them. Brothers Monty Woolley and
Dan Tobin and their sister Ilka Chase are as grasping a trio as you'll ever find.
And like the Hubbards, Ilka Chase is the most ruthless of the lot.
The only nice one is the daughter of a deceased son and his wife Wanda Hendrix. She's not quite of age and that's a recipe for intrigue.
There's another joker in this deck, a literal one. Hendrix has an older brother who is the village idiot. I actually knew someone like that and like the Tatlocks his parents kept him far away and on some tight purse strings.
Now he has to be produced for the reading of the will. But there's a problem with family retainer Barry Fitzgerald who took the idiot to Hawaii. He's believed dead and Fitzgerald has been lying for about two years and living off the stipend.
Whereupon Fitzgerald hits on the solution to find someone who can pass and it's movie stunt man John Lund. But a lot of things interfere in this scheme not the least of which is Lund falling for Hendrix.
This comedy is skillfully directed by Richard Haydn who reserved himself a nice small role as the lawyer for the estate. John Lund whose forte really is not physical comedy does his best and is reasonably successful. Ironically though the following year that Miss Tatlock's Millions came out there arrived at Parmount just the actor for the role.
This would have been a great Jerry Lewis vehicle either for himself later on in his career or with Dean Martin possibly playing Fitzgerald's part. You watch Lund's more strenuous routines and you'll agree I'm sure.
There's also a nice role for Robert Stack, Chase's spoiled son and Hendrix's cousin who'd like to tie up that end of the inheritance with a wedding ring. A surprise for Stack who usually played nice guys on the big and the small screen.
Miss Tatlock's Millions has retained its laugh quotient after 70 years. Try to see this one.
The only nice one is the daughter of a deceased son and his wife Wanda Hendrix. She's not quite of age and that's a recipe for intrigue.
There's another joker in this deck, a literal one. Hendrix has an older brother who is the village idiot. I actually knew someone like that and like the Tatlocks his parents kept him far away and on some tight purse strings.
Now he has to be produced for the reading of the will. But there's a problem with family retainer Barry Fitzgerald who took the idiot to Hawaii. He's believed dead and Fitzgerald has been lying for about two years and living off the stipend.
Whereupon Fitzgerald hits on the solution to find someone who can pass and it's movie stunt man John Lund. But a lot of things interfere in this scheme not the least of which is Lund falling for Hendrix.
This comedy is skillfully directed by Richard Haydn who reserved himself a nice small role as the lawyer for the estate. John Lund whose forte really is not physical comedy does his best and is reasonably successful. Ironically though the following year that Miss Tatlock's Millions came out there arrived at Parmount just the actor for the role.
This would have been a great Jerry Lewis vehicle either for himself later on in his career or with Dean Martin possibly playing Fitzgerald's part. You watch Lund's more strenuous routines and you'll agree I'm sure.
There's also a nice role for Robert Stack, Chase's spoiled son and Hendrix's cousin who'd like to tie up that end of the inheritance with a wedding ring. A surprise for Stack who usually played nice guys on the big and the small screen.
Miss Tatlock's Millions has retained its laugh quotient after 70 years. Try to see this one.