O Milionário

Automobile tycoon James Alden (George Arliss) is forced into retirement due to health concerns. He is utterly bored. After talking to insurance salesman Schofield (James Cagney), he answers a newspaper ad to buy half a gas station under the fake name Charles Miller. He and his new partner Bill Merrick have been suckered by Peterson who moved his business next to the new highway. The duo decides to move across the street to compete directly. Meanwhile, Bill falls for Alden's daughter without realizing her father is his partner.

Arliss is great. There are social class differences that are harder to understand. Non-physical comedy is often harder to translate across time. The stakes are pretty low since Alden will always be rich and he will always approve of Bill for his daughter. Early James Cagney has a minor role. It has its fun but it doesn't strike me as hilarious in the modern sense.

Health problems force an elderly auto tycoon into retirement. Refusing to stay idle, he buys half ownership into a service station & gleefully begins to work there, incognito. The old man is now able to help his young partner in matters of business & romance. But what will happen if he's discovered to be, in reality, THE MILLIONAIRE?

George Arliss was a wonderful actor, now sadly neglected. The merest glance, the smallest movement of his hands, the raised eyebrow or vocal inflection, these all spoke volumes. Here, he has a fine outlet for his artistry. The film moves right along, without any dull moments, fueled by the fun of watching Arliss act.

He is given good support by David Manners (a fine leading man of the 1930's) as his partner; Noah Beery as a beefy business rival; and real-life wife Florence Arliss. James Cagney, not quite yet a star, breezes in for a few moments as an insurance agent who gives Arliss some good advice. Effortlessly, he steals the scene from Arliss (the old man seems amused), a very rare event, indeed.

The gentle humor of this film is balanced by a certain amount of social conscience, making it even as a dated story something moderately charming. Set in California during the Great Depression, it is pure fantasy of the kind much needed in movie-houses during those dark days. Although it is now rare in our decadent corporate epoch to find a happy and generous -- not to say intelligent -- millionaire free of the desire to line his own pockets at the expense of his employees, the character as played by George Arliss transcends mere capitalism and inspires us to higher purposes.

Cameos by James Cagney and Wallace Beery provide some historical flavor for film buffs, as do some truly grand vintage automobiles going in and out of the service stations central to the story. Though that story remains thin and improbable, it is fast-paced and directed with élan. My own appreciation was enhanced by noting at the outset the name of Booth Tarkington as one of the writers. He was without a doubt one of the finest popular novelists of the early twentieth century, now largely forgotten. The playful tone he employed in the "Penrod" stories is much evident here.

A very fine production for 1931.

... and it's a shame that he is largely forgotten to film history. He was in Warner Brothers' earliest talking films, and even scored a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Disraeli in 1929. He was later lured to Fox, and I think that was a mistake since his best film work was at Warner Brothers. He was largely known for his stage work.

Here Arliss plays James Alden, owner and founder of an automobile company. When his doctor tells him he must stop work at age 60 and take a prolonged rest or die, at first he wants to ignore the warnings, but then thinks of his wife and daughter (played by Arliss' actual wife and Evalyn Knapp, respectively).

So off the trio goes to California, and the next we see of Alden he is sitting at a table in a garden wrapped in a blanket surrounded by prescription bottles, looking entirely unhappy about his situation. He is visited by an insurance agent, Scofield (James Cagney) who wants no part of selling him life insurance once he finds out Alden is retired, because he says the retired tend to die quickly. Scofield says if he had Alden's money what he would do is find one of the small business opportunities in the newspaper, and take an interest in running some small place so that he has a sense of purpose.

Alden takes Scofield's advice, but in the meantime he must fool his wife and daughter so that they don't worry or put a stop to his plans, and he must also fool his new business partner (David Manners) because he doesn't want him to think/know that they can just go to James Alden for any money they need. He wants to live by his wits, like he did when he started out, because he thinks the challenge might refresh and thus cure him. Things get complex when Manners' character gets interested in Alden's daughter, independent of the business venture. Noah Beery plays the villain here, trying to thwart the plans of Alden and his partner. It is rather refreshing here to see him play a normal kind of villain for a change.

I can't help but believe that Arliss might have been, in real life, the same kind of person he played on the screen - mischievous, impish, energetic, and always trying to help out the younger crowd. He gave Bette Davis her start at Warner Brothers, and I wonder if this cameo role for James Cagney wasn't his doing too.

At any rate, this film is a light hearted delight and I'd recommend it.

Coerced into early retirement, a bored former automobile tycoon decides buy a petrol station and operate it, but keeping the business a secret from his concerned family and competing with a rival petrol station proprietor prove challenging in this amiable comedy starring George Arliss. The film is best known nowadays for James Cagney's brief turn as a fast-talking, pipe-smoking insurance salesman who first makes Arliss consider buying a side business after noting that retirees tend to pass away earlier than those who remain employed to the end. Cagney absolutely nails the role, but the film belongs to Arliss all the way who proves himself a surprisingly sharp and shrewd businessman (he puts up a sign saying "don't ruin your car with cheap gas" as a response to his competitor lowering his prices). The film takes an incredibly long time to warm up though and it is only really in the second half of the movie that the comedy side of the film takes off. The laughs are, however, very good with lots of confused identity business as Arliss has to pretend to be penniless for his gas station partner and also has to pretend to not be working for the benefit of his family. 'The Millionaire' is a tad problematic if viewed as a message film (it advocates blatantly ignoring medical advice), but the writers are smart enough to keep any such themes in the background though and the comedy at the forefront. Noah Beery (brother of Wallace) also turns in a fine performance as the petrol competitor who learns an unexpected lesson or two from the highly experienced Arliss.