Brewster's Millions

This 1935 British film is the first sound picture made of the 1902 novel and play by George Barr McCutcheon. Two silent films were made before this, and the first straight comedy would be made in 1945 by Edward Small and United Artists in the U.S. That would prove to be the best of several versions, including a couple later ones; although the 1985 Universal picture that starred Richard Pryor was quite good.

Jack Buchannan does well in portraying the frantic time his Jack Brewster has in trying to squander 500,000 pounds in a short time, in order to inherit his distant uncle's entire fortune. But this film comes across as two separate films shuffled together. One is a musical, mostly resembling a musical revue, and the other is the comedy. The comedy is mostly lost in this transition back and forth.

The best thing about this version of the story is the musical numbers with Jack Buchanan's dancing and singing. But for laughs, be sure to see the 1945 film that stars Dennis O'Keefe.