A big-time Texas wheeler-dealer (who's actually Ivy league-educated, but plays dumb) runs out of money, and goes to New York City to raise $1.2 million.A big-time Texas wheeler-dealer (who's actually Ivy league-educated, but plays dumb) runs out of money, and goes to New York City to raise $1.2 million.A big-time Texas wheeler-dealer (who's actually Ivy league-educated, but plays dumb) runs out of money, and goes to New York City to raise $1.2 million.
- Awards
- 2 nominations total
- Eloise Cott
- (as Patricia Crowley)
- Len Flink
- (as Don Briggs)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Let The Caricatures Fight!
Another of my old friends, this movie is like that pal you had as a kid, who modeled himself on Eddie Haskell. Everyone knew he would come to no good, but he was so darned much fun, and here he still is, doing fine. This movie has it all: a good, satiric view of how Wall Street and the tax code operated, everyone a smug caricature ten years out of date when the movie was released, everyone out for a buck, and some fine comic performers, including Louis Nye, John Astin, Pat Harrington Jr., Robert Strauss, and Pat Crowley. What's that, you say? Of course Charles Lane is in it. How can you not like a movie that makes fun of everyone who shows up on the screen?
one of my favorite 60's movies
The movie is about James Garner as an oil-man having a run of bad luck, so he goes to New York to make some quick money. He finds big bucks and romance, and it makes me laugh. The fact that Louis Nye plays a parody of Jackson Pollock, and that Phil Harris, Chill Wills, and Charles Watts act as a sort of Greek chorus to Garner will give you some idea of how inconsequentially silly this movie is. There's even a securities trial at the end (the judge makes a comment at the beginning that is just thrown away -- I missed it the first time I saw the movie -- which I laugh about every time I think of it).
freewheeling fun, but could have been better
Clever satire that seems more relevant now than ever
Garner and Remick are both looking their best, and overflowing with charm. They're ably supported by such 1960s fixtures as Jim Backus, John Astin and Pat Harrington.
Both the humor and romance are equally pleasant. Some of the twists may seem obvious to today's viewer, but they're all good fun. And they're all disturbing well rooted in what we now commonly know to be the reality of 'high finance.'
Along the way, the movie even takes time to skewer both the snooty world of art collecting and the crazy BS-peddlers of the burgeoning public-relations business.
The movie does have two main weaknesses. Much of the plot is predictable for its genre and time period - though more than clever enough to be fun. And the ending is rather abrupt. If ever a movie needed a denouement, it's this one.
Still, The Wheeler Dealers is a great thing to catch on TCM when you're feeling down and frustrated with our degenerating economy. I'd give it an extra half-star if I could, just for its all-round warmth, and impeccable performances.
Remick & Garner were Great
Did you know
- TriviaThe building shown as the "Cotton Mather Inn" is actually on MGM's lot, known as the "Girl's School", probably because it served that purpose for the films Forty Little Mothers (1940) and Three Daring Daughters (1948). The structure was notably used in Tea and Sympathy (1956) and The Cobweb (1955), where it was a psychiatric clinic.
- Goofs(at around 5 mins) When the old lady, who steals the cab from Henry, closes the door, a cameraman, camera, tripod, and microphone are all reflected clearly.
- Quotes
[Henry is complaing about how hard it is to get a cab in New York]
Feinberg: You're just like my wife, mister. You don't understand the economics of the situation.
Henry Tyroon: Then teach me. I'm interested in the economics of about every situation.
Feinberg: Well, there are 11,000 cabs in the city - and no new permits for the next twenty-five years. Now suppose you wanna buy a cab and start hackin'... you gotta get a new permit, too. Now the tab on a new permit is eighteen thousand five hundred on the open market.
Henry Tyroon: And how much did your cab cost, Mister
[looks at driver's ID]
Henry Tyroon: Feinberg?
Feinberg: Thirty-three hundred... new.
Henry Tyroon: Mm-hmm. Then that makes your investment, uh, with the permit, come to about $22,000.
Feinberg: Yeah. But don't tell my wife... she'll think I'm rich.
Henry Tyroon: Mm-hmm. Mr. Feinberg, I'll give you $24,000 for your cab and permit.
Feinberg: You wanna buy the cab?
Henry Tyroon: Right. But you come along with it. I'll need your services for a week, maybe two.
Feinberg: No, look, mister, I can't sell the cab. I need it.
Henry Tyroon: Well, I figured that. So, when I leave I'll sell it back to you for... $22,000.
Feinberg: You wanna lose two grand just to keep your feet dry when it starts to rain?
Henry Tyroon: I don't lose, Mr. Feinberg. See, I borrow the money and then I get a deduction on the loan interest and another on the depreciation and another on the loss when I sell it back to you. And you make a nice profit.
Feinberg: You win and I win. Uh-uh, there's gotta be a loser somewhere.
Henry Tyroon: Taxman loses. He usually does on a Henry Tyroon deal.
Feinberg: Mister, you've just got yourself a taxi.
- ConnectionsReferenced in I've Got a Secret: James Garner (1963)
- SoundtracksThe Wheeler Dealers
By Randy Sparks
Sung by The New Christy Minstrels
[Played over the opening title card and credits; reprise played at the very end of the movie]
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Getrennte Betten
- Filming locations
- TWA Terminal, JFK International Airport, Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, USA(Henry arrives in New York City)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 1h 47m(107 min)
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1