Miss Tatlock's Millions

John Lund always gave a good performance, but for some reason he was always relegated to background acting: that is he was present, frequently in the lead male part, but somehow his role did not stand out enough to be recognized. His first big film was TO EACH HIS OWN where he played two roles - a World War I American ace who meets the heroine, Olivia De Haviland, while on a bond drive in upstate New York, has a passionate, brief affair with her, gets killed, and reappears some twenty years later as his own illegitimate son, raised as an adopted child by De Haviland's neighbors. It should have been the role(s) to establish him - but it didn't, because the bulk of TO EACH HIS OWN was De Haviland's part as the mother who loses her son. In fact, the son is played by a child actor, for part of the film - and is more memorable to the audience than Lund.

His banner year would be 1948. He appeared in two films that year that showed his acting strengths: A FOREIGN AFFAIR with Marlene Dietrich and Jean Arthur (directed by Billy Wilder), and this film, MISS TATLOCK'S MILLIONS. A FOREIGN AFFAIR is a wonderful comedy of post-war Berlin by Wilder, with Lund as an army black marketeer who is trying to protect himself and his girlfriend (Marlene) from a Congressional junket investigating black marketeers (including Jean). He does very nicely in the comic bits, misleading and confusing Arthur, and slowly becoming aware that he may be giving misplaced protection to a former Nazi supporter (Dietrich). But the real stars are Arthur (doing crazy undercover investigation) and Dietrich (given several good Frederick Hollander numbers to sing. And Wilder's screenplay with Charles Brackett, as well as his direction are overwhelming on Lund too.

But Lund does dominate (wisely) MISS TATLOCK'S MILLIONS, as the Hollywood stuntman turned fake heir. Richard Haydn (in one of his rare directing jobs) allowed Lund to take off on the eccentric "Schuyler" Tatlock, who loves to set fires, and wants to make his sister (Wanda Hendrix) happy. Schuyler escapes from his "keeper" Barry Fitzgerald, and apparently perished in a fire. But this was before the death of his grandparents, and he is one of the heirs to their fortune, much to the disgust of his aunt and two uncles (Ilka Chase, Monty Wooley, and Dan Tobin). Ilka would also like to keep Wanda's share of the fortune close to home by marrying her to her son Robert Stack.

There is a fly in the ointment. Fitzgerald has been keeping mum about the demise of Schuyler because it allowed him to live on his salary in the South Sea island they lived on. Now is his day of reckoning, and to prevent it he discovers that Lund (a Hollywood stuntman) looks like Schuyler. So he makes a business proposition: play the role of Schuyler for a week or so, until the will is read, and then "return" with Fitzgerald to the South Seas. Lund agrees to this - and then learns it's easier to assume a role sometimes than to drop it.

For one thing, he (unlike the real Schuyler) understands human nature. He is supposed to be a half-wit, so everyone (but Wanda) treats him with a bare contempt. And he resents it, and manages (while maintaining his act) to humiliate them. For a second thing, he finds he's physically and emotionally attracted to Wanda - and he detests Stack. Finally, the family lawyer (Haydn, in a nice cameo), reveals that the bulk of the fortune was given to Schuyler, rather than to the others. This certainly means that Fitzgerald cannot drag such a wealthy figure back to their former island home.

An accidental fall, causing Lund to momentarily sound normal, also adds to the problems. The new "normal" Schulyer Tatlock is able to communicate his feelings to Hendrix - although his ultimate feelings have to be hidden, as an incestuous relationship is impossible.

This comedy finally enabled Lund to show he was not just a dependable male lead. He was shown to be capable of insane comic antics as Schuyler. The result was a pleasure up to the satisfactory conclusion of the comedy. It was John Lund's finest hour on screen.

Most people who have actually seen this movie seem to love it, and comment on its humor. Certainly it is a top drawer comedy, but I first saw it as a teenager and fell in love with Wanda Hendrix immediately. She is gorgeous, and has a speech pattern that borders on a little lisp, and it gives her a combination of innocence and appeal that is hard to beat. You easily learn to hate the bad guy who is out to get her, and the development of the romance is delightful. And, of course, any time Barry Fitzgerald is on camera, he steals the scene. Ilke Chase and Monte Wooley are marvelous in character parts. Robert Stack does a great job as the wolf you love to hate. When Wanda Hendrix is tracing letters with her finger on Art Lund's chest, you have to be a very unusual person not to feel your temperature rise a little. I agree with the reviewer who can't understand why this gem has not been published on DVD. I'd stand in line to get it.

Saw this one years ago and thought it was an uproarious screwball comedy with the talented John Lund doing wonders with his role, pretending to be a bumbling idiot. He is doing his "act" in order to help Wanda Hendrix inherit her millions. Directed by the wonderful actor, Richard Haydn with a wonderful cast, including Robert Stack, Ilka Chase and Monty Woolley.

John Lund was an excellent actor who never found his true potential on film--an actor with a Broadway background who won him his first screen role opposite Olivia de Havilland in 'To Each His Own'.

But here his comic timing is perfect. In 'The Perils of Pauline' he was merely a foil for the antics of Betty Hutton--but here he has the primary comic role and he does a smashingly good job. Too bad more couldn't be made of his multi-talents in later films.

Where is the video version? Another great Paramount film never transferred to home video.

I'm told that when "Miss Tatlock's Millions" came out in 1948, it was a medium-size hit that had a small but extremely loyal cult following (sort of like the original "Bedazzled" in 1967). It's too bad that it's now almost completely forgotten -- a result of having never come out on video (except for a poor-quality bootleg dupe), a fate it shares with many late '40s Paramounts -- "The Great Gatsby," "The Big Clock," "Alias Nick Beal," and others. Like them, "Miss Tatlock's Millions" was long a staple of late-show TV but has now seemingly dropped off the face of the earth.

"Miss Tatlock's Millions" is, not to mince words, a riot. Another commenter here compares it to Preston Sturges, something that had never occurred to me before but which is very apt. It has the same kind of screwball pacing, distinctive characters, and brilliant dialogue (of course, Sturges remains peerless, but this one is in the same tradition and a very respectable specimen).

John Lund is wonderful as the fake "Skylar" and it's a pity he didn't get more challenges like this. I think he was a victim of his own good looks; the gang at Paramount decided he was a wooden pretty-boy, so that's all they gave him to do. But he sure delivers the goods here.

And the rest of the cast! Monty Woolley, Ilka Chase, Robert Stack, Barry Fitzgerald, Dan Tobin, Dorothy Stickney. That bunch would be fun to watch in anything, but give them Charles Brackett's dialogue and the combination is unbeatable. (The film, by the way, has at least one line that was, for a while anyhow, quite famous and oft-quoted by people who had no idea where it came from. Spoken by Monty Woolley: "I hate California. It's the only place on earth where you can fall asleep under a rosebush in full bloom and freeze to death.")

As the comments here attest, there is no one who's seen "Miss Tatlock's Millions" who doesn't love it and remember it as one of the funniest movies they ever saw. The only reason it's not up there with the great comedies -- the only reason, for example, that it placed nowhere on AFI's list of the (supposed) 100 greatest comedies -- is that not enough people have seen it.

Bring it back!

In 1948, I saw this movie with friends, not expecting much. I went in not knowing much about the actors and came out howling with glee at the sparkling writing, crisp direction, romantic story and most of all the peerless company of scene-stealing character actors. Now, I was very young at the time so I probably couldn't have told you then exactly why I would never forget it until I became a film buff years later.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a decent video available. I recently bought one at Amazon and it is of the same poor, frustrating quality as the one that occasionally pops up on late night TV.

This is the gem that got away and deserves to be recognized. Anyone know someone with clout at AMC??