Miss Tatlock's Millions

This movie I saw on the late show when I was a boy. It was quite late and I snuck into the living room and joined my father to watch TV. How ever I was laughing so hard at this movie it woke my mother, who thought I was in bed. So I missed the ending. I still remember it and that has been almost 40 years. The dialog was fast and funny anchored on an unusual plot. I only wish that It was available now so I could see how it ended.

**MILD SPOILERS** I personally know of no one, other than myself, who has heard of this movie, let alone watched it. Miss Tatlock's millions in no way deserves to be relegated to obscurity. It's genuinely funny, sidesplittingly so at several junctures. John Lund (who plays an obscure actor) is hired to play the part of a long "lost" relative who has just inherited the "millions" in the title. Actually, this relative happens to be more than a little daft--a pyromaniac (a comic pyromaniac, of course, who goes about singing, "I Just Want To Set the World On Fire") who has spent 20 years or so in an insane asylum. The mayhem that follows is quite fun--and needless to say, there is the usual love interest, the confession that he is not what he seems, the rejection, the reconciliation, and (no surprise) the sudden appearance of the real heir. Obviously, it isn't the plot elements that make this worth watching--it's the hilarity gleaned from the trip. It certainly isn't a masterpiece, but it IS worth retrieving from the abyss of forgotten movies. 8/10

I saw this movie on its release when I was about 12 years old. It was a wild riot, and a big neighborhood hit. Kids would be singing "I don't want to set the world on fire" in school. That was it! If it reappeared on TV in the 60's, I wasn't watching TV then, so I only had the late 40s memory of it. Lately, I started wondering how the movie would affect me today, but it had disappeared. I assumed that the movie was a victim of political correctness; it had probably been pulled from circulation because the lead character imitated a developmentally disordered/cognitive impaired psychotic person.

However, after some internet searching, I got a good enough copy to view.

It is a mild enough comedy. As a child, I was convulsed at the weird behavior of Skylar. This must have been why I remembered it as being so funny. Today, it seems that John Lund did a Jerry Lewis type bit before Jerry Lewis became famous doing it. So, now, the crazy guy didn't seem all that wildly crazy after all those years of watching Jerry Lewis doing the same shtick Still. There are funny lines, good performances, and a tight script..and...wasn't Wanda Hendrix super cute? That must have also affected me when I was 12. Oh, yeah!

This movie is a dandy. Itis extremely underrated,and even more difficult to find. I happen to have a poor copy on VHS. Watch it if you have the opportunity.A classic screwball comedy, with a great cast,Barry Fitzgerald is top notch as usual, in a supporting role. This is a movie that deserves to be restored, shown on Turner Classic Movies, and given the respect it should have been given years ago.This is a perfect example of "they don't make em like that anymore". I first viewed this movie when I was about ten years old. Naturally I was curious to see if time and maturity had changed my mind. It hadn't. John Lund and Wanda Hendrix never achieved stardom, this movie would have advanced that cause.Made in the late forties it embodies the optimism of that era. This movie has a sweetness that is sorely lacking in today's film. Films of similar likeness would include Bringing Up Baby, and maybe the Topper series of movies.It is the only movie veteran character actor Richard Haydn directed. I wish he would have directed more.

Screwball comedy that loses its steam and becomes a strange love story. The early scenes with Monty Dooley are the best. After that the witty dialogue and slapstick taper off.

It us still a pleasant watch.