Madigan's Millions

Dustin Hoffman's character Jason Fister is sent to Rome to track down the million dollars a deceased gangster named Mike Madigan (Cesar Romero) left behind.Giorgio Gentili's Madigan's Million was shot in 1966 but wasn't released until a couple years later, in 1968.Dustin Hoffman had gotten some name to himself with The Graduate so they brought this to the big screen with much less success.It is Hoffman who saves the show.He steals the show from the moment he stumbles on the screen till the moment he hops off the screen.This is totally and completely a Dustin Hoffman show.There are other actors too who aren't bad at all.There are people such as Elsa Martinelli, Gustavo Rojo, Fernando Hilbeck, Riccardo Garrone and so on.And let's not forget those few minutes in the beginning with Cesar Romero.I recommend this movie solely to Dustin Hoffman fans.Others don't be bothered.

Dustin Hoffman's debut feature isn't as bad as it's reputed to be; a Spanish/Italian co-production filmed in Italy with the director using the pseudonym "Dan Ash"(!), the film is uneven but generally diverting and deals with a plethora of shady characters in search of a $1,000,000 hidden by gangster Cesar Romero (who, despite being third-billed - after Elsa Martinelli and Hoffman himself - expires before the credit sequence has even rolled!).

Hoffman's performance, obviously, is nowhere near as nuanced as in later films but manages to dodge embarrassment by playing what basically amounts to an amiable klutz - an accident-prone American treasury agent of Sicilian descent (named Puzzu, which nobody seems to be able to get right!) sent out by his firm to retrieve the money and told to remain "inconspicuous" but, instead, is forever getting into trouble - though he ultimately proves surprisingly resourceful by finding the loot, foiling the crooks and winning the girl (Martinelli as Romero's daughter, who's somewhat wasted here)!!

Still, the film's best moments are provided by suave gangster Riccardo Garrone: apart from his would-be hard-boiled persona and the hilarious use of dialect, he's flanked by a trio of nitwits who more often than not prove a hindrance in the fulfillment of his various schemes! Also, in view of the story being set in Rome, it's odd that the police officer investigating the case is a Spaniard (doubtless an exigency of the co-production deal)!

Along the years, I've missed out on Hoffman's other Italian comedy - ALFREDO, ALFREDO (1972) - a number of times (I guess, mainly, because Leonard Maltin only rates it *1/2 in his "Movies & Video Guide"...but, then, MADIGAN'S MILLION gets a BOMB!); with Pietro Germi directing and co-starring the luscious Stefania Sandrelli, the credentials of that film are certainly more respectable, and I really hope it turns up again on Italian TV soon...

This Spanish-Italian crime comedy is another Sidney Pink production (see my review of FICKLE FINGER OF FATE) and stars the young Dustin Hoffman as Jason Fister, a bumbling treasury agent who is assigned to a case in Rome because the people in his home office want to get rid of him. His task is to track down a million dollars stashed away by a former gangster turned insurance man, played by Cesar Romero whose role must take all of five minutes. Although this film was not released in the US until 1969, from reading producer Sid Pink's autobiography I got the impression that it was made right before THE GRADUATE. His performance here is very good--kind of like a more subdued Jerry Lewis (or is that a more subdued Sammy Petrillo?). Having his voice post-synchronized later hurts a bit, but Mr. Hoffman does his best, and I found the film to be a harmless yet enjoyable lowbrow comedy, not too different in feel from such Pink productions as FICKLE FINGER OF FATE or WITCH WITHOUT A BROOM. It's certainly more of a success than, say, Who is Harry Kellerman? or Dick Tracy (not to mention Ishtar!). Hoffman shows that even in this early point in his career he is entirely capable of carrying a film by himself. Mainstream audiences might be put off by the dubbing or the low-budget production quality, but if nothing else it proves that Mr. Hoffman can make a Franco and Ciccio movie as well as Franco and Ciccio could have done! The scene where Hoffman plays both Fister and his enforcer "Red" is priceless and could have come from a Harry Langdon short at Columbia or Educational--high praise coming from a Langdon fan such as myself! Now, if only Alfredo, Alfredo will come out on video in the USA...

OK, so "Un dollaro per 7 vigliacchi" (aka "Madigan's Millions") is pretty much all low humor, with a pre-"Graduate" Dustin Hoffman as a witless government agent sent to Italy to find the million dollars that a murdered gangster (Cesar Romero) kept hidden. Still, the movie elicits a certain charm, as he irks the police, leaves a lawyer in an embarrassing position, and causes a wacky chase through Rome. If absolutely nothing else, it's neat to see Dustin Hoffman in an early role. Personally, I wish that he would do more comedy (think "Tootsie" and "Meet the Fockers").

So, it's worth seeing if only for that. And because Elsa Martinelli was really hot!

After a few years in light roles in film and TV, Dustin Hoffman scored stardom in 1967 with "The Graduate." So, why would he be cast the next year in a "spaghetti" comedy? I don't know the machinations of Hollywood, but I'd like to posit a wild guess: He or someone else thought he might score again in a comedy. In this case, a sort of Italian-American "Pink Panther." When you finish laughing, consider the similarities in this film with the 1963 smash hit, "The Pink Panther."

Hoffman's character is similar to Peter Sellers' Jacques Clouseau. Both were government detectives of sorts. Both were bungling characters who fell, tripped or ran into objects and people. Both were disliked by their superiors and cohorts, who considered them incompetent. Inspector Clouseau incessantly corrected people who called him "inspector Clouseau," stating that he was "CHIEF inspector Clouseau." Hoffman's Jason Fister is a U.S. Treasury agent (auditor), whom people keep referring to as "Mr. FAWster." He continually corrects people: "It's FISTer – F, I, S, T, E, R." But amidst their bumbling and bungling, both had some keen insights about their work and the case they were on.

So, maybe it's not so implausible after all – the intentional copying of "The Pink Panther," with obvious redesigning for the later movie? Well, whether or not it was meant to be a copy, "Madigan's Millions" didn't succeed. Hoffman is not Peter Sellers. He doesn't have a naturally funny recovery from his bungling episodes. Hoffman appeared to be having fun at times in the film, but the script, acting, direction and whole thing just seemed too hackneyed. At times, I thought the director and producer must have known and purposely chopped up some scenes.

I gave this four stars only because it is an interesting look at a relatively new actor for the time; and for a cast of other interesting actors. Even with major rewriting and better direction, I'm not sure this movie would work. Surely, it wouldn't establish Hoffman as a comedy actor capable of buffoonery. I think he can do humor, but it's the more serious type – clever, witty, and wry, as in "Rain Man."