If I Had a Million

Overstuffed. Would've been better off with fewer, longer stories.

Always good to see Fields and the final segment was particularly well done.

Pre-screwball omnibus comedy is (as with most such films) a mixed bag. The W.C. Fields section was probably the best, though the simplicity of Charles Laughton's scene was brilliant.

"If I Had a Million" strings together a series of vignettes, all connected by the theme of a man distributing his wealth before he dies. Notably, in one segment, Charles Ruggles portrays Mr. Peabody, who finds himself at odds with his boss, named Bullwinkle. This coincidence sparks curiosity about whether this brief encounter might have influenced the conception of the beloved animated series "Rocky and Bullwinkle."

I clever idea. A rich dying man don't want his greedy family to have all his money so he gives a million to 8 random people out of the phone book. So we have a movie filled with short stories collecting a bunch of big stars and directors handling a segment each. And you get all kinds. Comic, sexy, sad, crazy, rewarding. Some stories are a let down and I'm sure had they put more thought into this project I'm sure it would have been a undeniable classic. As it stands it's falls just short of that.