Hot Millions
Encyclopedia
Hot Millions is an 1968 crime comedy film made by MGM
. It was directed by Eric Till
and produced by Mildred Freed Alberg, from a collaborative screenplay
by Ira Wallach
and star Peter Ustinov
. The music score was composed by Laurie Johnson
, featuring the single "This Time" from Scottish singer Lulu
. The cinematographer was Kenneth Higgins.
In the film, when Maggie Smith takes Bob Newhart shopping, she is seen buying an outfit at the Apple Boutique
on Baker Street, London, which was owned by The Beatles
. The boutique only operated for a few months before closing. Hot Millions provides one of the few filmed glimpses of the boutique's interior.
The car driven by Bob Newhart’s character is a Jensen Interceptor
.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
. It was directed by Eric Till
Eric Till
Eric Till is a British film and television director working in Canada, the United States, and Europe since the 1960s.-Career:...
and produced by Mildred Freed Alberg, from a collaborative screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Ira Wallach
Ira Wallach (writer)
Ira Wallach was an American screenwriter and novelist.Born in New York City, He wrote the novel Muscle Beach and collaborated with Peter Ustinov on the screenplay for Hot Millions...
and star Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
. The music score was composed by Laurie Johnson
Laurie Johnson
Laurie Johnson is an English film and television composer, and bandleader.-Career:...
, featuring the single "This Time" from Scottish singer Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
. The cinematographer was Kenneth Higgins.
Plot
Con-artist Marcus Pendleton has just been released from prison for embezzlement. He has emerged into a world increasingly reliant on computers. He convinces computer programmer Caesar Smith to follow his life-long dream of hunting moths in the Amazon. Assuming Caesar's identity, he gains employment; however, he uses the computer systems to send claim cheques to himself under various aliases and addresses all over Europe. He meets and marries Patty, an inept secretary and frustrated flautist. As Caesar, he now has the problem of hiding his hot money.Locations
Filmed at MGM British Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK and on location.In the film, when Maggie Smith takes Bob Newhart shopping, she is seen buying an outfit at the Apple Boutique
Apple Boutique
The Apple shop was a retail store that opened on 7 December 1967 located in a now demolished building on the corner of Baker Street and Paddington Street, Marylebone, London, and that closed on 30 June 1968. The shop was one of the first business ventures made by The Beatles' fledgling Apple...
on Baker Street, London, which was owned by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. The boutique only operated for a few months before closing. Hot Millions provides one of the few filmed glimpses of the boutique's interior.
The car driven by Bob Newhart’s character is a Jensen Interceptor
Jensen Interceptor
The Jensen Interceptor was a sporting GT-class car hand-built in the United Kingdom by Jensen Motors between 1966 and 1976. The Interceptor name had been used previously by Jensen for an earlier car made between 1950 and 1957...
.
Cast
- Peter UstinovPeter UstinovPeter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
as Marcus Pendleton / Caesar Smith - Maggie SmithMaggie SmithDame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
as Patty Terwilliger Smith - Karl MaldenKarl MaldenKarl Malden was an American actor. In a career that spanned more than seven decades, he performed in such classic films as A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks...
as Carlton J. Klemper - Bob NewhartBob NewhartGeorge Robert Newhart , known professionally as Bob Newhart, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery, Newhart came to prominence in the 1960s when his album of comedic monologues The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was a worldwide...
as Willard C. Gnatpole - Robert MorleyRobert MorleyRobert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...
as Caesar Smith - Cesar RomeroCesar RomeroCesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
as Customs Inspector - Lynda BaronLynda BaronLynda Baron is a BAFTA-nominated English stage, film and television actress, perhaps best known for playing the extremely busty Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, the object of Arkwright's affection, in the BBC comedy series Open All Hours....
as Louise the Waitress (uncredited)