Millions Wouldn't

 Since I rashly suggested that I might post about some streamers, here's one from Amazon Prime: The Million Pound Note (1954). It's a British Production of the Rank Organization, directed by Ronald Neahme, but starring Gregory Peck, from a Mark Twain story.

It starts with Peck in London, looking scruffy and starved. He is getting ready to scoop up a bun a baby has tossed on the sidewalk, when two gentlemen call him from a window. They invite him in, explain that they are brothers who have a bet, which they don't explain. He lets them know he is a naval engineer who was out sailing his one-man boat off of New England when he got stuck in a storm. A freighter picked him up and dropped him off in London, penniless. The brothers think this will work perfectly. They hand him an envelope. tell him there's money in it but he can't open it until 3:00 precisely.

Peck heads to the nearest eatery, orders everything and polishes it off. Then the same again, and again. The proprietor is pretty nervous about his ability to pay, so at a minute before 3:00, he opens the envelope. Inside is the titular million pound note (worth around $100 million, today's money). There's also a short explanation of the bet: The note is a loan. If he can return that note unbroken in one month, they will give him any job they can command (they own a boatbuilding firm). Otherwise, he just has to pay back the money. In a prolog we saw that this note is unique: there is only one other in circulation. So he can't break the bill and parley it into another million. It has to be that note.

So he has to pay a restaurant bill of a pound and a few shillings with a million pound note. He tells the waiter he only has a large bill; they say they can change it. He doubts it, they insist. He shows them the note. He was right - but it doesn't matter anymore. He's clearly an eccentric American millionaire. They are more than happy to run a tab.

And so it goes. He goes to a tailor and is shunted to the lowest clerk for a bad readymade suit. He explains that he only has a large note, they claim they can cash it. But they can't - but they fit him out with 20-30 suits on credit. Same with the hotel. And so on.

In society, he meets with Jane Griffiths, a rather Felicity-Kendalish daughter of a duke. (I suppose I need another reference for gaminesque British actresses with breathy voices - Glynnis Johns? But I like Kendal, os...) He also meets an old friend from the states. He's trying to develop a gold mine, but needs capital for equipment. He doesn't even need Peck to invest - he just needs to use his name, and the price will skyrocket. So everything is going well, until an interfering old nobleman hides the note as a prank.

This movie (or the original story?) spawned a number of remakes and spin-offs, like Millions to Juan. The eccentric brothers making a better shows up in Trading Places, and maybe Brewster's Millions. I'm not sure this is my favorite version, though. I like Peck in comedy, because he's such a stiff, and it was fun to see him in formal wear, but that isn't much of a joke.

In conclusion, shouldn't Peck have been able to wire home for some money? Maybe he needed ID?