Kurt at 21:34, 12 April 2023

2023-04-12T21:34:12Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:34, 12 April 2023
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	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	~~\| name = The Big Money~~
	\| image = The Big Money (1958).jpg		\| image = The Big Money (1958).jpg
	\| caption = Movie Poster (1958)		\| caption = Movie Poster (1958)

Kurt at 15:45, 4 April 2023

2023-04-04T15:45:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:45, 4 April 2023
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	~~{{short description\|1958 film}}~~
	~~{{Distinguish\|Big Money (film)}}~~

	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=June 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=June 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = The Big Money		\| name = The Big Money
	\| image = ~~File:~~The Big Money (1958).jpg		\| image = The Big Money (1958).jpg
	\| caption = Movie Poster (1958)		\| caption = Movie Poster (1958)
	\| director = [[John Paddy Carstairs]]		\| director = [[John Paddy Carstairs]]
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	==External links==		==External links==
	*{{IMDb title\|0049008\|The Big Money}}		*{{IMDb title\|0049008\|The Big Money}}
	*~~[https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/~~4ce2b79fa3d20 The Big Money~~] at BFI~~		*{{BFI\|4ce2b79fa3d20\|The Big Money}}
	*{{British Comedy Guide\|film\|the_big_money\|The Big Money}}		*{{British Comedy Guide\|film\|the_big_money\|The Big Money}}

	~~{{John Paddy Carstairs}}~~

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Money, The}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Money, The}}
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	[[Category:1950s English-language films]]		[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
	[[Category:1950s British films]]		[[Category:1950s British films]]
			[[Category:British comedy films]]

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{{short description|1958 film}}
{{Distinguish|Big Money (film)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Big Money
| image = File:The Big Money (1958).jpg
| caption = Movie Poster (1958)
| director = [[John Paddy Carstairs]]
| producer = [[Joseph Janni]] (uncredited) '''executive''' [[Earl St. John]]
| writer = John Baines '''additional material''' Patrick Campbell
|based_on = story by John Baines
| starring = [[Ian Carmichael]] [[Belinda Lee]] [[Kathleen Harrison]] [[Jill Ireland]]
| music = Van Phillips
| cinematography = [[Jack Cardiff]] [[Jack E. Cox]]
| editing = [[Alfred Roome]]
| studio = [[The Rank Organisation]]
| distributor = Rank Film Distributors (UK) Lopert (US)
| released = 10 June 1958 (UK) 1963 (US)
| runtime = 86 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget = £160,000<ref name="Walker" /><ref name="davis">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/793929220/?terms=%22john%20davis%22%20%22rank%20film%22&match=1|newspaper=Nottingham Evening Post|date=22 Nov 1956|page= 9|first=Thomas|last=Wiseman|title=Mr Davis Takes on Hollywood}}</ref>
or £175,000<ref name="AusMirror">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75861909 |title=Star Dust. |newspaper=[[The Mirror (Western Australia)|The Mirror]] |location=Perth |date=4 August 1956 |accessdate=17 May 2012 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name="daily">£175,000 laughter film shelved
Author: Cecil Wilson Date: Monday, July 23, 1956
Publication: Daily Mail (London, England) Issue: 18743 p 5</ref>
}}
'''''The Big Money''''' is a 1958 [[Cinema of the United Kingdom|British]] [[comedy film]] directed by [[John Paddy Carstairs]] and starring [[Ian Carmichael]], [[Belinda Lee]] and [[Kathleen Harrison]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090113222045/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/25782 BFI.org]</ref>

==Plot==
Willie is the bad seed of a family of thieves. One day, he steals a briefcase from a dodgy clergyman, which is full of pound notes. Unfortunately, the notes all have the same serial number. The clergyman is actually the leader of a separate criminal gang.

Willie is seduced by "the big money" and starts passing the counterfeits, one note at a time. Much of his need for money is to impress Gloria, the pretty barmaid at his local pub. She dreams of the millionaire who will come and give her the good life. Unfortunately, he cannot pass the fake money fast enough to keep up with her wants. When she helps herself to some of the counterfeit money, it gets the attention of the police and the mobsters. It all ends in a free-for-all, between the police, Arabs, and mobsters, in disguise. Finally, she has to decide whether she loves him or his money.

[[File:The Big Money (1958) Movie Poster.jpg|thumbnail|The Big Money (1958 Poster)]]

==Cast==
* [[Ian Carmichael]] as Willie Frith
* [[Belinda Lee]] as Gloria
* [[Kathleen Harrison]] as Mrs. Frith
* [[Robert Helpmann]] as The Reverend
* [[James Hayter (actor)|James Hayter]] as Mr. Frith
* [[George Coulouris]] as The Colonel
* [[Renée Houston]] as Bobbie
* [[Michael Brennan (actor)|Michael Brennan]] as Bluey
* [[Jill Ireland]] as Doreen Frith
* [[Leslie Phillips]] as Receptionist
* [[Harold Berens]] as Bookmaker
* [[Hugh Morton (actor)|Hugh Morton]] as Valet
* [[Ferdy Mayne]] as Furrier
* [[Digby Wolfe]] as Harry Mason
* [[Michael Balfour (actor)|Michael Balfour]] as "Wilberforce"

==Production and release==
Ian Carmichael had played a support role in the film of ''[[Simon and Laura]]'' (1955) for Rank and starred in a significant hit, ''Private's Progress'', for the Boulting Brothers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51776029 |title='SILLY-ASS' ROLES SUIT NEW STAR |newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]] |volume=23 |issue=47 |date=18 April 1956 |accessdate=2 August 2020 |page=62 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> This led to the Rank Organisation offering him a three-picture contract of which this was to be the first. Carmichael said the movie would be "a sad disappointment, and, after working in such close accord with John and Roy for twelve weeks, a frustrating and nail biting experience."<ref name="Carmichael p 316">Carmichael p 316</ref>

[[Diana Dors]] was originally cast as Gloria but turned down the role.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75863144 |title=Diana now wants to play serious roles |newspaper=[[The Mirror (Western Australia)|The Mirror]] |volume=36 |issue=1814 |location=Western Australia |date=3 March 1956 |accessdate=12 July 2020 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Belinda Lee played the role instead. It was one of several comedies she made at Rank.<ref name="bomb">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|title=A Tale of Two Blondes: Diana Dors and Belinda Lee|date=September 7, 2020|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/a-tale-of-two-blondes-diana-dors-and-belinda-lee/}}</ref>

Filming took place at Pinewood in April 1956 and took ten weeks.<ref name="daily"/>

Carmichael says when he read the script he felt the premise was "a good one and the early sequences gave it a promising start" but that "very soon it descended into the broadest comedy cliches." He complained to the producer and director who did not share his concern so Carmichael "took the matter higher."<ref name="Carmichael p 316"/>

The Rank Organisation had employed Bryan Forbes as an in-house script doctor and staff writer and he was sent the screenplay. He and Carmichel spent two days working out an amended treatment and Forbes went to write up the scenes. The executive producer found out about this and pulled Forbes off the film – Carmichael says the movie was shot as per the original script.<ref>Carmichael p 317</ref>

The film's release was cancelled in July 1956 because [[The Rank Organisation|Rank Organisation]] head Sir [[John Davis (British businessman)|John Davis]] thought it was "terrible".<ref name="AusMirror" /> "It would have been more harmful to the careers of the people in it to have it shown," said Davis in October.<ref name="davis"/>

Critic [[Alexander Walker (critic)|Alexander Walker]] described it in 1993 as "almost indistinguishable from the general run of other Rank products."<ref name="Walker">{{cite news|last=Walker|first=Alexander|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-sir-john-davis-1482592.html|title=Obituary: Sir John Davis|work=The Independent|date=3 July 1993|access-date=30 May 2020}}</ref> Carmichael, then making ''Brothers in Law'' said "all I can say is if the powers that be think the film is unfunny I'm relieved they're not going to show it." Helpmann said, "I applaud the courage of Mr Davis' decision but I can take no responsibility for the unfunniness of the film."<ref name="daily"/>

==Release==
In 1958 producer [[Hugh Stewart (film editor)|Hugh Stewart]] was working on a Norman Wisdom movie that involved scenes at Ascot. The director, John Paddy Carstairs, remembered there were Ascot sequences in ''The Big Money'' and suggested Stewart look at it. The producer felt the film could be released with some additional editing and music.<ref name="Carmichael p 318">Carmichael p 318</ref> This led to a June 1958 release and screenings on Rank's [[Odeon Cinemas|Odeon]] circuit. Producer Joseph Janni took his name off the credits.

==Reception==
''Variety'' said, "all Stewart's labors cannot disguise the fact that Davis was right in the first place. Though sparking from an amusing idea, "The Big Money" is funny only in spots. It is bogged down by gag situations that are telegraphed, and feeble dialog... Though it may prove a modest filler in certain British houses, it Will do nobody's reputation any good if it is entered for U.S. consumption."<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety211-1958–06/page/n155/mode/1up?q=%22belinda+lee%22 Review of film] at ''Variety''</ref>

Carmichael said that Stewart's "confidence was misplaced. ''The Big Money'' should have remained incarcerated or, better still, destroyed." It led to the termination of Rank's contract with Carmichael by mutual agreement. The actor wrote in his memoirs "I didn't like factory farming, which was what I assessed the film production at Pinewood to be at the time, and they, no doubt, didn't like my argumentative interference in a side of the production which they probably considered to be none of my affair. The fact that all along I had been wrong about ''The Big Money'' could also only have rankled."<ref name="Carmichael p 318"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Notes==
*{{cite book|title= Will the real Ian Carmichael – : an autobiography|last=Carmichael|first= Ian|year=1980 |publisher=Futura Publications }}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0049008|The Big Money}}
*[https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b79fa3d20 The Big Money] at BFI
*{{British Comedy Guide|film|the_big_money|The Big Money}}

{{John Paddy Carstairs}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Money, The}}
[[Category:1950s crime comedy films]]
[[Category:1958 films]]
[[Category:British crime comedy films]]
[[Category:Films directed by John Paddy Carstairs]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:1958 comedy films]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s British films]]

The Big Money (film) - Revision history

Kurt at 21:34, 12 April 2023

Kurt at 15:45, 4 April 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Britfilm: add extra references