Another month, another deadly sin to be devoured. This month we have something very close to last month’s gluttony – it’s greed. I used money as theme last month for “overeating” because I had a different plan here. It’s still going to be about money and it’s going to be about greed but with a twist. As always, I have a theme within a theme for this one here and honestly, I’m quite proud of this one. PS: hope everyone is doing okay and staying safe!
Now, you’re probably thinking, what the hell am I picking here and how is The Bachelor anything to do with greed? Well, this movie’s plot revolves around an inheritance that the main character has to get… but it has strings attached. So the greed part here is the need for the inheritance/money and the willingness to do almost anything for it. This is not a good movie, it’s a bit silly and a bit entertaining but honestly, I picked it because I needed a third pick. Also, it does have an iconic scene where like a thousand women in wedding dresses are running after a man (because they are greedy)!! Oh by the way, anyone remember Chris O’Donnell and his 90’s movie career?
We’re kicking it back all the way to the 80s with this one, which is a rare thing for me! Brewster’s Millions is a comedy about a man who needs to spend 30 million dollars in 30 days in order to inherit 300 million. It’s nuts, it’s also kind of humbling. This is the SEVENTH adaptation from the novel by the same name and the last English version (the 8th is an Indian adaptation). Can you imagine this plot being redone for SEVEN times in basically 70 years. Anyway, Richard Pryor and John Candy take the lead here and that’s like comedy gold. It might not hold up well but it’s still a lot of fun.
This is the movie I came up first for this week. I mean the name even says it. Basically this is about a rich guy played by Kirk Douglas, his inheritance and his crazy family who all want a piece of it. It’s a fun movie and I only have fond memories of it, just as I do about any Michael J. Fox movies. Basically, if I could have, I would have just mentioned this. Anyway, as you can tell, the common theme this week was inheritance and people going nuts for it. Greedy is a fine example. It also has a twist which I love. So in case you still for some reason haven’t seen this one, I recommend it.
THIS AMAZING SERIES IS CREATED BY WANDERING THROUGH THE SHELVES
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Ohhh The Bachelor…that was not a good movie.
I haven’t seen any of your picks this week. I can’t remember the last time I watched a John Candy movie at all.
I haven’t seen any of your picks but I’ll definitely check out Greedy. It’s been picked several times this week and it sounds good.
I always love a theme within the theme and this is a good one!
Your right about The Bachelor not being a good film, it’s not horrendous just vapid and thoroughly forgettable. I do remember when the studios tried desperately to make Chris O’Donnell happen as a movie star in the 90’s. He had a certain winsome appeal but was usually as vapid as this movie and easily eclipsed by the other stronger performers in his films.
Brewster’s Millions is certainly a durable property, I should try and find the source novel to see why it was so appealing, starting as a stage play before the first movie adaptation. I knew I’d seen at least one of those other versions, the 1940’s one with Dennis O’Keefe, aside from this one but checked to see if there were any others I had forgotten. There wasn’t but I was surprised to see there were three during the silent period alone! And the first was directed by Cecil B. DeMille! Unfortunately all three are lost now, a terribly common problem with early film. Anyway this one is a decent take on it and Richard Pryor is funny in the lead.
We match!! Most unexpectedly too, I thought Greedy was pretty much forgotten. It’s nothing special but a pleasant time passer and Michael J. Fox is always appealing.
I also did a theme within the theme with my first pick in some way inspiring the makers of the other two.
Greed (1924)-Small town dentist John McTeague (Gibson Gowland) makes an enemy for life when he falls for his best friend Marcus’s (Jean Hersholt) girl Trina (ZaSu Pitts) and marries her. Unexpectedly Trina wins a $5000 lottery (equivalent to almost 80 thousand in current dollars) which turns the once docile and retiring woman into an obsessed miser leading to enormous tragedy for all three. Director Erich von Stroheim’s controversial epic was originally over nine hours long and for the few who saw it said to be a masterwork. MGM demanded cuts with various editors hacking it down to just over two hours and destroying the rest. It has been restored to 239 minutes through the use of existing elements but the original is lost.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)-In Mexico wanderers Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) and Bob Curtin (Tim Holt) befriend old prospector Howard (director John Huston’s father Walter who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar) and together they head to the Sierra Madre mountains to look for gold. They find treasure but it comes at a high price, first in the form of bandits roaming the wilderness but ultimately more so by the greed that consumes them. Though based on the B. Traven novel director Huston sited the ’24 Greed as a major influence.
Greedy (1994)-Elderly tycoon Joe McTeague (Kirk Douglas) is surrounded by his family, a pack of greedy vultures that include Phil Hartman, Ed Begley, Jr. and Bob Balaban, all circling him looking to get their hands on his cash. Joe seeing through their machinations lets it be known he might leave his money to his nurse Robin (Nancy Travis). In an attempt to convince him they are sincere they find estranged grandson Daniel (Michael J. Fox) but that leads to more trouble than they counted on. The ’24 film is given a comic twist here.
Hey, Brewster’s Millions! Boy it has been a looooong time since I last saw that movie. It definitely fits the subject of greed.
I haven’t seen the first one and that’s ok by me but, yeah, whatever happened to this guy? I enjoyed Brewster’s millions and Candy and Pryer made it above the average. Greedy seems to be the film for this week and I would like to see it. Have you ever seen the Twilight Zone episode about a dying man with his greedy relatives waiting for him to die. It takes place during Mardi Gras and he instructs them that they must wear the masks that mark their personality. It’s really a great episode