The Million Pound Note (1954)

Based upon the Mark Twain short story about two eccentric brothers living in Edwardian London who give a stranger a million pound bank note to settle a bet, "The Million Pound Note" is a fun movie starring Gregory Peck in the lead role. Although saying that it is fun is not doing it complete justice because surprisingly it throws up some interesting points about wealth and happiness whilst also being entertaining.

Having found himself penniless on the streets of London, American Henry Adams (Gregory Peck) suddenly gets a stroke of luck when two eccentric brothers hand him a Million Pound Note as part of a bet between themselves. With new found wealth Adams finds that not only do people start to treat him differently but most people don't want paying when he buys stuff. But his initial happiness turns to sadness when he starts to realise that being perceived as wealthy doesn't come with out a certain amount of issues.

In "The Million Pound Note" the original Mark Twain story is nicely expanded upon in creating the clever and amusing story about wealth. It takes you through various stages from people's perception of someone who looks like they have no money to spend then also delivering the counter viewpoint of people's behaviour to perceived wealth when Adams gets the million pound note. But then it also makes a comment on how being rich doesn't always bring happiness with people pretending to be your friend and the numerous begging letters asking for financial help.

Gregory Peck as Henry Adams enters into the fun with moments of mild slapstick such as tripping up stairs as the million pound note is whisked from his hand in a gust of wind.

His performance is pretty spot on and so is the choice to cast him. With his rugged good looks and amiable nature the character of Adams is perfect and the way Peck plays him from being the penniless American through to the perceived millionaire it's just a great all round performance. In fact "The Million Pound Note" is very much Peck's movie with him outshining the majority of the other stars from the aforementioned Reginald Beckwith through to love interest Portia Lansdowne played by Jane Griffiths.