Mr. Billion
Mr. Billion (1977 Film).jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJonathan Kaplan
Written byKen Friedman
Jonathan Kaplan
Produced bySteven Bach
Ken Friedman
StarringTerence Hill
Valerie Perrine
Slim Pickens
William Redfield
Chill Wills
Jackie Gleason
CinematographyMatthew Leonetti
Edited byO. Nicholas Brown
Music byDave Grusin
Production
company
Pantheon Pictures
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • March 3, 1977 (1977-03-03)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4,590,000[1]
Box office$1,300,000 (rentals)[2]

Mr. Billion is a 1977 action comedy/action-adventure film[3][4] directed by Jonathan Kaplan. It is notable as the Hollywood debut of Terence Hill. It's also the last film of actor William Redfield, who died before its release.

Plot[edit]

After billionaire Anthony Falcon dies in a freak accident, he leaves his entire estate to his nephew, easygoing Italian mechanic Guido Falcone. In order to claim his billion-dollar inheritance, Guido must reach San Francisco within twenty days to sign a document. His uncle's greedy assistant, John Cutler (Jackie Gleason), wants the money for himself, and hires female detective Rosie Jones (Valerie Perrine) to prevent Guido claiming his inheritance.[5]

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

The film was the idea of Dino de Laurentiis, who wanted to introduce Terence Hill, at that time one of the biggest movie stars in Europe, to international audiences. He signed director Jonathan Kaplan, just coming off the successful White Line Fever.

Kaplan says production was difficult - he wanted to cast Lily Tomlin but the studio insisted on Valerie Perrine. Shooting took place in Italy. Kaplan says the highlight was working with Jackie Gleason; despite his drinking problem, Kaplan says he could sober up Gleason by doing old routines from The Honeymooners and getting laughs from the crew.[6]

Reception[edit]

Mr. Billion was a major financial flop and Kaplan calls it the biggest failure of his career.[6] In a retrospective review, the critic Keith Bailey called it "yet another case of Hollywood bringing a foreign actor in, and getting him to do different material than what made him famous in the first place".[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989 p258
  2. ^ Solomon, pg 233.
  3. ^ "Mr. Billion (1977)". www.allmovie.com. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Mr. Billion (The Windfall)". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Home | Terence Hill Offizielle Webseite".
  6. ^ a b Jonathan Kaplan on Mr. Billion at Trailers From Hell
  7. ^ http://www.badmovieplanet.com/unknownmovies/reviews/rev253.html

External links[edit]