The Million Pound Note

The Million Pound Note
British theatrical poster
Directed by	Ronald Neame
Screenplay by	Jill Craigie
Based on	The Million Pound Bank Note by Mark Twain
Produced by	John Bryan Earl St. John Ronald Neame
Starring	Gregory Peck Ronald Squire Wilfrid Hyde-White Jane Griffiths
Cinematography	Geoffrey Unsworth
Edited by	Clive Donner
Music by	William Alwyn
Production company	Group Film Productions
Distributed by	General Film Distributors
Release date	7 January 1954 (1954-01-07)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$1.1 million[1]

The Million Pound Note is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Gregory Peck, Ronald Squire, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Jane Griffiths. It is based on the 1893 Mark Twain short story "The Million Pound Bank Note", and is a precursor to the 1983 film Trading Places.^[2]

It was shot at Pinewood Studios and on location around London. The film's sets were designed by the art directors John Box and Jack Maxsted. It was released by Rank's General Film Distributors. The American release was handled by United Artists under the alternative title Man with a Million.

In 1903, American seaman Henry Adams is stranded penniless in Britain and gets caught up in an unusual wager between two wealthy, eccentric brothers, Oliver and Roderick Montpelier. They persuade the Bank of England to issue a one million pound banknote, which they present to Adams in an envelope, only telling him that it contains some money. Oliver asserts that the mere existence of the note will enable the possessor to obtain whatever he needs, while Roderick insists that it would have to be spent for it to be of any use.

Once Adams gets over the shock of discovering how much the note is worth, he tries to return it to the brothers, but is told that they have left for a month. He then finds a letter in the envelope, explaining the wager and promising him a job if he can avoid spending the note for the month.

At first, everything goes as Oliver had predicted. Adams is mistaken for an eccentric millionaire and has no trouble getting food, clothes, and a hotel suite on credit, just by showing his note. The story of the note is reported in the newspapers. Adams is welcomed into exclusive social circles, meeting the American ambassador and English aristocracy. He becomes very friendly with Portia Lansdowne, the niece of the Duchess of Cromarty. Then fellow American Lloyd Hastings asks him to back a business venture. Hastings tells Adams that he does not have to put up any money himself; the mere association will allow Hastings to raise the money that he needs to develop his gold mine by selling shares.

Trouble arises when the Duke of Frognal, who had been unceremoniously evicted from the suite Adams now occupies, hides the note as a joke. When Adams is unable to produce the note, panic breaks out amongst the shareholders and Adams's creditors. All is straightened out in the end, and Adams is able to return the note to the Montpelier brothers at the end of the month.

The novel had previously been adapted for British TV in 1950 by Rex Rienits. Producer Daniel Angel bought the film rights to the adaptation.^[3]

The majority of filming took place in Pinewood Studios where the sets were designed by John Box and Jack Maxsted. The director also made use of locations such as Belgrave Square.^[4] Gregory Peck was paid $350,000 for The Million Dollar Note and The Purple Plain (which was released 9 months later).

In the 21st century, Hal Erickson described it as "satisfying", with humor that makes the audience's laughter cascade.^[5]

• The Million Pound Note at IMDb
• The Million Pound Note at the TCM Movie Database
• The Million Pound Note at AllMovie
• The Million Pound Note at Rotten Tomatoes