The Fortune Cookie (1966)
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95% of critics liked it
(21 reviews) -
77% of users liked it
(4,452 ratings)
The British title of Billy Wilder's classic comedy was Meet Whiplash Willie -- for, despite Jack Lemmon's star billing, the movie's driving force is Oscar-winning Walter Matthau as gloriously underhanded lawyer "Whiplash" Willie Gingrich. CBS cameraman Harry Hinkle (Lemmon) is… More The British title of Billy Wilder's classic comedy was Meet Whiplash Willie -- for, despite Jack Lemmon's star billing, the movie's driving force is Oscar-winning Walter Matthau as gloriously underhanded lawyer "Whiplash" Willie Gingrich. CBS cameraman Harry Hinkle (Lemmon) is injured when he is accidentally bulldozed by football player Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson (Ron Rich) during a Cleveland Browns game. Willie, Harry's brother-in-law, foresees an insurance-settlement bonanza, and he convinces Harry to pretend to be incapacitated by the accident. To insure his client's cooperation, Willie arranges for Harry's covetous ex-wife Sandy (Judi West) to feign a rekindling of their romance. Harry's conscience is plagued by the solicitous behavior of Boom Boom, who is so devastated at causing Harry's injury that he insists on waiting on the "cripple" hand and foot. Meanwhile, dishevelled private eye Purkey (Cliff Osmond) keeps Harry under constant surveillance, hoping to catch him moving around so the insurance company can avoid shelling out a fortune. Wilder and usual co-writer I.A.L. Diamond were at their most jaundiced and cynical here, even if, after a sardonic semiclimax, the last ten minutes succumb to the sentimentality that often marred Wilder's later movies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Billy Wilder
- Written By
- Billy Wilder, I. A. L. Diamond
- Genres
- Drama, Classics, Comedy
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Oct 19, 1966 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
...another bittersweet comedy commentary on contemporary US mores.
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Don Druker, Chicago Reader
Wildly funny in spots...
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, Time Out
The friction between the laughs and the cynicism generates more heat than most Hollywood comedies even aim at...
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
Mr. Wilder's last film and a comedy of unrelieved vulgarity, but it has style and taste.
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, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A very funny film, this morality tale is a deft mixture of cynicism, wit and idealism as only writer-director Wilder could do it.
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Cast
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Jack Lemmon
as Harry Hinkle
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Walter Matthau
as Willie Gingrich
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Ron Rich
as Luther "Boom-Boom" Jackson
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Cliff Osmond
as Mr. Purkey
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Judi West
as Sandy Hinkle
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Harry Holcombe
as O'Brien
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Lurene Tuttle
as Mother Hinkle
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Les Tremayne
as Thompson
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Marge Redmond
as Charlotte Gingrich
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Noam Pitlik
as Max
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Harry Davis
as Dr. Krugman
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Ann Shoemaker
as Sister Veronica
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Maryesther Denver
as Nurse
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Lauren Gilbert
as Kincaid
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Ned Glass
as Doc Schindler
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Sig Rumann
as Prof. Winterhalter
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Archie Moore
as Mr. Jackson
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Howard McNear
as Mr. Cimoli
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Bartlett Robinson
as One of The Four
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Robert P. Lieb
as One of The Four Specialists
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Martin Blaine
as One of The Four Specialists
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Dody Heath
as Nun
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Herbie Faye
as Maury
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Billy Beck
as Maury's Assistant
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Judy Pace
as Elvira
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Helen Kleeb
as Receptionist
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John Todd Roberts
as Jeffrey Gingrich
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Herb Ellis
as TV Director
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Don Reed
as Newscaster
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Robert DoQui
as Man in Bar
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Ben Wright
as Specialist
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Jon Silo
as Tailor
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Keith Jackson
as Football Announcer
