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Truly Dreadful Film

How sad is this?

A Masterpiece!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Like the man said, you can't go home again, and you got that right, Tom. I saw this movie as a young kid and overall retained fond memories of the film overall without remembering anything specific except that in one segment a coupon checker employed by a Football Pool, attempts to 'slip' a winning entry - filled in after the results were broadcast - into the pile being checked. Even then my memory played tricks because I had spent a lifetime 'remembering' a female coupon checker when in fact it was Dennis Price, who against the run of play and laws of probabilities, had 'pulled' Greta Gynt and was acting at her behest. The other three segments had completely dropped off me mental radar and in playing order they were 1) a 'family' sequence in which, improbably, an 'ordinary' family inhabit what appears to be a minor mansion with umpteen rooms and a panelled dining room. Their genuine pools wins leads, inevitably to discord. In the second segment, milquetoast Mervyn Johns also enjoys a genuine win but is too brain-washed to quit his job. Succumbing to counter-brainwashing by his take-no-prisoners wife, he decides to fake a heart attack in order to retire on health grounds, only to suffer the real thing. The third segment is the one I half- remembered and the fourth features Edward Rigby as a disgruntled bass player in a large orchestra.Like the man also said, nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Four players of an English football pool find that they have won EASY MONEY. This movie, in four separate stories, explores how the sudden winnings changes their lives.To a Yank, the premise of this movie (explored, documentary fashion in the first five minutes) is fascinating, as there is nothing equivalent to the football (er...soccer to us on this side of the pond) pool which brings on such large payouts. (The closest thing is the numbers racket, which, um, isn't legal.) As for the stories: The first one, featuring an average middle class British family in a loving marriage, is by far the best, in both plotting, acting, and conveying a unique sense of place. This bit is as good as Passage to Pimilco in conveying a sense of England during the late 40s. (I mean -- it has everything, austerity, taxes, cricket, Scotland Yard, and dreams of a house in Bournemouth.) Also, its always good to see a generally healthy family unit portrayed realistically; it does not happen often in the movies.The second one, on the other hand, suffers from rampant stereotyping of meek little clerks and their domineering, officious wives. This, too, is a very English feeling story, but, in this case, not in a good way. Unsatisfactory.The third tale is an attempt at an American style story, in which a beautiful but bad woman convinces the usual gullible male into gaming the pool so she wins the money. Like the ersatz jazz number and bad singing that starts this sequence, nothing about the story or characters here feels true. The girl is very beautiful, but her story is very phony.The fourth tale is somewhat better, but is a self-conscious class-conscious "comic" tale of a cockney bass player for the local symphony orchestra, and his difficult relationship with the orchestra conductor. Some might like this; I found it a one joke tale stretched out far too long.In other words, the first 40 minutes of this movie are really very good. The rest stinks.

Just to correct an earlier post someone made here: This film was NOT the inspiration for the 1950's American television series THE MILLIONAIRE, which featured an unseen character named John Beresford Tipton giving a million dollars to a different person every week. That series was spawned by a 1932 American film for Paramount entitled IF I HAD A MILLION. EASY MONEY is certainly a variation on the idea, portraying various people's stories after suddenly becoming wealthy. It's interesting in spots, but never quite achieves the levels of profundity or poignancy of the 1932 film.

This is truly dreadful. It consists of four segments, each exploring the human effects of a windfall. In one case it is an illicit windfall.What's notable is the relationship of this to the TeeVee series it spawned: "The Millionaire," where John Bears Phitipton (I hope I remember that right after 40 years), would give some random person a million dollars then invisibly watch with the audience.That was an incredibly powerful notion, having a character join the audience. None of that here.The final segment is a bass player in an orchestra who buys the whole place, turns out his despised conductor and elevates his instrument to the forefront. This one was good enough to actually watch. The others weren'tTed's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.