THE MILLIONAIRE (1931)

Mildly amusing story in the "eccentric rich people" mold so popular back then. George Arliss is the head of a manufacturing company who is told by his doctor that he should slow down for his health. He retires and finds himself drifting toward total inactivity. A visit one day from a fast-talking insurance salesman (James Cagney) convinces Arliss to find something he can throw himself into to get reinvigorated, so he decides to buy a small gas station from Noah Beery whom, we discover, is selling because he knows the opening of a new highway will kill the old business. Arliss' business partner is young David Manners, who doesn't know that Arliss is a millionaire. The two raise money, get rid of the old property, and build a new station along the new highway and wind up competing with Beery. This new double life does re-energize Arliss, much to the pleasure of his wife, Florence Arliss, and his doctor, both of whom think that his recovery is the result of rest and medication. Manners meets and falls in love with Arliss' daughter (Evalyn Knapp), who is in the process of dumping her rich but shallow boyfriend, Bramwell Fletcher. Will the business succeed? Will the nice guy get the rich girl? There are no surprises, but the film is light and fluffy stuff that is easy to sit through. Arliss, a grand old man of the stage and screen who was over 60 when he made this, is a bit stagy but is convincing in his transformation from sickly to robust. Manners is his usual passive but handsome self, and Cagney gives the movie a shot in the arm with his single high energy scene. [Turner Classic Movies]