Million Dollar Mystery

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Million Dollar Mystery
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Fleischer
Produced by	Stephen F. Kesten
Written by	Rudy De Luca Tim Metcalfe Miguel Tejada-Flores
Starring	Tom Bosley Jamie Alcroft Royce D. Applegate Penny Baker Eddie Deezen Mack Dryden
Music by	Al Gorgoni
Cinematography	Jack Cardiff
Editing by	John W. Wheeler
Distributed by	De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Release date(s)	June 12, 1987 (1987-06-12)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$989,033 (USA)

Million Dollar Mystery (also known as Money Mania) is a 1987 American film released with a promotional tie-in for Glad-Lock brand bags. This was the final feature-length film directed by Richard Fleischer.

Plot summary

Tom Bosley has the starring role as Sidney Preston, a disgruntled White House aide who took off with $4 million that belonged to the government. While on the run, he stops at a roadside diner and has their world famous chili. He suffers a fatal heart attack and before dying, reveals to onlookers the location of the first million dollars.

The occupants of the diner head out on a mad dash to find the loot. When they find the money, they lose it in a mishap. They follow clues to the next million and lose it as well. After finding and losing the third million, the movie ends. During the closing credits, one of the characters informs the audience that there is a million dollars somewhere in the USA and if they follow the clues in specially marked Glad-Lock bags, they have the chance to win $1 million.

The plot was not unlike the 1963 film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

Cast

• Tom Bosley as Sidney Preston
• Royce D. Applegate as Tugger
• Penny Baker as Charity
• Eddie Deezen as Rollie
• Douglas Emerson as Howie Briggs
• Rich Hall as Slaughter Buzzárd
• Daniel McDonald as Crush
• Rick Overton as Stuart Briggs
• Kevin Pollak as Officer Quinn
• Jamie Alcroft as Bob
• Mack Dryden as Fred
• Tawny Fere as Faith
• H.B. Haggerty as Awful Abdul
• LaGena Hart as Hope
• Mona Lyden as Barbara Briggs
• Pam Matteson as Dottie
• Gail Neely as Officer Gretchen
• Bob Schott as Bad Boris
• Wendy Sherman as Lollie

While performing a routine stunt for this film, legendary stuntman Dar Robinson died on November 21, 1986.

The Glad-Lock contest failure

Glad Bags and DeLaurentiis Entertainment co-sponsored a real-life million-dollar "treasure hunt" to coincide with this film's release. At the end of the movie, the cash is still missing, and moviegoers were invited to find the location of the hidden million, using clues provided in the film (the sponsors also emphasized that the money wasn't physically hidden anywhere, lest anyone injure themselves or damage property while searching for the money; the audience just had to guess where the money was hidden). Ticket buyers were even given game cards shaped like American currency—with a photo of Dino De Laurentiis where the President should be. In the end, it was a big disaster for the studio. The film was one of the major flops of the 1980s, not even grossing a million dollars at the box office, specifically, $989,033 which the studio wound up giving to the contest winner, a woman in Bakersfield, California. (Incidentally, the money was hidden in the bridge of the Statue of Liberty's nose).

Award nominations

Golden Raspberry Awards

• Nominated: Worst Original Song, Barry Mann & John Lewis Parker (1988)
• Nominated: Worst Supporting Actor, Tom Bosley (1988)
• Nominated: Worst Supporting Actor, Jamie Alcroft (1988)
• Nominated: Worst Supporting Actor, Mack Dryden (1988)

External links

• Million Dollar Mystery at the Internet Movie Database
• Million Dollar Mystery at AllRovi
• Million Dollar Mystery at Rotten Tomatoes

See also

• Stunts that have gone wrong