Themes: Cons and Scams, Crisis of Conscience, Unlikely Criminals
Main Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ron Rich, Cliff Osmond, Judi West
Release Year: 1966
Country: US
Run Time: 125 minutes
Plot
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, All Movie Guide
Review
Notable for contriving the first -- and one of the best -- pairings of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, this acerbic, late-career Billy Wilder gem marries his penchant for hand-wringing morality plays with a dark, melancholy tone reminiscent of his glum masterpiece The Apartment, made six years earlier. The Fortune Cookie actually benefits from having a villain not quite as insidious as Fred MacMurray's J.D. Sheldrake: Matthau's affable shyster Willie Gingrich. Despite his unrepentant opportunism, Gingrich serves as a benevolent life force: If not for his less-than-airtight scam, Lemmon's Harry Hinckle would never be forced to own up to the havoc that only a meek wallflower like himself could create -- almost by default. The supporting cast is no less splendid, with the under-worked Judi West making a sly turn as the alternately world-weary and kittenish ex-wife who sees Hinckle as a renewed meal ticket, and the subdued Ron Rich as the impossibly selfless football star whose generosity almost does him in -- financially as well as professionally. Wilder's career was made up of films that heartbreakingly detailed the intersection of guilt and guile, and, in its own unassuming way, The Fortune Cookie is no exception. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Harry Holcombe - O'Brien; Lurene Tuttle - Mother Hinkle; Les Tremayne - Thompson; Marge Redmond - Charlotte Gingrich; Noam Pitlik - Max; Harry Davis - Dr. Krugman; Ann Shoemaker - Sister Veronica; Maryesther Denver - Nurse; Lauren Gilbert - Kincaid; Ned Glass - Doc Schindler; Sig Rumann - Prof. Winterhalter; Archie Moore - Mr. Jackson; Howard McNear - Mr. Cimoli; Bartlett Robinson - One of The Four; Robert Lieb - One of The Four Specialists; Martin Blaine - One of The Four Specialists; Dody Heath - Nun; Herbie Faye - Maury; Billy Beck - Maury's Assistant; Judy Pace - Elvira; Helen Kleeb - Receptionist; John Todd Roberts - Jeffrey, Gingrich; Herb Ellis - TV Director; Don Reed - Newscaster; Robert DoQui - Man in Bar; Ben Wright - Specialist; Jon Silo - Tailor; Keith Jackson - Football Announcer
Credit
Robert Luthardt - Art Director, I.A.L. Diamond - Associate Producer, Doane Harrison - Associate Producer, Lynn Stalmaster - Casting, Paula Giokaris - Costume Designer, Charles Arrico - Costume Designer, Jack N. Reddish - First Assistant Director, Billy Wilder - Director, Dan Mandell - Editor, Andre Previn - Composer (Music Score), Joseph La Shelle - Cinematographer, Billy Wilder - Producer, Edward Boyle - Set Designer, Sass Bedig - Special Effects, Robert Martin - Sound/Sound Designer, I.A.L. Diamond - Screenwriter, Billy Wilder - Screenwriter, Cole Porter - Featured Music
The Fortune Cookie (alternative UK title: Meet Whiplash Willie) is a 1966 film starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in their first on screen collaboration, and directed by Billy Wilder.
CBS cameraman Henry Hinkle (Jack Lemmon) gets injured when football player Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson (Ron Rich) runs into him while he is covering a Browns game at Cleveland Stadium. Hinkle is visited in the hospital by his conniving lawyer brother-in-law "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich (Walter Matthau), who convinces him to pretend that his legs have been paralyzed. This way, they can receive a huge indemnity from the insurance company. Of course, the insurance company suspects that the paralysis is a fake one, and so a cat-and-mouse game begins. Jackson turns out to be a nice guy. He takes very good care of Hinkle, who begins having second thoughts as he witnesses guilt taking its toll on Jackson.
Production was halted for weeks after Walter Matthau had a heart attack. He had slimmed from 190 to 160 pounds by the time filming was completed, and had to wear a heavy black coat to conceal the weight loss.
Jack Lemmon originally had two other actors proposed to star with him. They were Frank Sinatra and Jackie Gleason, but Lemmon insisted that he do the picture with Walter Matthau.
Scenes were filmed at the Cleveland Browns vs Minnesota Vikings game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium on 31 October 1965.
Walter Matthau won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in this film. The movie also received Oscar nominations for Art Direction-Set Decoration (Black-and-White) (Robert Luthardt, Edward G. Boyle), Best Cinematography (Black-and-White), and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay. Walter Matthau was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy.[1]
Cleveland locations
Saint Mark's Hospital is in reality St. Vincent Charity Hospital. In 1966, the scene was filmed on East 24th Street in an older section. In 1966, St. Vincent Charity had completed a then-ultramodern curved Hospital building.
