I'll Give a Million (1938)

By CinemaSerf

"Newlander" (Warner Baxter) is a bored millionaire who dives into the sea from his ocean-going yacht to rescue a man. Turns out that "Louis" (Peter Lorre) didn't actually want to be rescued - he's a homeless vagrant with little to look forward to in life. "Newlander" suddenly quite fancies this life and swapping clothes, vows that he will give one million francs when he is convinced that someone actually likes him for himself rather than his cash. His adventures take him to a circus where he fits in quickly and meets "Jean" (Marjorie Weaver) whilst his tramp pal, now replete with a dinner suit and a large bundle of banknotes, tells everyone that there's this wealthy man out there offering a large reward for some respect and affection... What ensues now is a quite predictable and occasionally slapstick story that exposes the fatuous, obsequious and the greedy in equal measure amongst the citizenry of all classes. His hopes of finding a genuine person, well they look slight! Lorre features too sparingly to do much of his Chaplin-esque stuff, but when he does he steals the scenes as we head to the increasingly obvious conclusion. Not exactly laugh out loud, but watchable.