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Month: September 2016

Fortune, The (1975)

Fortune, The (1975)

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“She’s the mouse-bed heiress.”

Synopsis:
A married man (Warren Beatty) in “love” with an heiress (Stockard Channing) convinces his best friend (Jack Nicholson) to marry her so they can legally cross state lines during the height of the Mann Act — but complications quickly ensue as the trio struggles to co-exist in Los Angeles.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Black Comedy
  • Heiresses
  • Jack Nicholson Films
  • Mike Nichols Films
  • Plot to Murder
  • Warren Beatty Films

Review:
This clunker of a romantic slapstick (directed by Mike Nichols) remains noteworthy only for Stockard Channing’s breakthrough performance as a delightfully ditzy heiress. Unfortunately, the storyline starts off on shaky ground, as an opening title card informs us that:

During the 1920’s in the United States, a law known as the Mann Act was much feared. It prohibited transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes. Because of the Mann Act, a man who wanted to run off with a woman and was unwilling — or unable — to marry her, would sometimes go to unusual lengths.

(The Mann Act was more commonly known as the “White-Slave Traffic Act”, and was meant to “combat forced prostitution and ‘debauchery'” of white women, though that historical context is never made relevant.)

We quickly learn — in an elaborate visual “joke” — that Channing will marry wild-haired Nicholson instead of Beatty (who she’s obviously in love/lust with), but it’s never explained why flying to Los Angeles will help Beatty’s status as an already-married man, or how much he may actually like Channing apart from her wealth. Eventually, he and Nicholson collude to kill Channing, planning to split the proceeds 50/50 — but everything about this plan smells justifiably foul, and inevitably goes awry. There’s some fun to be had in watching Channing nimbly escaping from the bumbling duo’s feeble clutches, but the point of it all simply isn’t clear.

Note: The quote selected above alludes to Channing’s status as the heiress to a sanitary pad company; Nicholson shares a lame anecdote early on about being told these were “mouse beds” as a child, hence the continual wordplay.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Stockard Channing as Freddie
  • Effective period sets

Must See?
No, but check it out if you’re curious to see Channing’s performance.

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