| Mr. Billion | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jonathan Kaplan |
| Written by | Ken Friedman Jonathan Kaplan |
| Produced by | Steven Bach Ken Friedman |
| Starring | Terence Hill Valerie Perrine Slim Pickens William Redfield Chill Wills Jackie Gleason |
| Cinematography | Matthew Leonetti |
| Edited by | O. Nicholas Brown |
| Music by | Dave Grusin |
Production company | Pantheon Pictures |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4,590,000[1] |
| Box office | $1,300,000(rentals)[2] |
Mr. Billion is a 1977action comedy/action-adventure film[3][4] directed byJonathan Kaplan. It is notable as the Hollywood debut ofTerence Hill. It's also the last film of actorWilliam Redfield, who died before its release.
In the film, amechanic becomes the soleheir of his recently-deceased uncle. But he has to sign a document within adeadline in order to receive his inheritance. His uncle's assistant and aprivate detective conspire to prevent him from claiming his inheritance.
Anthony Falcon, a multibillionaire, passes away in a strange accident and gives Guido Falcone, a laid-back Italian mechanic, the entirety of his estate. In order to claim his billion-dollar inheritance, Guido must reach San Francisco within twenty days to sign a document. His uncle's greedy assistant, John Cutler (Jackie Gleason), wants the money for himself, and hires female detective Rosie Jones (Valerie Perrine) to prevent Guido claiming his inheritance.[5]
The film was the idea ofDino de Laurentiis, who wanted to introduce Italian actorTerence Hill, at that time one of the biggest movie stars in Europe, to American audiences. De Laurentiis signedJonathan Kaplan as director, just coming off the successfulWhite Line Fever.
Kaplan later stated the production was difficult - he wanted to castLily Tomlin but Fox insisted onValerie Perrine. Shooting took place on location in Italy. AlthoughJackie Gleason had a drinking problem, Kaplan said the highlight of the film was working with comedian. The director was able to sober Gleason up by performing old routines fromThe Honeymooners and getting laughs from the crew.[6]
Mr. Billion was a major financial flop and Kaplan calls it the biggest failure of his career.[6] In a retrospective review, the critic Keith Bailey called it "yet another case of Hollywood bringing a foreign actor in, and getting him to do different material than what made him famous in the first place".[7]
