Der millionenschwere Landstreicher (1977)
8KDer millionenschwere Landstreicher: Directed by Stuart E. McGowan. With Tim Conway, Al Stellone, Ellen Gerstein, Jerry Toomey. Vernon Praiseworthy is a clumsy but lovable dope who stands to inherit his uncle’s fortune. The condition is that he travel the rails as a penniless hobo just as his uncle did in the dark days of the depression. That seems simple enough until he gets involved in a dog-napping plot.
“This one was so bad that I started writing about it while I was still watching it. Canu0026#39;t help using the pun, but this one was a real dog. The VHS copy I had was a lousy print, and the soundtrack was distorted…the music sounded as if it had been imported from outer space. Iu0026#39;d go back and get a refund if I could remember where I got it. Literally, this film is a dog, because the only saving grace is the fact that the real stars are the animals. Bo, the pure-bred German Shepherd, is the real hero of this film. Tim Conwayu0026#39;s usual screw-up character somehow just doesnu0026#39;t cut the mustard in this corny piece of un-necessary celluloid. Will Geer , it turns out, is Timu0026#39;s Billionaire uncle, and Timu0026#39;s only living relative. Tim has to prove heu0026#39;s got the right stuff in order to come into the business of his uncle, and the fortune of his uncle. He has to become a hobo and, as usual, he screws it all up. The Uncle lays down rules about cheating and stealing which, sad to say, are a low point of the film as Tim does steal a car later after he runs out of gas in a van that does not belong to him. This is never reconciled in the film, and as far as I was concerned this dis-qualified him from his intended inheritance. But…what the heck…movie logic is just that…movie logic. Who has figured it out yet? Anyway, as funny as Tim Conway can be, I have to say forget about this one. You donu0026#39;t need to see this film to know that most dogs are smarter than a whole lot of humans. An awful film, an awful print, and a story that has been abused over the decades and centuries…nothing really new here except for the attempts at re-telling the story…and this re-telling is not exceptional, nor is it worth the time it takes to watch it.”
