''Brewster's Millions'' is a comedic novel written by George Barr McCutcheon in 1902, originally under the pseudonym of Richard Greaves. The plot concerns a young man whose grandfather leaves him $1 million in a will, but a competing will from another relative requires he must spend the $1 million in the first year or forfeit a $7 million inheritance from the other relative. It was adapted into a play in 1906, which opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway, and the novel or play has been adapted into films thirteen times, four of which were produced in India.

Plot summary

The novel revolves around Montgomery Brewster, a young man who inherits one million dollars from his rich grandfather. Shortly after, a rich uncle also dies. This uncle hated Brewster's grandfather, a long-held grudge stemming from the grandfather's disapproval of the marriage of Brewster's parents. The uncle will leave Brewster seven million dollars, but only under the condition that he keeps none of the grandfather's money. Brewster is required to spend every penny of his grandfather's million within one year, resulting in no assets or property held from the wealth at the end of that time. If Brewster meets these terms, he will gain the full seven million; if he fails, he remains penniless. Brewster finds that spending so much money within the course of a year is incredibly difficult under the strict conditions imposed by his uncle's will. Brewster is required to demonstrate business sense by obtaining good value for the money he spends, limiting his donations to charity, his losses to gambling, and the value of his tips to waiters and cab drivers. Moreover, Brewster is sworn to secrecy, and cannot tell anyone why he is living to excess. Working against him are his well-meaning friends, who try repeatedly to limit his losses and extravagance even as they share in his luxurious lifestyle. Brewster's challenge is compounded by the fact that his attempts to lose money through stock speculation and roulette prove to increase his funds rather than decrease them. He throws large parties and balls, and charters a cruise lasting several months to Europe and Egypt for his large circle of friends and employees; the press lampoons him as a spendthrift. Despite his loose purse strings, Brewster repeatedly demonstrates a strong moral character. At one point, he uses his funds to bail out a bank to save his landlady's account, despite risking his eligibility for the will. At another, he jumps overboard to save a drowning sailor from his cruise even as his rich friends choose not to. Brewster's would-be wife Barbara Drew turns down his marriage proposal early in the year, believing him to be financially irresponsible and bound to a life of poverty, and his attempts to win her back repeatedly fail as his attention is entirely absorbed by the requirement to spend so much money. At the conclusion of the year, he succeeds in spending the last of his funds, which he has meticulously documented, and confesses his love to another woman, Peggy Gray, who has been sympathetic to his lifestyle despite knowing nothing about his challenge. Disaster strikes the night before the deadline, as his lawyers informed him that the executor of his uncle's will has vanished after liquidating all of the assets. Brewster convinces himself that he is doomed to poverty, but marries Peggy Gray, who accepts him despite the lack of wealth. Shortly after the wedding, the executor of his uncle's will arrives to inform him that he has successfully met the challenge and that he has come to deliver the money to Brewster in person.

Film, theatrical, television, and radio adaptations

Stage adaptation

The novel was adapted into a Broadway play of the same name by

Winchell Smith Winchell Smith (5 April 1871 – 10 June 1933) was an American playwright, known for big hit works such as ''Brewster's Millions'' (1906) and '' Lightnin' '' (1918). Many of his plays were made into movies. He spent freely but left a large fortu ...

and

Byron Ongley George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

. The play debuted at the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 31, 1906. Opening night principal cast: *

Edward Abeles Edward Abeles (November 4, 1869 – July 10, 1919) was an American actor. He appeared in eight films between 1914 and 1918. Before working for Famous Players-Lasky, of which he was one of the founding members, he had a lengthy stage career. Abe ...

– Montgomery Brewster *Leslie Bassett – Fred Gardner *

Gaston Bell George Gaston Bell (September 27, 1877 – December 13, 1963) was an American stage and film actor active over the early decades of the twentieth century. Early life and career Bell was born in 1877 at Boston, Massachusetts to George and Elizabe ...

– Horace Pettingill *Cecile Breton – Trixie Clayton *George Clare – Rawles *Jack Devereaux – Subway Smith *Sumner Gard – Archibald Vanderpool *Willard Howe – Frank Bragdon *Nestor Lennon – Colonel Drew *Emily Lytton – Mrs. Dan De Mille *Arthur Morris – Thomas *Olive Murray – Barbara Drew *Josephine Park – Janice Armstrong *George Probert – Nopper Harrison *Eugene Redding – Monsieur Bargie *Albert Sackett – Mr. Grant *Joseph Woodburn – Joseph MacCloud The play was later adapted into a musical, ''

Zip Goes a Million ''Zip Goes a Million'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Eric Maschwitz and music by George Posford, based on the 1902 novel ''Brewster's Millions''. It premiered in London in 1951, starring George Formby, and ran for 544 performances. Syn ...

''.

Film versions

The novel ''Brewster's Millions'' has been adapted into many films:

Television adaptation

In the TV episode "Punky's Millions", from the animated version of ''Punky Brewster'', Punky and her father Henry appear on a TV show trying to win the $40 million prize. In order to claim the grand prize, they must spend one million dollars in 48 hours. To make sure that the money would not be spent all at once on something very expensive (e.g., a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became ...

as suggested by one of Punky's friends), a rule states the money cannot be used to buy any single item for more than $10,000. Also, every single item purchased must be donated. When the deadline passes, Punky and Henry seem to have won, but one of Punky's friends, Allen, forgot to spend the 98 cents he got as change when he bought chocolate, so they lose the game. Fortunately, they had been donating their purchases to a local orphanage, and one of the dollars they spent was on a lottery ticket, which wins $100,000 for the

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or a ...

Radio adaptation

On February 15, 1937, the '' Lux Radio Theatre'' presented a one-hour version of the play starring

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century wit ...

. The show was modified for Benny: the title character in this version is named Jack Benjamin Brewster; and the character opens the play's first scene by playing Benny's theme song, " Love in Bloom", on the violin. Playing opposite Benny is his real-life wife and the co-star of his long-running

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netwo ...

, Mary Livingstone. Livingstone plays Brewster's girlfriend, here called Mary Gray. The casting of Benny as a character who must spend money was considered humorous in itself, as it contrasted sharply with Benny's well-known radio persona as a miser.

References

External links

* * * {{Brewster's Millions 1902 American novels American comedy novels American novels adapted into films Works published under a pseudonym Novels by George Barr McCutcheon Grosset & Dunlap books American novels adapted into plays