''Brewster's Millions'' is a comedic novel written by

George Barr McCutcheon George Barr McCutcheon (July 26, 1866 – October 23, 1928) was an American novelist and playwright. His best known works include a series of novels set in Graustark, a fictional East European country, and the novel ''Brewster's Millions'', w ...

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 The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 214 West 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street, at the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Manhattan in New York City, New Yor ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

, and the novel or play has been adapted into films thirteen times.

Plot summary

The novel revolves around Montgomery Brewster, a young man who inherits one million dollars from his wealthy grandfather. Shortly after, a rich uncle also passes away. This uncle hated Brewster's grandfather, a long-standing grudge stemming from the grandfather's disapproval of Brewster's parents' marriage. 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 receive the full seven million; if he fails, he will remain penniless. Brewster finds that spending such a large amount of money within 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 servers and cab drivers. Moreover, Brewster is sworn to secrecy and cannot disclose why he is living in excess. Working against him are his well-meaning friends, who repeatedly try 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, saving 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. His attempts to win her back repeatedly fail, as his attention is entirely absorbed by the requirement to spend so much money. By the end of the year, he exhausts the last of his funds, which he meticulously tracks. He 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

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 fortun ...

and Byron Ongley. The play debuted at the

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. A ...

– 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''.

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. To claim the grand prize, they must spend $1,000,000 in 48 hours. To make sure that the money would not be spent all at once on something costly (e.g., a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

as suggested by one of Punky's friends), a rule states that 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 won $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 by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

Radio adaptation

On February 15, 1937, the ''

Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a old-time radio, classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of A ...

'' 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 as a violinist on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

. 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 netw ...

Mary Livingstone Mary Livingstone (born Sadya Marcowitz, later known as Sadie Marks; June 25, 1905 – June 30, 1983) was an American radio comedienne and actress. She was the wife and radio partner of comedian Jack Benny. Enlisted casually to perform on her ...

. Livingstone plays Brewster's girlfriend, here referred to as 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 1900s in comedy American comedy novels American novels adapted for radio American novels adapted into films American novels adapted into plays American novels adapted into television shows Comedy novels adapted into films Fiction about inheritances Grosset & Dunlap books Novels by George Barr McCutcheon Works published under a pseudonym