AllMovie

A marvelous little comedy gem, The Millionaire is largely neglected and sadly unknown to most modern audiences. True, some of today's viewers might find some things in Millionaire a bit predictable; but most will find the predictability to be closer to a wished-for inevitability, as the plot points occur in a manner that is most pleasing. In other words, we may have seen some of this before, but it plays out the way that we want it to -- and the film makes us welcome that playing out, rather than roll our eyes in boredom. Indeed, the screenplay is very well structured, and filled with marvelous lines and wonderful character bits. The dialogue has snap, and the sentimentality doesn't feel forced. John G. Adolphi directs with assurance; if there's not great ingenuity in his method, he still knows how to hit all the right buttons and to make sure everything in the script "lands" the way it's intended to. But Millionaire's greatest asset is its leading actor. George Arliss is not well remembered today, and modern viewers may find his stage-based style somewhat artificial; but in Millionaire that artifice works well for him, and he turns in a delightful, magnetic performance that is essential to the film's oveall success. His supporting cast is also quite good, most notably a young James Cagney, who steals his five-minute scene away from Arliss with his brash, lively and totally winning turn. All in all, Millionaire is a wonderful diversion.