''Cash McCall'' is a 1960 American

romantic drama film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

from

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, produced by Henry Blanke, directed by

Joseph Pevney Joseph Pevney (September 15, 1911 – May 18, 2008) was an American film and television director. Biography Born in New York City, Pevney made his debut in vaudeville as a boy soprano in 1924. Although he hated vaudeville, he loved the thea ...

, and starring

James Garner James Scott Garner (né Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, which included ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Ch ...

and

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood (née Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress. She began acting at age four and co-starred at age eight in ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947). As a teenager, she was nominated for an Academy Award f ...

. The film's screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee and Marion Hargrove is based upon the novel of the same name by

Cameron Hawley Elmer Cameron Hawley (September 19, 1905 – February 9, 1969) was an American writer of fiction from Howard, South Dakota. Much of Hawley's output concerned the pressures of modern life, particularly in a business setting. He published numero ...

. The film's storyline concerns a wealthy entrepreneur who buys moribund businesses in order to first refurbish and then sell them at a considerable profit. During his latest acquisition, he's attracted to the daughter of the company's owner, which complicates both his professional and private life.

Plot

Grant Austen, the head of Austen Plastics, yearns for retirement. So when Schofield Industries, his largest customer, threatens to take its business elsewhere, Austen hires a consulting firm, which finds an interested potential buyer, the notorious businessman Cash McCall. Cash meets with Austen and his daughter Lory, who owns part of the company. Austen conceals the problem he has with Schofield Industries. Afterwards, Cash speaks to Lory privately. It turns out they met the previous summer and were attracted to each other. However, when Lory showed up at his cabin soaking wet from a summer rainstorm later that night, Cash, not ready for a serious relationship, gently turned her away. Mortified by the rejection, she fled back into the storm. When he was unable to get Lory out of his mind, Cash realized he had made a big mistake. He overpays for Austen Plastics just so he can reconnect with her. Before the deal is finalized, Gil Clark, Cash's new assistant, discovers that Austen Plastics holds

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

s essential to Schofield Industries. Its alarmed boss, retired Army General Danvers, tries to buy Austen Plastics himself. Cash then decides that he could run Schofield more profitably and starts secretly buying up controlling interest in the second company. In the middle of all the deal making, Cash proposes marriage to Lory, and she accepts. However, Maude Kennard, the assistant manager of the hotel where Cash resides, wants Cash for herself and tricks Lory into believing that she is Cash's girlfriend. Meanwhile, one of Austen's business acquaintances, Harvey Bannon, convinces him that Cash swindled him and paid much less than the company is worth, prompting Austen to sue Cash. Eventually, everything is cleared up, and Cash and Lory reconcile, while Gil talks Grant into going back to work.

Cast

Production

This was one of three theatrical films produced with Garner as leading man during the period in which he was still playing the lead in the Warner Bros. television series '' Maverick'' (the other two were '' Darby's Rangers'' and '' Up Periscope''). Garner subsequently left the studio upon winning a contentious lawsuit and continued his movie career. ''Cash McCall'' screenplay writer and comedy novel best seller Marion Hargrove had also written several scripts for Garner's ''Maverick'' series. Garner wrote in his memoirs that he felt it was "not much of a movie, but I liked Natalie."

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Howard Thompson of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called it "a painless, amusing movie exercise that now and then touches solid ground." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that the film suffered from characters that were "stock and, in some cases, foolish," and a script that "borders on the ridiculous in piling on the number and kind of cCall'smultifarious enterprises," but "for audiences willing to accept a surface story for romantic shenanigans, the picture will suffice." ''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City–based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publish ...

'' wrote: "True, not too much attention to detail has been devoted to the real intricacies of business and high finance, but it's still a pleasant piece of entertainment certain to delight audiences who crave life's complexities dished out in simple mouthfuls." Richard L. Coe of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' declared: "Exactly what the makers of 'Cash McCall' thought they were doing I don't know, but they have come up with a boozy fairy tale which to men will have all the appeal '

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

' presumably has for females." ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote, "The financial wangling is often quite amusing ... but nothing can prevent the film's romantic stretches seeming a trite and tedious makeweight to Cash's amoral escapades in the financial jungle."

References

External links

* *
''Cash McCall'' at AllMovie
*
James Garner Interview on the ''Charlie Rose Show''

James Garner interview
at

Archive of American Television The Interviews: An Oral History of Television (formerly titled the Archive of American Television) is a project of the nonprofit Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, that records interviews with notabl ...