Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:55 — 27.4MB)
Features Jack Benny and Mary Livingston. After the opening commercials and introductions, the story begins in the offices of Jack Brewster. His nephew is a man in a desperate financial situation. The lawyer handling the case tries to get to Jack, the nephew, to tell the terms of the will, but Jack is evasive. He thinks the lawyer is just out to collect on bills.
Jack brags to Mary about his financial dreams. A couple of acquaintences are introduced into the story that will come to play later, a woman with a story to publish, and a friend with an invention to produce. The lawyer finally catches up with Jack. In secret, the terms of the inheritance are read, and a challenge set forth. There is a million dollars that must be spent in one year. Jack must not have any money, no cash in his pockets, and only the suit on his back at the end of a year. He also can’t tell anybody why he’s spending the money. Why is he spending the money? To inherit the full 6 million remaining from another estate. If the terms are broke, he won’t inherit a thing.
Jack announces his million dollar inheritance, and sets out to pay off old debts, and invest in all sorts of the worst business deals he can find. Most folks think he’s just a big spender, but Mary thinks he has lost his mind as he squanders the nest egg that they could be getting married on. Will she understand and be tollerant of him for a whole year? Will Jack find that spending a million dollars isn’t as easy as it looks? The failing stock, the lousy stage productions, the terrible book, and other ideas seem good ways to lose a lot of money, but when they all begin to turn around, the cash just won’t stop coming in.
The more he spends, the more the weired investments pay off. The year is finally over, but there’s still too much cash. In a final splurge, and with the help of a hurricane, Jack manages to lose the last bit of funds, and his girlfriend.
He meets with the lawyers, but will a last minute investment arrive to stop him from inheriting the big bucks? Will he finally be able to tell his girlfriend, and win her back?
Note: During an interlude in the show a real life couple come out to tell what it’s like to win a large sum of cash for real. To put the perspective of the money won in 1937 dollars, and the money in the show, into today’s dollars, you could easily multiply it by 10 or 12 to get in the ballpark.
