The Fortune Cookie

The Fortune Cookie(alternativeBritishtitle:Meet Whiplash Willie) is a 1966 Americanblack comedyfilm directed, produced and co-written byBilly Wilder. It is the first film on whichJack Lemmoncollaborated withWalter Matthau. Matthau won anAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actorfor his performance. The film was co-produced by Wilder's Phalanx Productions in cooperation with Lemmon's independent film production company,Jalem Productions.
CBScameraman Harold "Harry" Hinkle is injured whenfootballplayer Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson of theCleveland Brownsruns into him during a home game atMunicipal Stadium. Harry's injuries are minor, but his conniving lawyer brother-in-law, William H. "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich, convinces him to pretend that his leg and hand have been partially paralyzed so that they can receive a hugeindemnityfrom the insurance company.
Harry reluctantly goes along with the scheme because he is still in love with his ex-wife, Sandy, and being injured might bring her back. The insurance company's lawyers at O'Brien, Thompson and Kincaid suspect that the paralysis is fake, but all but one of their medical experts say that it is real. The experts are convinced by the remnants of a compressed vertebra (in fact, Hinkle suffered the injury as a child), and Hinkle's responses, helped by the numbing injections ofnovocainethat Gingrich has had a paroled dentist provide. The one holdout, Swiss Professor Winterhalter, is convinced that Hinkle is a fraud.
With no medical evidence to base their case on, O'Brien, Thompson and Kincaid hireCleveland's best private detective, Chester Purkey, to keep Hinkle under constant surveillance. Gingrich, however, sees Purkey entering the apartment building across the street and lets Hinkle know that they are being watched and recorded. After Sandy arrives, he also warns Hinkle not to indulge in any hanky-panky with her. He proceeds to feed misinformation to Purkey; he incorporates the "Harry Hinkle Foundation", a non-profit charity to which all the proceeds of any settlement are to go, above and beyond the medical expenses.
When Sandy questions Gingrich about this in private, he tells her that it is just a scam to put pressure on the insurance company to settle, and that there will be enough money in the settlement for everyone. Hinkle begins to enjoy having Sandy back again, but he feels bad when he sees that Boom-Boom is so guilt-ridden that his performance on the field suffers. He is booed by the fans, then grounded by the team for getting drunk and involved in a bar fight.
Hinkle wants Gingrich to represent Boom-Boom, but to Hinkle's displeasure, Gingrich says that he is too busy negotiating with O'Brien, Thompson and Kincaid. Hinkle learns that Sandy has returned to him strictly out of greed. Hinkle obtains a $200,000 settlement check. However, Purkey has a plan to expose the scam. He shows up at the apartment supposedly to collect his microphones. He begins to make racist remarks about Boom-Boom. Hinkle, incensed, jumps up from his wheelchair and decks Purkey, but Purkey's assistant Max is not sure if he recorded it on film because "it's a little dark". Hinkle asks Purkey if he would like a second take, turns on a light and advises the cameraman on how to set his exposure. He punches Purkey again, and follows up by swinging from curtain rods and bouncing on the bed. Sandy is crawling on the floor looking for her lost contact lens, and just before Hinkle leaves the apartment, he pushes her down to the ground with his foot.
Gingrich claims that he had no idea that his client was deceiving him, and announces his intention to sue the insurance company lawyers for invasion of privacy, as well as report Purkey's racist remarks to various organizations. Hinkle drives to the stadium, where he finds Boom-Boom leaving the team to become a wrestler named "The Dark Angel". He manages to snap him out of the state, and the two run down the field passing a football back and forth.
Wilder had Matthau in mind when he wrote the part of "Whiplash Willy". He hoped it would boost his career in movies, but the studio wanted a bigger name.Lemmon originally had two other actors proposed to star with him—Frank SinatraandJackie Gleason—but Wilder insisted that he do the picture with Walter Matthau.
Production on the film was halted for weeks after Matthau had a heart attack. By the time he was healthy enough to work and filming started up again, he had slimmed down from 190 to 160 pounds and had to wear a heavy black coat and padded clothing to conceal the weight loss.Lemmon also lost 25 pound during the production.
Scenes were filmed atCleveland Municipal Stadiumduring theCleveland Browns' 27–17 loss to theMinnesota VikingsatCleveland Stadiumin the afternoon of October 31, 1965. Over 10,000 Clevelanders served as extras.According toThe Saturday Evening Post, additional footage was shot the day after the game with Browns players as themselves and the Vikings.
Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson's uniform number 44 was actually worn byLeroy Kelly, who was deemed "too small to pass for actor Ron Rich at close range" according to thePost.Ernie Greenand astunt performerstood in for Rich, with the latter for only the sideline-collision scene. In the third consecutive day of shooting, theKent State University freshman football teamreplaced the Browns, who were unavailable due to beginning preparations for their next opponent.
Saint Mark's Hospital in the film is the newly completedSt. Vincent Charity Hospital, a curved building considered ultramodern at that time. An exterior scene was filmed on East 24th Street, outside an older section of the hospital.Terminal Towerserved as the exterior of the law firm. In one scene, one can seeErieview Towerand the steel skeleton of theAnthony J. Celebrezze Federal Buildingunder construction.
It featured the 1942Cole Portersong "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" sung byJudi West.
Vincent CanbyofThe New York Timescalled the film "a fine, dark, gag-filled hallucination, peopled by dropouts from theGreat Society" and "an explosively funny live-action cartoon about petty chiselers who regard the economic system as a giantpinball machine, ready to pay off to anyone who tilts it properly".
Varietyfound the film "generally amusing (often wildly so), but overlong".
The Hollywood Reporterasserted thatThe Fortune Cookiewas "Billy Wilder's best picture sinceThe Apartment, his funniest sinceSome Like It Hot".
The film grossed $6,000,000 at the North American box office,making it the31st highest-grossing film of 1966. The film earned $6.8 million worldwide.
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