Fleischer's Last Stand (I Stan for Fleischer)
The final film by Richard Fleischer, Million Dollar Mystery [1987], places the emphasis on "mystery." To elaborate: a passage from the film's Wiki page: "Million Dollar Mystery (also known as Money Mania) is a 1987 American film released with a promotional tie-in for Glad-Lock brand [garbage/rubbish] bags. This was the final feature-length film directed by Richard Fleischer and shot by Jack Cardiff. [...] During the closing credits, Bob informs the audience that there is one million dollars somewhere in the US and if they follow the clues in specially marked Glad-Lock bags, they have the chance to win $1 million. [...] Million Dollar Mystery was a box office flop grossing $989,033 against a $10 million budget.
"The film received negative critical reviews. The film holds a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 6 reviews."
It's not that bad, as far as crass 1980s wind-down stoner ensemble comedies go. I probably caught it on late-night HBO or Cinemax back in the decade — where Rich Hall led, I tended to follow. My dad told how when he was a child, the only (not ten-, not fifteen-) thirteen-cent matinée he walked out of midway through was Richard Fleischer's 1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, — the octopus tentacles scared the shit out of him and he booked to the exit. It's too bad he hasn't seen Million Dollar Mystery, as he'd really be shaken by the scenes with Kevin Pollak, wherein the movie screeches to a halt as Pollak riffs throughout a menagerie of impersonations, the most ridiculous of which involves Columbo and Pollak-Falk's eyeballs rolling every which way loosely. Maybe he got shook up in a car chase: these moments are the highlight of the film, pure unleaded action-poetry. •
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