Cash McCall | |
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Directed by | Joseph Pevney |
Produced by | Henry Blanke |
Written by |
Lenore J. Coffee Marion Hargrove Cameron Hawley (novel) |
Starring |
James Garner Natalie Wood |
Music by | Max Steiner |
Cinematography | George J. Folsey |
Edited by | Philip W. Anderson |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date
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Running time
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102 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $1,750,000 (US/ Canada) |
Cash McCall is a 1960 American romantic drama film in Technicolor from Warner Bros., produced by Henry Blanke, directed by Joseph Pevney, that stars James Garner and Natalie Wood. It is based upon the novel of the same name by Cameron Hawley about a man who buys moribund businesses in order to refurbish them and then sell them on at considerable profit. The film's screenplay is by Lenore J. Coffee and Marion Hargrove.
Grant Austen (Dean Jagger), the head of Austen Plastics, yearns for retirement. So when Schofield Industries, his largest customer, threatens to take its business elsewhere, Austen considers selling his company. He hires a consulting firm, which finds an interested potential buyer, the notorious businessman Cash McCall (James Garner).
Cash meets with Austen and his daughter Lory (Natalie Wood), 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 became instantly attracted to each other. However, when Lory showed up at his cabin soaking wet from a summer rain storm later that night, Cash, not ready for a serious relationship, turned her away. Mortified by the rejection, she fled back into the storm. Upon further thought, not being able to get Lory out of his mind, Cash realized he had made a big mistake. Not really interested in the company, he overpays for Austen Plastics just so he can talk to her again.
Before the deal is finalized, Cash's assistant Gil Clark (Henry Jones) discovers that Austen Plastics holds patents essential to Schofield Industries. Its alarmed boss, retired Army General Danvers (Roland Winters), tries to buy Austen Plastics himself. Cash then decides that he could run Schofield more profitably and starts buying up the controlling interest in the second company.
In the middle of all the deal making, Cash proposes marriage to Lory, and she accepts. However, the assistant manager of the hotel where Cash resides, Maude Kennard (Nina Foch), wants Cash herself and tricks Lory into believing that she is Cash's girlfriend. Meanwhile, one of Austen's business acquaintances convinces him that Cash swindled him and paid much less than the company is worth, prompting Austen to decide to go to court. Eventually, after Austen, Cash, and Lory talk at the Austen home, everything is cleared up, and Cash and Lory reconcile, marrying soon thereafter.