Mr Billion

Chase comedy without the glamour of Silver Streak but with much pleasant and well-handled action. Italian garage mechanic (spaghetti Western star Hill in his American debut) inherits billion dollars from financier uncle in California; company hires Perrine to seduce him into handing over power of attorney; she falls for him instead, so the pair must be ambushed, shot at, handcuffed together etc, to prevent Hill claiming inheritance by specified date. He escapes, and naturally tangles with a whole crowd of eccentrics on his way across America. Like other Corman colts, Kaplan opts for a '30s approach, whose soft-centre no amount of flashy cutting can hide; but there is a nice tongue-in-cheek air ('Perverts are people too'), and a lot of Hollywood clichés are delivered fresh and with relish.