I'd Rather Be Rich

I'd Rather Be Rich (1964)

When it comes to men...or money...she's the richest girl in town!

An updated remake of It Started With Eve (1941). A young heiress is summoned to the bedside of her dying grandfather. The man's last wish is to meet her fiance, but problems arise when the fiance is delayed and a young chemical engineer is persuaded to take his place. When the grandfather suddenly (and secretly) recovers, he uses the situation to his advantage - playing matchmaker in an attempt to ensure his granddaughter's happiness.

Date of release
1964-08-25
TMDB
6.6 / 10 (5)
Runtime
1h 36m
Genres
Comedy
Director
Jack Smight

Casting

Interesting facts

I'd Rather Be Rich is a 1964 American romantic comedy film with musical aspects directed by Jack Smight, produced by Ross Hunter and starring Sandra Dee. The film focuses on a dying man who wishes to meet his granddaughter's fiancé, but he is unavailable, so the woman persuades another man to substitute for him. Then the grandfather recovers.

Production

The film was originally known as The Richest Girl in Town and was a remake of It Started with Eve. Producer Ross Hunter, who had enjoyed a great deal of success remaking movies from the 1930s and 1940s, announced the project in January 1963. Sandra Dee was attached from the beginning.

In May 1963 Hunter said his ideal cast was Dee, Maurice Chevalier, Andy Williams and George Hamilton. It was Williams' first credited film role (he sang, uncredited, in multiple earlier films, including Janie (1944 film)); he later signed a seven-year contract with Universal to make one film a year. In October Jim Hutton was announced as Dee's leading man. By November he had been replaced by Robert Goulet.

In November Jack Smight signed to direct. Smight was an experienced television director keen on getting into movies; his agent told him Hunter "wants a seasoned TV director who can shoot it fast, cheap, and good" and was interested in Smight. The director read the script "and didn’t like it. The comedy premise was fine, but it just wasn’t funny enough."

Smight met with Hunter who "did a persuasive selling job. How could I, as a novice to film, turn down a first feature picture" although he says at the back of his mind he felt "Outside of Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold, there wasn’t a real actor amongst the whole cast.” However his "realistic judgement told me that this was a shot at the big screen and I should take it."

Smight asked if he could hire a comedy writer to do a two-week rewrite and Hunter agreed. Smight got in John Bradford, a former stage manager turned comedy writer. They worked on the script for two weeks and Hunter liked the results.

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