SimonJack Gene Raymond is one of the few actors in Hollywood history to have written, directed and starred in his own movie. And this is it – his only one. It's also the only film he directed. While "Million Dollar Weekend" didn't fare well at theaters, is has a good plot and screenplay. It was made by a small film company, Eagle-Lion films, which didn't provide it very wide distribution. Yet, it is a good and interesting story. It's a crime mystery with redemption, and it holds up very well. The very small cast of three main players focuses the plot well in just 72 minutes. . The credits list only Hawaii for shooting locations. The Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu was one setting. Raymond is very good as Nicholas Lawrence and John Nicholas. Osa Massen is very good as Cynthia Strong, and Francis Lederer is very good as Alan Marker. Raymond was a man of many talents. Besides acting, he sang, wrote stories and screenplays, and wrote songs. He was a sound and very good leading man, but he didn't land many major roles that shot him to stardom with the best known actors. He was equally adept at comedy, drama and musicals. Raymond was married to Jeanette MacDonald for 27 years, until her death in 1965. The couple had a sometimes stormy relationship. MacDonald's was one career in which the legendary Louis B. Mayer ruled with an iron hand and dictated much of her personal life. Raymond bore a striking resemblance to Nelson Eddy who co- starred with MacDonald in a number of musicals. Raymond served in the Army Air Forces of World War II and was decorated with later flying during the Vietnam War. He retired from the Air Force reserves as a colonel. He also had a controversial and colored past with some run-ins with the law. His bisexuality became known and created more personal and career problems.

MartinHafer Gene Raymond was a huge star in the 1930s. His lovely singing voice and pretty face meant stardom and a long marriage to a big leading lady, Jeanette MacDonald. However, by the 1940s, his pretty-boy looks were not quite so evident and film roles dried up. Here in 1948, he's far from pretty, but proves in "Million Dollar Weekend" that he was quite talented, as aside from starring in the film, he directed and co-wrote the screenplay! Overall, this B-movie is quite good.It begins with Nicholas Lawrence at work as a stock broker. However, instead of just going home that Friday afternoon, Nick steals a million dollars worth of his companies money and bonds. His plan is to head to China and live the high life. However, on the way, he gets pulled into a young lady's problems, Cynthia (Osa Massen) is being pursued and blackmailed by a slime-bag, Alan (Frances Lederer). Alan allegedly saw her kill her husband and vows to take her for everything AND have her for his own. She is appalled and seeks help from a stranger, Nick. What's going to happen next? See the film.The film has a few logical problems. Why would Nick CARE if a woman was in trouble? After all he IS an embezzler! Why would he leave a briefcase filled with a million sitting in his room where someone could steal it? And, why would the film co-star Osa Massen? Massen had very little charisma and really was very poor in the film. It wasn't just her odd accent--after all, Lederer also had a strong accent yet he was wonderful in the film. HOWEVER, and this is fortunate, Raymond's strong performance and the plot were able to overcome much of this. So, despite the film being in the public domain, it IS quite watchable and interesting.

Rob Cochran MILLION DOLLAR WEEKEND (1948) Stockbroker Gene Raymond embezzles $1 million from his company on a Friday and flees to Shanghai via plane. En route he encounters Frenchman Francis Lederer who is attempting to blackmail Patricia Shay, who has been accused of murdering her husband; the embezzler soon finds himself falling in love with her. Unfortunately, he's so preoccupied with her that he doesn't see the extortionist running off with his briefcase full of loot until it's too late. Following the crook back to San Francisco, he hopes to recover the cash before his boss discovers it missing come Monday morning. Produced and directed by lead actor Raymond (the mastermind head crook in PLUNDER ROAD) with a screenplay by Charles S. Belden (DOUBLE DEAL, THE STRANGE MR. GREGORY, BULLET SCARS, TEAR GAS SQUAD).

IAmTheRedDragon I have no idea why this is classified as a comedy on this site! There are no comedic elements to this film - it is in fact a quite dark, 'film noir'-ish drama, and a very good one.Quiet middle-aged businessman Nicholas Lawrence is fed up with his life and decides to embezzle his firm of a million dollars and flee to Shanghai. However, it becomes his misfortune to find himself seated with a dodgy pair of passengers on the plane: a beautiful young widow, Cynthia Strong, taking a trip to Hawaii to get away from it all after the untimely death of her husband, and tooth-clenchingly irritating Alan Marker, who has trailed her in an attempt to blackmail her by threatening to frame her for the murder of her husband.When Alan has to make a trip to the gents', Cynthia begs Nicholas to help her by pretending he's an old friend of hers whom they have just mutually recognised, in the hopes that Alan will take the hint and go away. However, he instead sticks himself to the both of them like glue for the entire stopover in Hawaii and makes life miserable, culminating in his stealing Nick's stolen million and hightailing it to San Francisco. Needless to say, Nick is not now able to continue on to his destination of Shanghai, but instead he and Cynthia go in pursuit of Alan.This is a very absorbing, well-acted dark drama with a sympathetic hero, a lovely and mysterious leading lady, and a memorably obnoxious villain (Francis Lederer, who played Alan, was the founder of the American National Academy of Performing Arts and apparently was still teaching acting up to the end of his life - so he certainly knew how to play a truly obnoxious bad guy).Very recommended film which should be better known - you can easily imagine Bogart and Bacall in the leading roles, and if that had been the case, I think this film would have been a well-known classic, but the actors who do star in this film carry off their parts very well.