"Easy money" is an anthology film with four segments about people who are claiming the top prize for a football (soccer) pool in the UK. The segments are strung together by some very heavy-handed narration. For the most part, the four segments are adequate and no more.The first segment is about a family that goes from being happy to being at each other's throats--all thanks to the winning ticket. In the end it has a nice twist, though I saw it coming well before it arrived. I'd give this one a 6. It is, however, a nice chance to see Petula Clark when she was a very young actress.The second was pretty much a waste of time in my opinion. A guy who doesn't want to win happens to win and then he dies of a heart attack. I am not sure exactly what the writer intended with this one--it was pretty awful and I'd give it a 2. Why?! The third was a 'crime does not pay' segment and instead of comedy it's got shades of film noir--with a real femme fatale. Mildly interesting but it didn't seem to fit the film--coming off as moralistic and ill-fitting. I'd give this one a 3...maybe a 4. It's well made but as I said, it didn't seem to work with the rest of the film.The final segment is about an old guy who plays with an orchestra. He's not particularly accomplished and when he learns he's won (in the middle of a performance), he announces to everyone that he's won and soon quits. I do wonder if the film makers copied this one from "If I Had a Million", as it's very, very, very similar to the final segment in it. It's mildly amusing and the best of the four segments, but the one in the earlier film was A LOT better--and more original. I'll give this one a 6--as the movie COULD have done this idea much better.Overall, this is a pleasant but undistinguished British film. While normally I adore British films, in this case Hollywood did a similar sort of thing a whole lot better--and earlier---making it more original.By the way, I agree with the one reviewer who felt this film was NOT the inspiration for the TV show "The Millionaire"--which was actually inspired more directly by the film "If I Had a Million". While there are similarities to each other, the plots for "Easy Money" and "The Millionaire" are too different.

Four players of an English football pool find that they have won EASY MONEY. This movie, in four separate stories, explores how the sudden winnings changes their lives.To a Yank, the premise of this movie (explored, documentary fashion in the first five minutes) is fascinating, as there is nothing equivalent to the football (er...soccer to us on this side of the pond) pool which brings on such large payouts. (The closest thing is the numbers racket, which, um, isn't legal.) As for the stories: The first one, featuring an average middle class British family in a loving marriage, is by far the best, in both plotting, acting, and conveying a unique sense of place. This bit is as good as Passage to Pimilco in conveying a sense of England during the late 40s. (I mean -- it has everything, austerity, taxes, cricket, Scotland Yard, and dreams of a house in Bournemouth.) Also, its always good to see a generally healthy family unit portrayed realistically; it does not happen often in the movies.The second one, on the other hand, suffers from rampant stereotyping of meek little clerks and their domineering, officious wives. This, too, is a very English feeling story, but, in this case, not in a good way. Unsatisfactory.The third tale is an attempt at an American style story, in which a beautiful but bad woman convinces the usual gullible male into gaming the pool so she wins the money. Like the ersatz jazz number and bad singing that starts this sequence, nothing about the story or characters here feels true. The girl is very beautiful, but her story is very phony.The fourth tale is somewhat better, but is a self-conscious class-conscious "comic" tale of a cockney bass player for the local symphony orchestra, and his difficult relationship with the orchestra conductor. Some might like this; I found it a one joke tale stretched out far too long.In other words, the first 40 minutes of this movie are really very good. The rest stinks.

Just to correct an earlier post someone made here: This film was NOT the inspiration for the 1950's American television series THE MILLIONAIRE, which featured an unseen character named John Beresford Tipton giving a million dollars to a different person every week. That series was spawned by a 1932 American film for Paramount entitled IF I HAD A MILLION. EASY MONEY is certainly a variation on the idea, portraying various people's stories after suddenly becoming wealthy. It's interesting in spots, but never quite achieves the levels of profundity or poignancy of the 1932 film.

This is truly dreadful. It consists of four segments, each exploring the human effects of a windfall. In one case it is an illicit windfall.What's notable is the relationship of this to the TeeVee series it spawned: "The Millionaire," where John Bears Phitipton (I hope I remember that right after 40 years), would give some random person a million dollars then invisibly watch with the audience.That was an incredibly powerful notion, having a character join the audience. None of that here.The final segment is a bass player in an orchestra who buys the whole place, turns out his despised conductor and elevates his instrument to the forefront. This one was good enough to actually watch. The others weren'tTed's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.