Claude "Fitzwilly" Fitzwilliam (Dick Van
Dyke), Williams College honor graduate and the consummate butler, is extremely
devoted to his employer, Miss Victoria Woodworth (Edith Evans), a very generous
philanthropist who's actually broke.
So how does he maintain the household and fund Miss
Vickey's upscale living and extravagant giving? He and the rest of the
household staff conduct scams and robberies to keep the funds rolling in.
The staff is a good ensemble, including housekeeper
Grimsby (Anne Seymour), chauffeur Oliver (a very young Sam Waterston), Pierre
(Albert Carrier), and Buckmaster (Cecil Callaway), among others.
An opportunity presents itself. Byron Casey (Stephen
Shrimpell) needs the Fitzwilly staff to complete a refurbishing job for him by
a fast-approaching deadline, one that may make $75,000 available to Miss
Vickey's bank account.
One day, a young college student named Juliet Nowell
(Barbara Feldon, in her film debut), is hired by Miss Vickey to help with a
book she's writing. Titled "Dictionary for Dopes," the book organizes
all possible phonetic spellings of words, allowing the user to make the correct
choice. She and Fitzwilly butt heads from the start, but then begin to like
each other.
Fitzwilly's life is hectic, running around to stay ahead
of developments and complications, juggling crises, and maintaining his facade.
Plus, the well-meaning Juliet keeps inadvertently foiling the staff's scams.
Determined to get rid of her so she doesn't mess things up further, Fitzwilly
takes her out on a date with the aim of coming on to her so she'll quit. Oops!
She likes his advances. He's smitten too.
Juliet gets suspicious and snoops around. She plays
the guilt card and gets the whole story from one of the servants – Albert (John
McGiver), a former pastor with a sour disposition. She buys into everything,
allowing one large caper, and she and Fitzwilly confess their love for each
other.
The group invades Gimbel's Department Store on
Christmas Eve, creating confused diversion while robbing the store of all its
cash ($190,000.00). Gimbel's executive Oberblatz (Norman Fell) is perplexed and
befuddled, and falls for Fitzwilly's ruse.
The problem is, Albert gets a bad case of the
confessions and spills the beans to the Gimbel's people ... making himself a
sacrificial lamb, so to speak. Just when all seems lost, Juliet's
Scrabble-playing father (Harry Townes), helps pave the way for publication of
Miss Vickey's book. It makes a fortune.
. o O ( Oh darn it, I gave away the ending. )
Grade: C+
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