I first saw this movie in the theater when it came out back in 1980. The country was still getting over the impact of Howard Hughes' death and the will(s) he left to different people, including Melvin Dummar. I saw a lot of myself in Melvin...we always seem to have an idea but it never gets going (he had his Christmas song, I have or have had too many to mention). The story line (Melvin picks up Howard, takes him to the Sands, drops him off, and goes on with his life as a milkman, gas station owner/mechanic, etc. until he's handed the will, being called a liar, two wives, etc.) is as Leonard Maltin put it in his book of movie reviews "a genuine American fable." First wife Lynda (Mary Steenburgen, in an Oscar-winning role) works as a waitress and dancer and later recreates some of that on a talent show (in real life, the Dummars were on "Let's Make a Deal"-note the resemblance between actor Robert Ridgely and Monty Hall). Melvin blows the prize money, Lynda leaves and Melvin moves on with his life (second wife Bonnie, played by Pamela Reed). A will gets dropped on his desk and all Hades breaks loose. An interesting sidelight is that in the 1980's there was a brief TV show called "Lie Detector" in which people were put on a polygraph and allowed to prove they weren't lying. Melvin was on the first broadcast, flunked the polygraph exam and was called a liar-to his face!!! From that he faded into obscurity...??!! This movie is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon...it's one of the great stories in film history. Mary Steenburgen deserved her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and Bo Goldman's Oscar-winning screenplay hits home(fact or fiction).
Review of Melvin and Howard
