Money Talks (1972 film)

As in his Candid Camera television show, Allen Funt uses a hidden camera to record the reaction of people placed in bizarre situations, all of which, in this case, relate to money. In New York, Kansas City, Boston, Miami and Switzerland, bystanders are placed in unusual circumstances to determine how they will react. Various exploits include: A public pay-for-use bathroom is outfitted with a sign announcing that penalties will be charged for those staying longer than five minutes; a bowl of dollars with a sign stating "Take One" is placed on a busy city street, with most bystanders obeying the admonition; a man at a lunch counter salts his dollar bills and then eats them; a woman walks down a street, dropping money, and various people either steal or return the cash; a black young man declares that George Washington was black and should be represented as such on the dollar bill; a furrier is asked to fit a Great Dane for a mink coat; and an older woman, hired to answer phones at an expensive apartment building, finds herself fielding calls and quoting rates for Mafia hitmen. In other sequences, Funt interviews people directly, asking them such questions as why they are willing to live off their parents' money and why they panhandle. Boxer Muhammad Ali offers an unsuspecting delivery man boxing lessons in lieu of payment, while comedian Henny Youngman trades one-liner jokes in exchange for goods. Finally, when Allen asks his five-year-old daughter Juliet about the importance of money, she responds that "the most important thing in the whole wide world is heart."

• Muhammad Ali as himself
• David McHarris as himself / Tap dance
• Marian Mercer as herself / Waitress
• Henny Youngman as himself
• Jack London as himself / Money eater
• Joseph R. Sicari as himself / Dog owner
• Jackie Bright as himself / Wheeler dealer
• Ann Myles as herself
• Guy King as himself / Rest room attendant
• Peter Hock as himself
• Karen Fund as herself / Money dropper
• Erin Peeters as herself / Panhandler
• Tony Bell as himself / Boy tipper
• Ira Kosloff as himself
• Robbie Manning as himself
• Juliet Funt as herself
• Lulu-May Brown as herself
• Joya Gingold as herself
• Rubin Pochtar as himself
• Elizabeth Fisher as herself
• Jack Avidon as himself
• Norman Hilliard as himself
• Eva Barthfeld as herself
• Michael C. Roberts as himself
• Arthur Miller as himself
• John L. Smith as himself
• Cristobal Correa as himself

• List of American films of 1972

• Money Talks at IMDb