A Million to One

Puritan Pictures seldom turned out a film that looked most expensive than it really was. The studio's Million to One appears to have been made on a budget of eight dollars and a box lunch, but that doesn't lessen its entertainment value one bit. Herman Brix (later known as Bruce Bennett) stars as Johnny Kent, a hot-shot Olympic athlete who lets success go to his head. After a dizzying cycle of wine, women and song, Johnny is no good to anyone, least of all himself. He wises up in time to qualify for a decathlon competition with his arch-rival Hale (Reed Howes). Oldtimers Monte Blue and Kenneth Harlan play key supporting roles, while the ingenue is a pretty but antiseptic newcomer named Joan Burfield. By the time Million to One made it to New York (nearly three years after it was made), Ms. Burfield was billing herself as Joan Fontaine.