# Fitzwilly
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{{Short description|1967 film by Delbert Mann}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Fitzwilly
| image = Fitzwilly 1967.jpg
| caption = [film poster](/source/film_poster) by [Frank Frazetta](/source/Frank_Frazetta)
| director = [Delbert Mann](/source/Delbert_Mann)
| producer = [Walter Mirisch](/source/Walter_Mirisch)
| screenplay = [Isobel Lennart](/source/Isobel_Lennart)
| based_on = {{Based on|''A Garden of Cucumbers''
1960 novel|[Poyntz Tyler](/source/Poyntz_Tyler)}}
| starring = [Dick Van Dyke](/source/Dick_Van_Dyke)
[Barbara Feldon](/source/Barbara_Feldon)
[John McGiver](/source/John_McGiver)
[Edith Evans](/source/Edith_Evans)
| music = [John Williams](/source/John_Williams)
| cinematography = [Joseph Biroc](/source/Joseph_Biroc)
| editing = [Ralph Winters](/source/Ralph_Winters)
| studio = [The Mirisch Corporation](/source/The_Mirisch_Corporation)
| distributor = [United Artists](/source/United_Artists)
| released = {{Film date|1967|12|20}}
| runtime = 102 minutes
| country = United States
| language = [English](/source/English_language)
| budget =
| gross = $2,100,000 (US/ Canada)["Big Rental Films of 1968", ''Variety'', 8 January 1969 p 15. Please note this figure is a rental accruing to distributors.]
}}
'''''Fitzwilly''''' is a 1967 American [romantic comedy film](/source/romantic_comedy) directed by [Delbert Mann](/source/Delbert_Mann), based on [Poyntz Tyler](/source/Poyntz_Tyler)'s 1960 novel ''A Garden of Cucumbers'' (the title refers to [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible_(King_James)/Isaiah#Chapter_1 Isaiah 1:8]) and adapted for the screen by [Isobel Lennart](/source/Isobel_Lennart). Its title refers to the nickname of its protagonist, Claude Fitzwilliam, an unusually intelligent and highly educated mastermind of a [butler](/source/butler) played by [Dick Van Dyke](/source/Dick_Van_Dyke), who commits robberies to maintain the luxurious lifestyle of his employer. The film co-stars [Barbara Feldon](/source/Barbara_Feldon) in her first feature-film role.
==Plot==
Claude Fitzwilliam serves as butler to Miss Victoria Woodworth, an elderly [heiress](/source/Beneficiary) whose tremendous wealth is a myth fostered by Fitzwilliam; unbeknownst to her, her financier father actually left her $180. "Fitzwilly" has been leading the household staff on numerous thefts, raids and [swindles](/source/Fraud) — including the operation of the fictional charity and thrift shop, [St. Dismas](/source/St._Dismas) — to maintain "Miss Vicki" in the lifestyle to which she is accustomed.
The staff's secret operations threaten to unravel when Miss Vicki hires an assistant, Juliet Nowell, to assist with her creation of a dictionary that contains all possible phonetic misspellings of words. Juliet is surprised to learn from Miss Vicki that Fitzwilly graduated with honors from [Williams College](/source/Williams_College), and she opines that he should be doing something more "worthy" than being a butler, like joining the [Peace Corps](/source/Peace_Corps).
After Juliet inadvertently foils several minor operations, Fitzwilly becomes determined to get rid of her. He conceives a plan to court her in order to induce her to quit; this becomes complicated when they fall in love. Still unaware of Fitzwilly's secret life, Juliet does quit when Fitzwilly refuses to discuss ending his life in service.
Juliet stumbles upon evidence of Fitzwilly's past crimes, and returns to the mansion to confront him. Fitzwilly proposes marriage and agrees to end the criminal operations and tell Miss Vicki everything, but there is a problem: due to Juliet's past interference, the household is $75,000 short of funds, and they have to raise the money by Christmas Day. This leads to a complex [setpiece](/source/setpiece) in which the Woodworth staff orchestrates the robbery of [Gimbels](/source/Gimbels) department store on Christmas Eve.
Although the operation is initially successful, one of the household, Albert, a former minister, allows himself to be caught to "atone" for his sins. He steadfastly refuses to implicate anyone else. Miss Woodworth casually blackmails the assistant district attorney ("the son of my oldest friend") into engineering a suspended sentence on a lesser charge, and blithely offers to write a counter check to the store to cover the amount of the take, money that she does not know she does not have as part of that supposed inheritance.
Believing that the entire household is destined for prison, Fitzwilly uncomfortably toasts his and Juliet's engagement with Juliet, her father and Miss Vicki. His discomfort is alleviated when it is revealed that Miss Vicki's dictionary has been rewritten as a screenplay, and sold to a Hollywood studio for $500,000.
==Cast==
{{Div col}}
* [Dick Van Dyke](/source/Dick_Van_Dyke) as Claude Fitzwilliam
* [Barbara Feldon](/source/Barbara_Feldon) as Juliet Nowell
* [John McGiver](/source/John_McGiver) as Albert
* [Dame Edith Evans](/source/Dame_Edith_Evans) as Miss Victoria Woodworth
* [Harry Townes](/source/Harry_Townes) as Mr. Nowell
* [John Fiedler](/source/John_Fiedler) as Mr. Morton Dunne
* [Anne Seymour](/source/Anne_Seymour_(actress)) as Grimsby
* [Norman Fell](/source/Norman_Fell) as Oberblat
* [Cecil Kellaway](/source/Cecil_Kellaway) as Buckmaster
* [Stephen Strimpell](/source/Stephen_Strimpell) as Byron Casey
* [Helen Kleeb](/source/Helen_Kleeb) as Mrs. Mortimer
* [Paul Reed](/source/Paul_Reed_(actor)) as Prettikin
* [Albert Carrier](/source/Albert_Carrier) as Pierre
* [Nelson Olmsted](/source/Nelson_Olmsted) as Simmons
* Dennis Cooney as Assistant D.A. Elliot Adams
* [Noam Pitlik](/source/Noam_Pitlik) as Charles
* [Anthony Eustrel](/source/Anthony_Eustrel) as Garland
* [Sam Waterston](/source/Sam_Waterston) as Oliver
* [Billy Halop](/source/Billy_Halop) as Restaurant owner ''(uncredited)''
{{Div col end}}
==Soundtrack==
The film features an early [symphonic](/source/symphonic) score by [John Williams](/source/John_Williams), credited both on the album and on screen as "Johnny Williams". Notably the score includes "Make Me Rainbows", the film's love theme and [end credits](/source/end_credits) song and Williams' first collaboration with co-writers [Alan](/source/Alan_Bergman) and [Marilyn Bergman](/source/Marilyn_Bergman).
The score was released commercially at the time by [United Artists](/source/United_Artists) (and re-issued in 1980 by [MCA Records](/source/MCA_Records)),[{{cite web |url=http://www.johnwilliams.org/compositions/fitzwilly.html |title=Fitzwilly |access-date=2009-05-10 |work=The John Williams Web Pages |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215115220/http://johnwilliams.org/compositions/fitzwilly.html |archive-date=2009-02-15 |url-status=dead}}] and was referred to as the film's "original motion picture score" and not as the "original motion picture soundtrack recording" because instead of performances that had actually been heard in the film Williams opted to release arrangements designed for separate listening. In 2004 a limited edition [compact disc](/source/compact_disc) was released by [Varèse Sarabande](/source/Var%C3%A8se_Sarabande)'s CD Club which paired the scores of ''Fitzwilly'' and [Robert Altman](/source/Robert_Altman)'s 1973 film ''[The Long Goodbye](/source/The_Long_Goodbye_(film))'', another Williams credit.[{{cite web |url=http://www.varesesarabande.com/details.asp?pid=vcl-0804-1030-2 |title=Fitzwilly/ The Long Goodbye |access-date=2009-05-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410232800/http://www.varesesarabande.com/details.asp?pid=vcl-0804-1030-2 |archive-date=April 10, 2008}}]
The soundtrack, including the re-recording album and the original complete soundtrack, was released on the Music Box Records label.
==See also==
* [List of Christmas films](/source/List_of_Christmas_films)
* [List of American films of 1967](/source/List_of_American_films_of_1967)
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{IMDb title | id=0061669 | title=Fitzwilly}}
* {{TCMDb title | id=22936 | title=Fitzwilly}}
* {{AFI film|23694}}
* [https://www.musicbox-records.com/en/search?controller=search&s=Fitzwilly Music Box Records entry for ''Fitzwilly'']
{{Delbert Mann}}
Category:1967 American films
Category:1960s Christmas comedy films
Category:1960s Christmas films
Category:1960s crime comedy films
Category:1967 English-language films
Category:1960s heist films
Category:1967 films
Category:1967 romantic comedy films
Category:American Christmas comedy films
Category:American crime comedy films
Category:American heist films
Category:American romantic comedy films
Category:Fictional butlers
Category:Films about the upper class
Category:Films based on American novels
Category:Films directed by Delbert Mann
Category:Films produced by Walter Mirisch
Category:Films scored by John Williams
Category:Films set in department stores
Category:Films set in New York City
Category:Films shot in New York City
Category:United Artists films
Category:English-language crime comedy films
Category:English-language romantic comedy films
Category:English-language Christmas comedy films
Category:Christmas romance films
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fitzwilly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzwilly) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzwilly?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.