Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger Hunt is a 1979 comedy film with a large ensemble cast, in the mold of the 1963 comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

Plot summary

Milton Parker, an eccentric game inventor (Vincent Price) dies in the opening scene after losing a video game with his seductive nurse (Carol Wayne). The Sunday following his death, all of his greedy and estranged relatives show up at his mansion for the reading of his will where his lawyer Charles Berstein (Robert Morley) stipulates in his will that the winner of an elaborate scavenger hunt will inherit his $200 million estate. The various (potential) beneficiaries form five teams and each team gets involved in various misadventures along the way.

The five teams consist of...

1. Parker's son-in-law Henry Motley (Tony Randall) and his four bratty children.
2. The servants; French cook Henri (James Coco), manservant Jenkins (Roddy McDowall), limo driver Jackson (Cleavon Little), and French maid Babbette (Stephanie Faracy).
3. Dim-witted taxi driver Marvin Dummittz (Richard Mulligan).
4. Parker's greedy widowed sister Mildred Carruthers (Cloris Leachman), her greedy attorney Stewart Sellsome (Richard Benjamin), and her man-child son Georgie (Richard Masur).
5. Nephews Kenny (Dirk Benedict & Jeff Stevens Willie Aames), and Lisa, Carruthers' step-daughter (Maureen Teefy).

Cast

The ensemble cast includes Richard Benjamin, Cloris Leachman, Cleavon Little, Roddy McDowall, Dirk Benedict, Willie Aames, Robert Morley, Tony Randall, Ruth Gordon, Scatman Crothers, Richard Mulligan, James Coco, Stephen Furst, Hal Landon Jr., Avery Schreiber, Pat McCormick, and Richard Armstrong. The film was directed by Michael Schultz, and released by 20th Century Fox. It is also one of the earlier movie appearances of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and has a special appearance by rock legend Meat Loaf. Filming took place in and around San Diego, California.

Home media

The film itself was first issued onto the home video market in 1984, only on videocassette (both Beta and VHS formats), by CBS/FOX Home Video. It remained available on video until it was eventually discontinued in the mid-1990s. This movie was never issued on any videodisc format (CED or Laserdisc); and, as of November 2011, had not yet been released on DVD.

External links

• Scavenger Hunt at the Internet Movie Database
• Scavenger Hunt at AllRovi
• Scavenger Hunt at Rotten Tomatoes
• Scavenger Hunt at Box Office Mojo