Honey Pot

Lore & Background

The film's plot centers on struggling actor William McFly, hired by wealthy eccentric Cecil Fox to play his personal secretary for a practical joke. Fox invites three former lovers to his Venetian palazzo: penniless Princess Dominique, fading movie star Merle McGill, and Texas millionairess Lone Star Crockett Sheridan, who brings her nurse Sarah Watkins. Each woman brings Fox a valuable timepiece as a present: Sheridan's an elaborate porcelain antique, McGill's a large quartz block with clock faces telling global time, and the princess's an heirloom hourglass reputedly filled with precious gold powder. McFly recognizes the premise is based on Ben Jonson's 17th century play Volpone, in which a swindler poses as a dying man to dupe three men aspiring to inherit his fortune. A former law student, McFly begins to suspect the motives behind the joke and questions his legal liability.

Reader's Guide

The film was released in 1967. To understand the plot, note that the story is based on Ben Jonson's 1606 play Volpone. The film runs 150 minutes in its original cut, but Mankiewicz removed twenty minutes, including dream sequences, for the US release. The world premiere was in London on March 21, 1967. The New York premiere was at the Trans-Lux West on Broadway and 49th Street, which was remodeled for more than $150,000. The film was released to DVD by MGM Home Entertainment on January 15, 2011, via its MGM MOD service, and on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

Did You Know?

• The film's original cut was over 150 minutes, longer than the 131-minute theatrical release.
• The film's first draft was over 600 pages and included a framing device of dream sequences for each major character, which Mankiewicz removed after United Artists and Charles K. Feldman found it too confusing.
• Rex Harrison's then-wife Rachel Roberts attempted suicide by overdosing on barbiturates after Mankiewicz turned her down for the role of Sarah Watkins in favor of Maggie Smith, though the direct link remains unconfirmed.
• Cinematographer Gianni Di Venanzo died on February 3, 1966, from misdiagnosed hepatitis while the film was still in production.
• The film's original title during principal photography was Anyone for Venice?, not The Honey Pot.