The Jackpot

Saw that someone in Arkansas had won the 1.8 billion dollar Lotto prize December 24, 2025.

Later Youtube served this movie, The Jackpot, coincidence ?

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8fEBzpLICc

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jackpot

Before viewing I read the article by John McNulty in The New Yorker, February 19, 1949:

The $24,000 prize inflated:

Only found 1/2 of an isolated episode of the old time radio show: Sing it Again:

https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/quiz/sing-it-again/sing-it-again-1st-half-only-19xx-xx-xx

They must have changed the concept slightly in this episode because the show did call the winner in the New Yorker article before the show. Also the first and third contestants didn't even try to guess who the phantom voice was - maybe they didn't want the hassle of disposing of $30,500 of prizes like the family in The Jackpot ? Thankfully the show ends after about 21 minutes.

One of the prizes was a Rembrant Television ? never heard of that brand before:

https://www.earlytelevision.org/rembrandt_1950.html

I suppose if you were naming your TV model after a painter it would be natural to skip Van Gogh since the rabbit ears could only have a single telescoping element (rabbit ear, get it ? :)

The Jackpot is a fun movie but one of the things about a Jimmy Stewart movie is that often he is playing someone who is closer to the edge of madness than he appears: