Trailer for The Fortune Cookie.
CBS cameraman Harry Hinkle (Jack Lemmon) gets injured when football player Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson (Ron Rich) runs into him while he is covering a Browns game at Cleveland Stadium. Harry's injuries are minor, but his conniving lawyer brother-in-law William H. "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich (Walter Matthau) convinces him to pretend that his leg and hand have been partially paralyzed. This way, they can receive a huge indemnity from the insurance company.[2] Harry reluctantly goes along with the scheme because he is still in love with his ex-wife, Sandy (Judi West), and it might win her back. The insurance company suspects that the paralysis is a fake one, so a cat-and-mouse game starts between its investigator, Chester Purkey (Cliff Osmond), and the shyster Willie. Boom Boom takes very good care of Harry, who starts having second thoughts as he witnesses guilt taking its toll on Boom Boom. As he also sees that Sandy is back by his side strictly out of greed, Harry decides to reveal the truth, thereby ruining Willie's get-rich plans.