How to Murder a Millionaire

Joan Rivers stars as Irma, a wealthy woman who loves shopping at upscale stores and enjoying the comforts money can buy. Her world feels secure until a series of unsettling events tests that security, and she leans on her close confidant, Morgan Fairchild as Loretta, a friend who understands the strain of her marriage dreams and disappointments. The duo soon spends an evening with Irma’s husband, Walter, and Loretta’s partner, Gilbert, as they gather for a dinner meant to celebrate an anniversary. The gathering is cordial at first, but the mood grows tense as Irma and Walter openly air their grievances about each other, hinting at deeper cracks beneath the glossy surface of their luxe life.

One night, Irma hears a suspicious noise and calls the police. When the responders arrive, she finds herself trapped in the garage with smoke billowing from a car, and the authorities seemingly dismiss the danger, attributing it to a prowler that they say never existed. The incident plants a seed of doubt in Irma’s mind about the safety of her home. The next day, over a meal with Loretta, Irma aloud questions whether these so‑called “accidents” might be attempts on her life. In a cruel twist of timing, Walter arrives at the same restaurant with another woman and places a necklace around her neck, arousing Irma’s fear that her husband is not faithful—and that someone may be setting the stage for something worse.

Back home, Irma’s mechanic delivers troubling news: someone had cleaned out the brake fluids in her car before the crash, suggesting deliberate sabotage rather than a mere accident. The realization deepens her paranoia, and she watches Walter come home with a box that is quickly stashed in a drawer. After he leaves, Irma discovers the box contains a gun. Alarmed, she phones the police and tells them she believes her husband is trying to kill her, then she packs a few clothes and valuable belongings and leaves home, uncertain of who to trust.

Danny and Teresa, a couple who find it justifiable to rob the rich, set their sights on the residence of Gilbert and Loretta. Danny waits in the car while Teresa enters to scout for valuables. Irma, sensing danger, confides in Teresa about Walter’s alleged attempts on her life and reveals that she is worth a fortune. Teresa, intrigued by the potential haul, agrees to help Irma but also contemplates an even darker option: murder. When Teresa hesitates, Irma takes matters into her own hands and knocks Danny unconscious with a statue, thwarting an immediate threat.

Gilbert — ever the schemer — visits Walter’s office and thanks him for a wedding‑present necklace and for providing a gun “for protection.” He then tracks Irma through the system, learning that she used her credit card for a sofa, and follows the delivery to the designated address. There, he encounters Danny, who is moving a sofa, and the two men discuss the rumored hit. Walter himself checks the credit records and discovers a potential lead, triggering a plan to coordinate with Danny. As the plot thickens, Irma decides to enlist the help of a maid service and even registers with the organization as a maid so she can infiltrate her own home and steal back her jewelry if necessary. In the tense atmosphere, Loretta resists Walter’s advances while scheming in her own way to sway the situation in Gilbert’s favor.

The truth begins to emerge when Gilbert enters Walter’s residence, retrieves the gun, and plays a dangerous double game. He phones Danny and pretends to be Walter, bribing him with $50,000 to kill Irma, while also learning about a scheduled flight to Acapulco that Danny has booked. Danny heads for the airport to carry out the deed, but Irma confronts him and counters with a bold offer of $100,000 to abandon the plan. Realizing the strings are tangled and dangerous, Irma takes drastic action to protect herself and those she loves.

The action climaxes at the Ambassador Hotel, where Irma has learned of a wedding and hides beneath the wedding cake to observe the unfolding drama. Walter, meanwhile, has also arrived at the hotel and informs Gilbert that someone is trying to kill Irma. When Gilbert confronts Irma and draws his gun, a struggle ensues, culminating in Gilbert’s defeat and arrest. A key revelation ties everything together: Gilbert’s motive all along was to kill Irma and frame Walter for the crime, thus clearing the way for him to take over the family company. The plan unravels as truth comes to light, and the would‑be killer is brought to justice.

In the end, the misunderstandings, betrayals, and criminal plots resolve with a sense of uneasy resolution rather than outright triumph. The film closes with a return to dancing and celebration, suggesting that despite the danger and the machinations, life for Irma and her circle of friends and enemies continues, tempered by the knowledge that wealth and power can invite both comfort and peril in equal measure. The cast’s intertwining fates—Irma, Loretta, Gilbert, Walter, Danny, and Teresa—re-emerge in a final tableau that hints at the cost of greed and the resilience required to keep moving forward.