The movie The Luckiest Man in America imagines what it would have been like to be behind the scenes of a game show in the 1980s when one contestant is on an unparalleled hot streak.
It’s about the real-life game Press Your Luck, which aired on CBS between 1983 and 1986. In each episode, three contestants compete to answer multiple-choice trivia questions, and for each correct answer they are given three chances to press a button to stop the circulation of lights on the Big Board. They would earn prizes based on wherever the light stopped.
In 1984, an ice cream truck driver with a fondness for get-rich-quick schemes named Michael Larson studied the show long enough to discover that even though it seemed like the lights were flashing randomly over the Big Board, there were actually only five patterns — a few of which included spots that were guaranteed to earn him money.
Brian Geraghty, Paul Walter Hauser and Patti Harrison in The Luckiest Man in America. (IFC Films/Courtesy of Everett Collection)
He figured out how to guarantee a win every time, avoiding a “whammy” that would eliminate his winnings. Though typical contestants walked away with about $14,000, Larson scored a $110,237 haul that led CBS officials to accuse him of cheating. After an investigation, it was determined that he didn’t cheat, and he got his money, though he wasn’t allowed to return to the show because he exceeded its winnings limit.
In The Luckiest Man in America, Larson is portrayed by Paul Walter Hauser. Samir Oliveros, who directed and co-wrote the movie, became captivated by Larson’s story after finding a VHS recording of Press Your Luck while thrift shopping.
“I started watching the clip, and I was like, ‘Oh this is really good!'” he told Yahoo Entertainment. “What attracted me was seeing Michael and knowing he was probably hiding something, but he was putting on a facade for the show. When the cameras were turned off, he was probably a completely different person … somebody that just makes very bold decisions.”
Oliveros became obsessed with what might have been happening behind the scenes in the control room during commercial breaks, in the time between tapings and after Larson left the stage.
The film has a solemn tone at first, and then excitement builds as Larson continues to win. Oliveros said the goal was to convey that Larson’s hot streak was “good for the episode but bad for finances.”
Bill Carruthers Jr., whose father created Press Your Luck, served as a creative consultant for the film and gave the crew plenty of background insight into what would have been happening behind the scenes.
“He would tell us that the control room at the time was crazy … it was like headless chickens,” Oliveros said.
He added that he had to personally track down Carruthers to get his help, but when he finally found him, Carruthers said he had been “waiting for this call for 40 years.”
To Oliveros, this isn’t just a story of a con man who hacked the system to drain a game show of its funds. It’s inspirational. He said he hopes the film inspires viewers to “take bigger risks.”
“I feel like Michael was somebody that would just go around his life making big, bold choices. People don’t do that anymore. People like the security of a nine-to-five,” Oliveros said. “But Michael had a dream. The way he accomplished that dream was a little unorthodox, but he made it happen.”
The Luckiest Man Alive is in theaters April 4.
