The Fortune Cookie (alternative British title: Meet Whiplash Willie) is a 1966 American black comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder.

Harry's injuries are minor, but his conniving lawyer brother-in-law, William H. "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich, convinces him to pretend that his leg and hand have been partially paralyzed so that they can receive a huge indemnity from the insurance company.

With no medical evidence to base their case on, O'Brien, Thompson and Kincaid hire Cleveland's best private detective, Chester Purkey, to keep Hinkle under constant surveillance.

When Sandy questions Gingrich about this in private, he tells her that it is just a scam to put pressure on the insurance company to settle, and that there will be enough money in the settlement for everyone.

Hinkle begins to enjoy having Sandy back again, but he feels bad when he sees that Boom-Boom is so guilt-ridden that his performance on the field suffers.

Gingrich claims that he had no idea that his client was deceiving him, and announces his intention to sue the insurance company lawyers for invasion of privacy, as well as report Purkey's racist remarks to various organizations.

[6] Lemmon originally had two other actors proposed to star with him—Frank Sinatra and Jackie Gleason—but Wilder insisted that he do the picture with Walter Matthau.

By the time he was healthy enough to work and filming started up again, he had slimmed down from 190 to 160 pounds and had to wear a heavy black coat and padded clothing to conceal the weight loss.

In the third consecutive day of shooting, the Kent State University freshman football team replaced the Browns, who were unavailable due to beginning preparations for their next opponent.

Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "a fine, dark, gag-filled hallucination, peopled by dropouts from the Great Society" and "an explosively funny live-action cartoon about petty chiselers who regard the economic system as a giant pinball machine, ready to pay off to anyone who tilts it properly".