In The Fortune Cookie, the seventh collaboration between Wilder and Diamond, Jack Lemmon stars as Harry Hinkle, a pro sports cameraman who receives minor injuries after a hard collision with star football player Luther “Boom Boom” Jackson (a fantastic Ron Rich) while taping a game. After Harry’s slimy, ambulance-chasing brother-in-law, Willie Gingrich (Walter Matthau, in the role that earned him his only Oscar), hears about the mild gridiron accident, he convinces Harry to pretend to be paralyzed in order to pull off an insurance scam. Against his better judgment, Harry agrees to the plan, but only to win back his ex-wife, Sandy (Judi West). However, after growing to become friends with Luther and realizing the extreme guilt that Luther carries with him over the injury, Harry starts to second-guess the whole scheme.

Nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Screenplay for Wilder and Diamond.