One Body Too Many

One Body Too Many is a production from Pine-Thomas Paramount B picture unit and after seeing it I'm convinced it was a script and story that was meant for Bob Hope. But old ski nose either rejected this one or was out entertaining the troops during the second World War. So Paramount gave the project to its B unit and got Jack Haley to play the lead.

Pine-Thomas assembled a nice cast in a project that was unusual for them, normally they did economical action/adventure stories. This is a comedy involving a late millionaire who was a firm believer in astrology, so much so that he requested to be buried in a glass covered mausoleum like Lenin at the Kremlin so that he would be always under the stars at night. After that the living relatives of whom he didn't have too good an opinion of would split up the estate. Until then they had to live at his house until the burial was done.

Poor Haley plays the Bob Hope like schnook who is an insurance salesman and keeps an appointment that he made with the old guy before he passed away. Haley arrives just in time for the reading of the will and the lawyer for the estate thinks he's a bodyguard he hired. Never mind Jack takes the job and the fun starts. If you think a couple of murders that follow is fun.

Also in the cast are Bela Lugosi and Blanche Yurka who are the butler and maid. I wish the film had a lot more of them. They look and act so sinister with some lovely eye twinkles. Lugosi had a nice gift for comedy that was too rarely seen on film.

The lovely cast of relatives of whom one is a murderer include Lyle Talbot, Jean Parker, Maxine Fife, Lucien Littlefield, Douglas Fowley and Dorothy Granger. Now who do you think is our killer in the cast?

One Body Too Many has some funny moments, but a lot of it is a rehash of material from better films.

So do you think Hope was busy with the USO or did he pass on this one?

Relatives and loyal servants are gathered to hear the reading of Mr. Cyrus Wentworth'S last wishes. As the lawyer reads the wishes Cyrus snubs everyone there. Then the sort of tontine plot is delivered. Some will be rich others may get $1.50. It all hinges on whether the deceased gets his wish and is laid to rest above ground so he can see the stars. Or wither some unscrupulous person(s) will bury him underground thus reversing the will.

Not trusting each other and wanting to get some sleep they hire a guard. Instead, an insurance salesman Albert Tuttle (Jack Haley) appears and is mistaken for the guard.

The fun begins.

All the standard clichés and scenarios are played out appropriately. The only exceptional part is waiting to see who will drink the coffee and Bela Lugosi's facial expressions.

You might not think so from the looks of it, but "One Body Too Many" actually is a hilarious spoof / comedy instead of an eerie horror film! Sure, it involves a creepy old mansion and Bela Lugosi as a suspicious butler, which both are elements that featured in nearly every typical horror movie made in the 1940's, but the screenplay is very comical and actually a lot better than all those poverty row horror movies that tried to be genuinely horrific...but failed. This totally unexpected surprise in tone feels very original and really forced me to love this little movie! The story opens with one of the greatest cliché in the genre, when a family of greedy bastards gathers in the old mansion to hear the will of deceased uncle Cyrus. The rich but eccentric uncle insisted on peculiar burial accommodations and, before they can be completed, the heirs & heiresses reluctantly have to spend a couple of days together. In case anyone leaves, or in case uncle Cyres doesn't get buried like he wanted to, the will is altered. Insurance agent Albert Tuttle is mistaken for a private detective but, at the request of lovely niece Carol, he stays to watch over the corpse. This film is FUNNY! The Albert Tuttle character is FUNNY! He's the perfect anti-hero; cowardly and always the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time. He has some of the most hilarious lines and his facial expressions more than once evoke spontaneous chuckles. "One Body Too Many" makes great use of the typical haunted-house setting with the endless network of secret passages and dark towers. The actual search for the mysterious saboteur is also quite interesting and full of neat twists and red herrings. Horror veteran Bela Lugosi is downright marvelous in his supporting role of butler. He constantly walks around the house offering people cups of coffee which, I think, is a homage/spoof toward the butler-character Boris Karloff played in "The Old Dark House" (always supplying the guests with more potatoes). I had very low expectations on this film but I really ended up loving it! Highly recommended!

These old "revolving panels and candlelight" mysteries are usually a mix of elements played for laughs more than shivers. Jack Haley is an insurance salesman mistaken for a detective hired to guard the corpse of a millionaire all night so that the provisions of the old man's will can be satisfied. The greedy heirs must stay in this mini insane asylum until morning or lose their inheritance. Midnight murders prevail, of course, with the usual wisecracks, jealous insults and idioms of the day (or night). Jack Haley is the reluctant hero of sorts in this wee hours fiasco, although he would rather be somewhere else. For the genre, however, it is true to form and worth a look.

I've always liked those 1940s comedies where a bunch of people are stuck in a house on a stormy night. I don't consider this an especially good example of this sub-genre. Part of that is just personal preferences; I prefer the snappy wise guy to the jittery nebbish, the role played by Haley. Part of it is probably that I've seen so many of this that I'm pickier than I used to be. But mainly I just don't find this movie that funny. There is a cute running joke involving coffee, but outside of that this struggles just to be mildly amusing.

The film is also just poorly filmed. It may in part be a bad print, but much of it is so dark that you can't really tell what's going on. The movie also has the most convoluted premise of any of these movies, although that didn't really affect my enjoyment of it.