El cadaver errante

June Lockhart has the dubious privilege of being an onlooker at her own funeral. She then proceeds to navigate the tricky path of revealing that she is still alive, whilst probing into the identity of the charred remains buried in her place.

What had the potential to be a taut, dark murder mystery, simply implodes into an implausibly jaunty, 'Oh, you're alive!' caper. The humour is never sufficiently strong or consistent to transform 'Bury me Dead' into black comedy and the frequent, distracting flashbacks come across as the antics of a director fixated by a new toy that he can't resist playing with.

Belatedly, there is at least the contrivance of mounting tension, as dithering detective, Charles Lane launches into an 'I didn't get where I am today' style criminology lecture instead of immediately responding to a rapidly escalating, life threatening situation.

This special deluxe edition comes with ultra low definition blurry print, numerous missing frames (probably lurking down the back of a sofa near you) plus...... a SNAP! CRACKLE! And POP! Soundtrack, occasionally veering towards pneumatic drill territory! Aah, they don't make 'em like that anymore.

The first ten minutes had me thinking 'sleeper' as the narrative moves from a raging inferno to a graveside funeral where the so-called corpse turns up alive and well in a heavy, black veil. It's a great audience 'hook'. So now June Lockhart must find out who among her circle tried to kill her. And, oh yeah, just who did they bury in her place.

Trouble is the movie gets pretty ragged from that point on. Director Vorhaus can't seem to make up his mind whether he's directing noir or pratfall comedy. The boxer, for example, is straight out of an Abbott & Costello romp. Add Mark Daniel's really erratic acting, plus Sonia Darrin's shaky turn, and an otherwise interesting mystery gets regrettably undercut.

Credit the rest of the cast for carrying on well despite the handicaps. Credit too, John Alton's expert noir photography for heightening the mystery part, even as it clashes with the ill- advised pratfalls. Too bad, as another reviewer points out, that a director like Mann or Losey didn't get the promising material first. Anyway, it's a good chance to see how well Lassie's mom gets along with Beaver Cleaver's dad away from TV.

June Lockhart returns home and goes to a funeral. It's her own. When she presents herself to husband Mark Stevens, adopted sister Cathy O'Donnell, everyone has mild hysterics in turn. Even butler Milton Parsons faints on the stairs after he backs out of his employer's' presence. That leaves two questions: who was the woman they buried, the woman whose body was burned beyond recognition in a fire at the stables? And was it murder?

This movie is a very rare example of film noir: one with a sense of humor. Even as it fulfills all the tropes of the genre -- the characters flooded in striped shadows from Venetian blinds, the flashbacks, the two woman, one of whom is borderline psychotic -- it is filled with comedy bits. Even the scene where they are sweating the suspect, the head cop is Charles Lane, going on about criminology textbooks. Neither do the gags interrupt the story. Instead, they form the characters, make them individuals and point out the little things which can endear one individual to another.... or drive one to murder. It's a fine little movie.

Ambitious director Bernard Vorhaus never got out of the Bs, and the Blacklist put an end to his directing career. by 1952 He came back a few years later as an assistant director for Miss O'Donnell's husband, William Wyler under a pseudonym. He retired from credited participation in the industry in 1960, moved to England where he had directed in the 1930s, and died in 2000, aged 95.

Sort of a comedy and sort of a drama.

June Lockhart is a dead woman resurrected in "Bury Me Dead," a 1947 B movie also starring Cathy O'Donnell and Hugh Beaumont.

Barbara Carlin (Lockhart) is believed dead from a fire in her stable, but she shows up after her funeral in her attorney's Beaumont) car. Obviously someone else burned in the fire.

Barbara thinks her sister Rusty (O'Donnell) might be the dead woman, but Rusty is home. She makes it clear that she's disappointed to see Barbara alive.

Barbara believes her estranged husband Rod (Mark Daniels) might have tried to kill her. They have a bizarre setup. He actually has a girlfriend, Helen (Sonia Darrin) who works for a prize fighter, George (George Mandley). Barbara is feigning interest in George to keep him away from the naive and vulnerable Rusty.

There are both funny and sinister parts of this film, which can't decide what it is. Despite this, it's entertaining since both the humor and drama are well done. Enjoyable.

B-movie fans are constantly filtering amid the dross in search of hidden gems and eccentric oddities in which verve and creativity peek through the routine cracks of low-budget filmmaking. Here's one really obscure title that fits the bill.

With a great premise reminiscent of DOA, this could have been a stunning noir. Unfortunately, some skeptic decided to play it mainly for laughs, not unlike many B thrillers of the 30's and 40s. Nonetheless, below the surface hides the bizarre interlocking relationships of lust among the characters across class lines, with Cathy O'Donnell's scheming nympho teenager a standout (reminiscent of the Martha Vickers character in the Big Sleep). There's also a more exotic temptress in a smaller role, as well as a muscular deadhead boxer to lure the posh ladies of the cast.

Of course, the giveaway is the presence of John Alton, whose luminous expressionist photography is again highly experimental and at times breathtaking. He combined with director Vorhaus for another hidden gem, The Amazing Dr X (aka the Spiritualist).