Money Madness

A starvation-budget noir riddled with implausibilities, Money Madness might have been a better movie given a snappier script and an inventive director. That said, it's not that bad. We open in a courtroom where a young woman (Frances Rafferty) is being sentenced; rushing to a phone booth, a reporter tells his rewrite man 'You never know what'll come in on the noon bus.'

Next, the noon bus pulls in, disgorging Hugh Beaumont (it's not entirely clear until the end of the movie that we're now in flashback). In his satchel is $200,000, loot from a bank robbery. But he takes a crummy room and gets a job driving a hack. Picking up some fares one night, he encounters Rafferty, out on a bad date. He either falls for her or sees in her his opportunity.

Rafferty lives in a stuffy old mausoleum on the charity of her crabby old aunt (Cecil – sometimes Cecile – Weston). Beaumont hatches a plan to bump the old witch off, marry Rafferty and say his money was stashed up in the attic of the house. He forges ahead despite Rafferty's reservations by dint of cajolery and intimidation. All unfolds according to plan, but for the fact that Rafferty's lawyer (Harlan Warde) takes a shine to her as well...

Before hitting the big time of '50s TV, Beaumont appeared in dozens of Poverty Row pictures (often, as here, starring). He was never memorable but, like the movie, he wasn't too bad, either. In fact, he's rather effective as the manipulative, controlling bastard (who may be a little bit mad). The movie, though, relies too optimistically on convenient coincidences (when the landlady of Beaumont's rooming house finds Warde rifling his quarters, she calls Rafferty's house to issue an alert. How did she know where to find him?) Money Madness' place in the alphabet is considerably south of B, but it's not quite into the letters that get the highest points in scrabble, either.

Money Madness combines the presence of two of 50s television staples, the December Bride Frances Rafferty and everyone's favorite TV dad Hugh Beaumont from Leave It To Beaver. in a small and cheaply produced noir film Money Madness. In this film Beaumont is anything but Ward Cleaver.

Beaumont plays a small time crook who has skipped with the loot from a bank robbery totaling $200,000.00. Now what to do with it.

Hwe hits upon a scheme that involves him wooing and wedding counter girl Frances Rafferty from a malt shop. She has a hypochondriac aunt whom she's chained to having to take care of her played by Cecil Weston. While courting her Beaumont acts just like Ward Cleaver courting June. But what he has in mind is to poison the old girl and then claim that $200,000.00 was part of money that the aunt hid in a mattress. This presuming the money isn't numbered consecutively and serial numbers recorded. As Rafferty has a shady past of her own she wants no one to know about she has to go along.

Of course what really forces her hand is when Ward Cleaver turns vicious and slaps her good. I imagine seeing Money Madness on TV after Beaumont's persona from Leave It To Beaver made him TV's favorite dad must have exponentially increased the shock value in a way the producers couldn't have dreamed of.

This 1948 independent noir film holds up well today and here's a chance to see a really different Hugh Beaumont.

Marry in haste...repent at leisure. Truer words were never spoken.

"Money Madness" from 1948 stars Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver of Leave it to Beaver) and Frances Rafferty.

In the first scene, we see Steve Clark (Beaumont) dropping a fortune into a safe deposit box. The next thing we know, he's driving a cab. When a passenger begins hassling his date (Rafferty), Clark throws him out of the cab and proceeds to charm the young woman, whose name is Julie.

Julie lives with her absolutely horrible aunt, who continually accuses her of not caring about her, leaving her alone all the time, etc. Julie would love to leave, but she can't bring herself to. After not very long (maybe five minutes) Steve proposes, and the two get married and go to Steve's place.

Steve then has a prearranged telephone call; when he hangs up, he tells her that his divorce never went through, so he is now a bigamist. It will take a little time to work it all out, so she needs to go back to her aunt's place. Boy have times changed!

Julie returns, with Steve coming by constantly. He poisons the old bat and then explains to Julie that she will inherit the house, and because he needs to hide where that money came from, he can put it in a chest in the attic, and everyone will think it was her aunt's.

Julie is naturally unhappy with this idea, especially since he's a murderer, but he reminds her that she can't testify against him since they're married (untrue - she cana't be forced to testify against him) and the bigamy deal was only so she would get back to her aunt's house; and she served the liquid with the poison.

Julie is stuck, and when Steve guns down an old partner who is after the money in front of her, she's plenty scared. The lawyer (Harlan Wade) handling her aunt's estate sees she is acting strangely, but she won't talk to him.

You won't be able to get over what a nasty piece of work Beaver's father is! He does a very good job, as does Rafferty as the fightened young woman.

The moral of this story is, get to know someone before you get married.

Hugh Beaumont marries Frances Rafferty, poisons her aunt and puts $200,000 from a bank robbery in the attic. Miss Rafferty is her aunt's sole heir, so everyone figures she was one of those batty ladies who doesn't trust banks. That's what Harlan Warde, the lawyer Miss Rafferty hires for probate thinks. He also thinks she is a dish, and unmarried. Then Beaumont's plans begin to come apart.

It's a pretty good, dark movie. Beaumont, for those of us who remember him as the father in LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, is excellent, and Miss Rafferty gives a fine performance. It will come to some as a surprise that this was produced by Sigmund Neufeld and directed by his brother, Sam Newfield (hiding under the name of 'Peter Stewart.' They had been associated so long with PRC, producing cheap movies for the bottom of triple features that it seems natural to believe that is all they were capable of. However, given a good script, good actors, and a halfway decent budget, they could turn out a good movie. Here's the proof.

While this film has a few minor issues, it's a generally well made film noir picture and provides a wonderful opportunity to see Hugh Beaumont (the father on "Leave it to Beaver") playing a cold-blooded monster!

When the film begins, Steve Clark (Beaumont) blows into a new town and gets a job as a cab driver. In one of his first fares, he has an annoying drunk sexual harasser who is out on a date with a nice girl who is refusing his advances. Julie (Frances Rafferty) is thrilled with the cab driver intervenes and he looks like a really nice guy. And, through much of the film Steve appears to be a real sweetheart. However, underneath this veneer is a real sociopath and by the time the film's over, he's terrorized sweet Julie as well as killed a couple folks...and is about to kill more!!

The best thing about the film is Beaumont's performance. He is creepy and very convincing. Unfortunately, Rafferty is not very good and much of it could be the writing...as her character is too weak and a bit stupid. Plus, she believes that because she's married Steve that she cannot legally testify against him...which is NOT the case. She could not be COMPELLED to testify against him if she didn't want to...and there is also question as to whether or not they are actually married. Still, a very enjoyable film...one that I would strongly recommend to noir fans.