Money Madness

Wow, this one is certainly a candidate for restoration.. the sound and picture quality are just terrible. Hugh Beaumont is "Steve", a crook on the run from "something"... we're not sure just what. Beaumont was the Dad on Leave it to Beaver. Steve meets up with "Julie", (Frances Rafferty) who ALSO has a past of her own. They hit it off, and that's when the trouble begins! Dick Elliot is in here as a customer in the diner... Elliot was the town mayor in Andy Griffith. Gumming up the works is Julie's elderly aunt, who sometimes fakes being ill to get attention, but sometimes really is sick. Dealing with that brings out the worst in both Julie AND Steve, so it's going to hit the fan fast! Another fun face in here is "Mrs. Ferguson"... Ida Moore. She was ALWAYS a little old lady... she had a great, tiny little part in Desk Set! (Gotta see that if you haven't already) Money Madness flows right along, no plot-holes, or glaring problems. Not many big names, which is probably why its playing on Moonlight Movies channel. Beaumont had done a bunch of war films in the 1940s, and more in the 1950s, but he's probably the biggest name in here. Directed by Sam Newfield.. he and his brother Sigmund were bigshots in "the biz", and they turned out TONS of films, starting in the silent shorts. This one is actually pretty good.

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.

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.

Plot---Arch-criminal Steve Clark uses both charm and guile to trick working girl Julie into joining him in ruthless scheme to kill her aunt and launder his ill-gotten robbery money. So just how far will Julie go in trailing along with him.

All in all, the flick's a cheapo that over-stretches its spotty material. Too bad director Newfield's direction shows little imagination with a storyline that does offer some potential. In fact the staging of the implausible climax ends the flick on a particularly dreary note. Of course, the main attraction now is catching one of TV's favorite dads as soulless killer Steve, a difficult role Beaumont brings off in surprisingly effective fashion. In a better movie, his portrayal could have reached classic status. Trouble is his feminine foil, Julie (Rafferty), is poorly thought out and played in understandably bewildered fashion (where was the helping hand of the director). Julie goes from malt shop hooker (implied) to floor mat for Steve's many schemes, and crucially, without hint of depth the conflicted role requires. Had Julie some depth and had the script some irony, Julie could have turned the tables on her abuser in a way that shows he's underestimated her. Something surprising like that could have made the movie more memorable than the Beaumont showcase it finally is.

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.