Madcap Mayhem With Extra Murders!

 The Tin Man Borrows The Lion’s Courage?

 One Body Too Many (1944) – The unexpected death of a potential
client leaves a shy insurance salesman trapped in a house with the
likely murderer.

Directed by Frank
McDonald

Starring Jack
Haley, Jean Parker, Bela Lugosi

Why I Liked It –
A lighthearted romp of a murder mystery with just a touch of horror.

Here’s a
classic “B movie”, something that is almost unknown these days. They made B movies quickly using a stock company of actors on a small
budget. Pine-Thomas Productions was a unit of Paramount Pictures that
specialized in then. The record shows that they were very, very good
at it. None of the 80+ movies they made ever lost money. They placed Jack Haley under contract when the studio expanded from
action movies to comedy. His role as the Tin Man dominated his career in “The Wizard of Oz”, but his career stretched from
vaudeville to television. This movie is the perfect vehicle for his
style of comedy. There’s a strong flavor of the Tin Man here as
Albert Tuttle swerves from resolute indignation to craven terror.
It’s only his attraction to Jean Parker’s character that pushes
him through to the finish.

Tuttle has lined up the toughest appointment on the books at
his insurance company. A reclusive millionaire who never meets with
anyone. Unfortunately for Tuttle, Mr. Rutherford died the day before
the appointment. There is confusion when Tuttle is mistaken for a
detective hired to protect the body. Rutherford’s will has some
strange stipulations which could reverse the order of the
inheritances if his body is disturbed. The detective never shows up
and Tuttle is drafted as a non-interested party to spend the night
with the casket. The family of potential heirs includes a pretty
young woman (Parker) who is quickly attracted to the earnest
insurance salesman.

The rest of the
movie is predictable. There are secret passages, an attempted murder
(that is just creepy enough), other deaths, and a body that keeps
disappearing. It’s all a lot of fun, more fun than I expected. It
can’t be overlooked that Bela Lugosi is wonderful as the creepy
butler who has his own interests in the will’s outcome. He
balances the comedy and the creepy to perfection. Also, need to give
a nod to Lyle Talbot. Like Haley, Talbot enjoyed a long career,
beginning in a traveling tent show, then the stage, the movies
(where he co-starred with Lugosi in “Plan 9 From Outer Space”)
then television, and even Broadway. B movie actors were accustomed
to cranking out movies in short order, and this cast does well with
the straightforward script.

This is a great
movie when you just want a little fun. It would be great for most
family viewings as well.

Rating – ***
Worth A Look

(Not really a trailer but it gives you a taste)