KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Steineded How sad is this?

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

JohnHowardReid Producers: Bill Pine, Bill Thomas. A Pine-Thomas Production, filmed at Fine Arts Studios, for Paramount release. Copyright 17 October 1944 by Paramount Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Rialto: 24 November 1944. U.S. release: Not recorded. Australian release: 28 June 1945. 6,840 feet. 75 minutes. SYNOPSIS: An insurance salesman gets himself waylaid as a bodyguard (literally!) in a spooky old house filled with expectant heirs.COMMENT: From The Old Dark House to One Body Too Many is neither a great jump in story or characters. Once again the setting is the spooky, many-roomed mansion of an eccentric millionaire type and once again the plot contrives to fill the place with a whole gallery of fascinating people. Where the two films part company lies in the degree to which they command an audience's attention. Although One Body actually runs only four minutes more than Old Dark House, it still seems about twenty minutes too long. The main problem is that Jack Haley is no Bob Hope. Following Hope's successes in The Cat and the Canary (1939) and The Ghost Breakers (1940), this role was obviously crafted with the ski-nosed comedian firmly in mind, but Haley just can't quite bring it off. Furthermore, Frank Blondie McDonald's direction is somewhat on the slow and heavy-handed side, lacking the skill and polish that a Sidney Lanfield or George Marshall would have brought to the production. So what we actually have here is an imitation Bob Hope vehicle made by a second-string unit with a second-string cast. Second-string? So what's Lugosi doing in the movie? At this stage of his career, he was already acting along Poverty Row. If anything, One Body Too Many represented a distinct step up the ladder. Mind you, the role is nothing more than window-dressing or, put another way, a red herring. Nonetheless, Bela gives it a good shot. Partnered by Blanche A Tale of Two Cities Yurka of all people, he is certainly mildly amusing. The rest of the players are okay so far as they go. But shrill-voiced Jean Parker is no Dorothy Lamour, nor heavy-on-the-bluster Douglas Fowley a budding Claude Rains. Our chief problem, however, is Jack Haley. He simply tries too hard to impersonate Hope, yet not nearly hard enough to develop his own character. By the humble standards of Pine-Thomas, production values are pretty good with fine moody photography by the junior Jackman and reasonably spooky sets by F. Paul Sylos.

Bezenby Another winner here from Bela Lugosi, although to be fair he's more of a supporting character here. The film's main protagonist is the who plays hapless life insurance salesman Albert Tuttle, unwittingly drawn into a game of intrigue involving loads of benefactors awaiting the outcome of the will of some rich guy.This rich guy was well into astronomy, and wants to be buried in a glass casket so the stars can shine on him. However, it's stated in his will somewhere that if he gets buried underground, then his will is reversed, and those due very little will get the most. Tuttle doesn't even know the guy is dead, and at first is mistaken for a private detective hired to guard the body (and both the detective and the corpse have gone walkies).Tuttle teams up with the innocent granddaughter of the dead guy to find out who keeps moving the body, and killing off the benefactors. So you've got this Tuttle guy being bopped on the head, buried in a coffin, finding secret passageways, and being harassed for coffee by Bela, who plays the mysterious butler.It's a good laugh all the way as this Tuttle guy gets put through the grinder at every opportunity, having to run around naked to avoid the benefactors, being stalked by someone with a poker, and various other farces. Yep, this film is mainly a comedy with a killer, and who doesn't love a film set in a house with secret passageways. Bela doesn't have too much to do here, but between himself and the guy who played Tuttle (Jack Avery?) One Body Too Many is a good laugh with very few slow spots.

wes-connors *** One Body Too Many (1944) Frank McDonald ~ Jack Haley, Jean Parker, Bela Lugosi "A timid insurance salesman decides to place a call upon an eccentric recluse at his mansion only to find that he has just passed away. What he also finds is a home full of relatives who are, according to the will, all bound to remain in the mansion until the authorities arrive to claim the body. Seeing that the man's niece may be in harm's way, the salesman decides to remain at the mansion to protect her from harm while they discover who killed their uncle," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.A thinly disguised re-make of the relatively recent re-make of silent spoof "The Cat and the Canary". Possibly, the very successful Bob Hope version of 1939 had been removed from circulation; and, movie producers felt the story had more traction. Otherwise, it's difficult to explain this inferior treatment. Star Jack Haley (as Albert Tuttle) is curiously ill-suited in the leading role. Still, it's enjoyable to see Mr. Haley without his "Tin Man" silver. And, leading lady Jean Parker (as Carol Dunlap) is an attractive old dark house inhabitant.The most entertaining of the cast are spooky servants Bela Lugosi (as Murkil) and Blanche Yurka (as Matthews). Dependable Lucien Littlefield (as Kenneth Hopkins) was also in the 1927 version. Writers Winston Miller and Maxwell Shane do add some witty new lines and situations to the formula; but, the resulting product compares very unfavorably with earlier versions.

bensonmum2 One Body Too Many is a fairly enjoyable The Cat and the Canary style film. It's not great, but it's certainly not the worst piece of trash to come down the pike. As I alluded, those familiar with The Cat and the Canary aren't going to find the plot groundbreaking with its originality – an old dark house with secret passages, greedy family members gathered for the reading of the will of an eccentric and rich patriarch, the will includes all sorts of unusual stipulations, and at least one person in the party proves to be a killer and begins bumping off other family members. It's nothing new. This basic plot structure was fairly common in the 40s and One Body Too Many is a typical example.As I've learned to expect from a comedy/horror/mystery/thriller from the 40s, some of the movie will work and some won't. Going in, I always hope that what works is more than what doesn't work. One of the things that worked well for me in One Body Too Many was Bela Lugosi. Playing what is essentially the supporting role of butler, Lugosi steals scene after scene. The running gag involving Lugosi and the coffee is very nearly laugh-out-loud funny. Jack Haley (who generally gets on my nerves) also has his moments that really work. He has at least one scene where he ends up naked in a clothes hamper that I found hysterical. But even with these great moments, overall the good and the bad in One Body Too Many pretty much balanced out, resulting in what I'll call an average way to spend 75 minutes.