Taking a look at a box set that a very kind IMDber had sent me,I was happy to spot a title which had Bela Lugosi in a Horror/Comedy crossover,which led to me getting ready to find the one body too many.
The plot:
Attending the reading of Cyrus J. Rutherford's will,Rutherford's relatives are disguised at the rather harsh 'final words' that Cyrus has written for them.Correctly predicting that they are only interested in his cash,Cyrus places an 2 orders in his will,with the first being that his body must be placed in a glass case at the top of the house,rather then buried underground,and second;that if they don't won't to see their cash go down the drain,each of the relatives must stay at his mansion until his demand is completed.
Desperate to keep the body safe, (partly due to Cyrus saying that he will get a % of the will)Cyrus's former lawyer decides to phone up for a cop,so that none of the family members try to change the burial plans.Arriving at the mansion,the officer is knocked out by a mysterious stranger before he's able to knock on the door.Having made an appointment with Cyrus to help him sort out a new insurance plan, Albert L. Tuttle decides to go to the mansion,so that he can finally meet Cyrus.Due to being completely unaware about Cyrus's arranged meeting with Albert,the family instantly think that Albert is the cop who has been sent down,whilst Albert soon discovers that a member of the family will do everything possible,to be the only 1 alive to get Cyrus's cash.
View on the film:
Setting the entire movie in an old dark house,the screenplay by Winston Miller and Maxwell Shane offers a refreshing mixture of Old Dark House murder-mystery and frantic slap-stick,as Miller and Shane isolate the house with harsh rain,creaky corridors,and a proto- Giallo black glove wearing killer,being joined by frantic chases and dry 'black coffee' Comedy.Building upon the mood in the screenplay,director Frank McDonald wraps the mansion in a sinister Gothic Horror atmosphere,as Tuttle discovers family members hiding in secret corridors and pitch-black corners who have their devilish eyes on the prize.
Given a supporting role,Bela Lugosi gives a terrific performance as loyal butler Merkil,with Lugosi delivering each of the dark comedic lines with a real curl of the lips,whilst a great Jack Haley stays away from the metallic paint,to show the out of his depths Albert L.Tuttle accidentally find out that one dead body really is one dead body too many.
The plot:
Attending the reading of Cyrus J. Rutherford's will,Rutherford's relatives are disguised at the rather harsh 'final words' that Cyrus has written for them.Correctly predicting that they are only interested in his cash,Cyrus places an 2 orders in his will,with the first being that his body must be placed in a glass case at the top of the house,rather then buried underground,and second;that if they don't won't to see their cash go down the drain,each of the relatives must stay at his mansion until his demand is completed.
Desperate to keep the body safe, (partly due to Cyrus saying that he will get a % of the will)Cyrus's former lawyer decides to phone up for a cop,so that none of the family members try to change the burial plans.Arriving at the mansion,the officer is knocked out by a mysterious stranger before he's able to knock on the door.Having made an appointment with Cyrus to help him sort out a new insurance plan, Albert L. Tuttle decides to go to the mansion,so that he can finally meet Cyrus.Due to being completely unaware about Cyrus's arranged meeting with Albert,the family instantly think that Albert is the cop who has been sent down,whilst Albert soon discovers that a member of the family will do everything possible,to be the only 1 alive to get Cyrus's cash.
View on the film:
Setting the entire movie in an old dark house,the screenplay by Winston Miller and Maxwell Shane offers a refreshing mixture of Old Dark House murder-mystery and frantic slap-stick,as Miller and Shane isolate the house with harsh rain,creaky corridors,and a proto- Giallo black glove wearing killer,being joined by frantic chases and dry 'black coffee' Comedy.Building upon the mood in the screenplay,director Frank McDonald wraps the mansion in a sinister Gothic Horror atmosphere,as Tuttle discovers family members hiding in secret corridors and pitch-black corners who have their devilish eyes on the prize.
Given a supporting role,Bela Lugosi gives a terrific performance as loyal butler Merkil,with Lugosi delivering each of the dark comedic lines with a real curl of the lips,whilst a great Jack Haley stays away from the metallic paint,to show the out of his depths Albert L.Tuttle accidentally find out that one dead body really is one dead body too many.