One Body Too Many

1944 "The Murder Mystery of the Season!"
5.4| 1h15m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 24 November 1944 Released
Producted By: Paramount
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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An insurance salesman, Albert Tuttle, is hired as a body guard for a millionaire.

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Director

Frank McDonald

Production Companies

Paramount

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One Body Too Many Audience Reviews

Mjeteconer Just perfect...
JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!
Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
Panamint Well paced and well plotted with an eccentric rich man's will and corpse as the focus. Jack Haley and Jean Parker were quite talented and just a pleasure to watch- they wear well and they work well together. Lugosi is great in one of his best creepy butler roles. He has a long running humorous gag involving, believe it or not, coffee.It all holds together, is not overly padded, the direction and editing are fine. If you think all of those dirt-cheap little 1940's b-movies are dull or poorly made, you could view "One Body Too Many" and might change your opinion at least as far as this one is concerned.Yes it is cheap but is a solidly made movie and not haphazard at all. "One Body Too Many" can be recommended. It is definitely in need of a good restoration, but at least one fairly good viewable copy is available out there.
Prichards12345 I won't go into the plot too much as it has already been relayed by several contributors here; but all the friendly clichés you'd expect are present - so much so you tend to welcome them as you're ticking them off.This is not a Lugosi star vehicle - he merely plays support as the butler; but he has a fine flair for comedy and plays on his sinister image with aplomb. The real star of the film is the personable Jack Haley, who plays an insurance salesman mistaken for a detective who is to guard the body of a millionaire. The heirs are gathered, and they have to wait out the satisfying of a condition of the rather curious will...Haley's character, while a bit of a buffoon, is not an outright caricature and remains likable. This is a movie, of course that owes a lot to The Cat And The Canary. It does contain one neat little sequence slightly reminiscent of Vampyr, in which Haley is trapped in coffin, which is then carried to the garden pond and dropped to the bottom. It's still quite chilling today.Enjoyable film and recommended by this 30s and 40s horror fan.
Scarecrow-88 "Leave this house at once if you value your life."Insurance agent, Tuttle, is to sit with the body of a wealthy millionaire while his greedy ancestors await their inheritance from his will. The relatives must stay three days in their wealthy benefactor's mansion or else be disinherited. The contents of the will are not to be read until after the three days are concluded. If the corpse of Cyrus Rutherford is moved, put away successfully, the will be reversed and those who were to get much will get little and vice versa. Rutherford was big on astrology, the stars, and his casket was open-faced with glass so "the stars could shine upon him". Bela Lugosi gets top billing, but he's basically a butler always trying to get the guests of the mansion to drink his coffee(the question is whether or not his coffee is poisoned as he too stands to inherit an allowance for his services to his recently deceased employer). It's actually Jack Haley's movie, as he's a comic foil, bumbling around the mansion, getting himself in trouble unintentionally. The mansion has dead bodies turning up(such as Cyrus' lawyer), secret passageways(Tuttle, in a towel as he was about to bathe, gets lost in the house after walking into one of them located in his closet), and trap doors(the killer uses one to send pursuers after him into the kitchen). Jean Parker is Carol Dunlap, one who stands to inherit if she can stay alive, also Haley's love interest. Played entirely as a comedy with Haley the center of activity, although his Tuttle just wanted to sell Cyrus some insurance.
catfish-er I'm working my way through the Horror Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection and ONE BODY TOO MANY is the 7th movie in the set. I am watching them with my soon-to-be seven-year old daughter, which makes these movies a laugh riot.Luckily for ONE BODY TOO MANY, it is a comedy with horror serving only as the background. It is quirky and humorous.An insurance man named Tuttle (Jack Haley) has an appointment with astrology-fanatic Cyrus Wentworth. Turns out Cyrus has died (you can't sell life insurance to a dead man); and, the greedy heirs have gathered for the late-night reading of the will. A quirk in the will requires Cyrus to be interred under a glass enclosure, so he can gaze at the stars for eternity, or the heirs receiving the highest share of his estate will instead receive the least; and, those receiving the least will instead receive the most.Comedy ensues, with creaky doors, false leads, mistaken identities, secret passages, and the heroine, Carol Dunlap (played by Jean Parker) in love with the insurance salesman. The cast is huge; and, it's hard to keep all the characters straight. As such, we just focused on the antics of Tuttle and Dunlap.Bela Lugosi gets top billing; but, really plays just a small part, mostly trying to get the heirs to drink some coffee –is it poisoned – the ending makes that clear.Say what you will; but ONE BODY TOO MANY is enjoyable; and, plays like a farce in parts.