El cadaver errante

Little-known Poverty Row noir which is fairly complex and interesting, but unbalanced by its humor. The best things about it are the cinematography (courtesy of the legendary John Alton) and the participation of the two female leads: June Lockhart (her role is not too dissimilar from that of SHE-WOLF OF London [1946] – she was on the point of being driven mad in the latter film, while here she's the object of murder, and the reason for both is her inheritance) and Cathy O'Donnell (actually top-billed but her role is subsidiary to Lockhart's – from what little I've read about it, her character has been played up as a femme fatale but she's really just a mixed-up kid, recalling the Martha Vickers of THE BIG SLEEP [1946]). Having mentioned THE BIG SLEEP, Sonia Darrin (who played the sharp-tongued bookstore clerk with whom private detective Elisha Cook Jr. was enamored) appears in BURY ME DEAD as an ill-fated schemer.

On the other hand, the male lead (Hugh Beaumont) is pretty bland – despite being deceived, beaten up and accused of murder, he keeps an incongruous jovial countenance throughout! Nonetheless, the suspense sequences towards the end are moderately well-handled (though the patronizing, thick-headed police inspector character is decidedly overbearing).

With regards to the renamed TV version, it runs a mere 27 minutes against the original 68: whole subplots are omitted, as well as most of the flashback sequences; consequently, it makes little sense – and, really, is only worth watching once for the sake of curiosity. Unfortunately, the print on the VCI DVD left a lot to be desired (the company's output over the years, while undeniably earnest, has also been alarmingly sloppy!): the audio was especially problematic with the presence of excessive pops and crackles (ironically, these didn't plague the Condensed Version as much) and, most bafflingly, a complete audio drop-out for a few seconds of dialogue!!