The Man in the Trunk

A fun comedy with no pretensions. It starts with what appears is going to be some kind of horror movie, but don't be afraid, it has nothing to do with that genre.

When a human skeleton is discovered, it ties to a crime for which an innocent man is going to pay by going to the electric chair. His lawyer takes a last minute approach in helping his client when the governor of the state refuses to give the condemned man a reprieve since all the evidence is against him. The discovery of the mysterious trunk reveals the real clue to the murder and with it, the ghost of the dead man comes back to life.

This 1942 comedy was directed by Malcolm St Clair. It has an interesting cast. Best of all is Raymond Walburn who plays the dead man and his ghost, with such deadpan that is disarming. Also in the cast J. Carroll Naish.

I saw this film when I was 8 years old, and it still brings tears of laughter to my eyes. It ranks up there with such films as The Man in the White Suit, The Lavender Hill Mob and Arsenic and Old Lace. It is a little-remembered classic!