One Body Too Many

One Body Too Many is a production from Pine-Thomas Paramount B picture unit and after seeing it I'm convinced it was a script and story that was meant for Bob Hope. But old ski nose either rejected this one or was out entertaining the troops during the second World War. So Paramount gave the project to its B unit and got Jack Haley to play the lead.

Pine-Thomas assembled a nice cast in a project that was unusual for them, normally they did economical action/adventure stories. This is a comedy involving a late millionaire who was a firm believer in astrology, so much so that he requested to be buried in a glass covered mausoleum like Lenin at the Kremlin so that he would be always under the stars at night. After that the living relatives of whom he didn't have too good an opinion of would split up the estate. Until then they had to live at his house until the burial was done.

Poor Haley plays the Bob Hope like schnook who is an insurance salesman and keeps an appointment that he made with the old guy before he passed away. Haley arrives just in time for the reading of the will and the lawyer for the estate thinks he's a bodyguard he hired. Never mind Jack takes the job and the fun starts. If you think a couple of murders that follow is fun.

Also in the cast are Bela Lugosi and Blanche Yurka who are the butler and maid. I wish the film had a lot more of them. They look and act so sinister with some lovely eye twinkles. Lugosi had a nice gift for comedy that was too rarely seen on film.

The lovely cast of relatives of whom one is a murderer include Lyle Talbot, Jean Parker, Maxine Fife, Lucien Littlefield, Douglas Fowley and Dorothy Granger. Now who do you think is our killer in the cast?

One Body Too Many has some funny moments, but a lot of it is a rehash of material from better films.

So do you think Hope was busy with the USO or did he pass on this one?