It's rare to see a film where it goes from cute and fun to just awful in a matter of seconds...but that's the case with "Lady Bodyguard".
Terry (Eddie Albert) is a goofy test pilot. Out of the blue, an insurance company wants to give him an insurance policy...for free. Well, it's hard to imagine anyone refusing such an offer...but Terry doesn't seem all that interested. After all, he has no wife nor family. Eventually, he agrees and makes the beneficiaries his friends.
Just after Terry signs the policy, the boss of the insurance company looks it over and sees that a mistake has been made. Instead of the policy being for $1000, it turns out it's for $1,000,000...and with his job, the company is sure to have to pay off! So, the saleslady who gave him the policy (Anne Shirley) is told to get him to agree to its cancellation...or else.
Not too surprisingly, Terry sees no reason to cancel the policy. After all, why should he? Additionally, once he signed the policy, the lady threw a drink in his face and told him she hated him!
So far, I enjoyed the movie very much. But what happens next simply isn't funny, makes no sense AND would clearly result in the saleswoman being sent to jail. She goes to a sanitarium and tells them she is Terry's wife AND he's an alcoholic!! They keep him and put him in a strait-jacket...and although she returns eventually to get him out of this detox center, the story just seemed mean spirited and stupid at this point. Additionally, when Terry's 'friends' hear that the test plane crashed and the pilot was probably killed, they were ecstatic! Little did they know that a different pilot flew it because Terry's whereabouts were unknown. Additionally, when Terry yells at the woman, a man comes and horsewhips Terry! This just isn't funny...and it makes me wonder what was wrong with the writer and studio that they didn't realize so much of this was unfunny and ruined the first half of the movie.
Does it get any better? No...because soon the pair fall in love and this makes no sense at all.
Overall, a good movie gone bad. Anyone who watches and THINKS will see the problems with the script.
