The Busy Body

Having spent the best part of the first 15 years of his directorial career at Columbia – mostly under the aegis of prolific but cheapjack producer Sam Katzman – William Castle defected to a smaller studio, Allied Artists, in order to make his mark on film history with the horror comic MACABRE (1958). When he improved his gimmicky formula with HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL at the same studio but with a bigger star (Vincent Price), his old employers Columbia invited him back into their stable where he spent another five years making some of his most popular and enduring work like THE TINGLER (1959; which reunited him with Price), HOMICIDAL (1961) and STRAIT-JACKET (1964; with Hollywood legend Joan Crawford). At this point, he made a three-movie detour to Universal (where he had work intermittently before in the late 1940s/early 1950s) which culminated in the black comedy LET'S KILL UNCLE (1966; with Nigel Green), by which time his tried-and-tested fusion of horror, comedy and showmanship had begun to wear thin. This signaled yet another (and, in retrospect, final) move on Castle's part resulting in a somewhat unproductive but eventually rewarding 10-year tenure at Paramount…

Although he had previously dwelt in outright comedy, even during his golden period, with his two resistible Tom Poston vehicles – ZOTZ! (1962) and his fairly disastrous colour remake of THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1963) – what came next was almost as significant a departure as MACABRE had been from his earlier work. Indeed, in THE BUSY BODY, Castle had at his disposal the best cast of his entire career – a sure sign for an iconoclastic producer-director that he had hit the mainstream. Ironically, the film's rare screening one Sunday evening many years ago on local TV proved to be my introduction to the director's work and it would be much later that I caught up with the aforementioned movies which had made his reputation as, to put it bluntly, the poor man's Alfred Hitchcock! Indeed, the film under review had the potential of becoming Castle's own THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955; the "Master of Suspense"'s second favourite among his films) given the funereal aspects of the plot…but this being the "anything goes" Swinging Sixties, rather than the delightfully subtle black humour of the latter, it went for the broad and overdone farcical style of Stanley Kramer's IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (1963; with which it shared leading man Sid Casear, no less!) in its depiction of yet another multi-character chase after buried loot…

This is not to say that the resultant movie is unenjoyable – and my middlebrow rating attests to that – but perhaps one expected something more durable from the likes of tough guys Robert Ryan and Charles McGraw, Anne Baxter and Kay Medford, emerging comedians Richard Pryor (in his film debut), Godfrey Cambridge and Dom DeLuise, veteran comics Ben Blue (also returning from the Kramer opus) and George Jessel, etc. Caesar is the latest addition to the "board" of racketeer Ryan (having a great time lampooning his established image), chosen for his sartorial sense which the boss believes will lend a much-needed touch of class to the organization (including McGraw, whom Ryan berates for looking just like a hoodlum!). However, the protagonist is continuously checked on by mother Medford (perhaps the film's single funniest line has her tell Police Lieutenant Pryor: "What'd you think…that I'm one of those possessive mothers?!") and also becomes involved with two women – shady Baxter and ex-showgirl Arlene Golonka, actually the wife of a Caesar associate whose death during a barbecue and subsequent burial wearing the suit he normally carries a million dollars in for Ryan sets the whole plot in motion. Also on hand are a mortician and his sacked assistant (DeLuise), a beloved cop's funeral (at which Caesar ends up being among the pallbearers), an insurance fraud gone awry that leads to murder (again, Caesar becomes the unwitting patsy for these), Caesar's proverbial "taken for a ride" by Cambridge and partner which features a couple of dummies (one of which creates much consternation when propped on a park bench) and, of course, the multiple unearthing of the grave which invariably contains no body. No prizes for guessing the true villain's identity but, for the most part, the film makes for a pleasant if hefty 102 minutes – especially in the good-looking widescreen print I watched.

I was surprised to see that 'William Castle was the director for The Busy Body that Paramount used. Castle is best known for ow budget horror films with special effects and sometimes cheesy ones at that. This cast of name players was something wasn't used to.

I also note that sSd Caesar was the star. As this is a Paramount this film had the look and feel of a Jerry Lewis film. If Lewis had starred and maybe a Frank Tashlin directed The Busy Body might have been a classic.

Top crime boss Robert Ryan puts his gofer Sid Caesar on the syndicate board and tells him to retrieve a blue suit from a recently deceased board member. Instead Caesar has him buried in it. With a million dollar sewn in the lining of said suit.

One of the big problems is that Robert Ryan just doesn't do comedy. His part would have worked better with a Lionel Stander or a Sheldon Leonard in it.

In a large supporting cast of familiar faces standing out is Kay Medford as Sid's gangster widow mom.

Nice film, funny in spots, but could have been better.

This crime comedy is played strictly for laughs. Sid Caesar stars as the impeccably dressed right-hand man of mob leader Robert Ryan. When one of the 'boys' (Bill Dana) is blown up while barbecuing, Caesar helps his grieving widow (Arlene Golonka) select a suit to bury him in; unfortunately it was his 'traveling suit'.-the one that had a secret lining that held a million dollars from his last 'job' for Ryan.

Ryan plays the stone faced, controlling boss without blinking despite the chaos around him. Caesar is ordered to find the suit by whatever means, including digging up Dana, but when Dana isn't in the grave he's supposed to be in, it becomes a frantic search for Caesar to avoid Ryan and mob members Godfrey Cambridge and Marty Ingels, as well as outsiders pulled into the story like Dom DeLuise, Ben Blue, Jan Murray and his wife Anne Baxter.

Caesar also has to deal with his meddling mother, Kay Medford, and the cop that always seems to be tailing him, Richard Pryor. If that seems like a great cast, you are correct. Although there are some lags that keep it from being really good, it's entertaining and a nice little double twist at the end ties everything up nicely (one is easily predicte, the second, not so much). I wasn't wild about the Vic Mizzy score as it seems too Green Acres, but overall an overlooked 60s film.

This late-period William Castle film is one of his pallid attempts at comedy. It's amiable, yet mediocre in its delivery. Sid Caesar (during one of the lesser parts of his career) plays the scapegoat for Robert Ryan's gang of hoods. Looking at the cast of this film, as well as the original publicity material, it's obvious that Castle was trying to make his own version of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". In addition to Caesar, there is also Dom Deluise, Kay Medford, Godfrey Cambridge, Marty Ingels, and Richard Pryor in his first film. Arlene Golonka is also present as the ditzy young dancer in the ridiculous feather get-ups.

The main problem with this film, is that the two main actors are totally unlikable. Ryan is unnecessarily mean to Caesar, and Caesar in turn, is too much of a wuss. The other actors all seem so oblivious to what's happening...like they are all doing their own stand-up routines instead of furthering the story. The script is OK, I think Castle just didn't know how to direct comedy.

On the plus side, though, this film has a very catchy theme song, composed by Vic Mizzy, and a funny sequence where a woman tries talking to a mannequin at a bus stop. It's a slight step up from Castle's "The Spirit is Willing", but that's not saying very much.

This comedy has all the elements of the type of comedies Don Knotts and Jerry Lewis were performing in during the 1960's. An ordinary man gets involved with murder (I forgot to mention Dick Van Dyke). The comedy was tailored around the talents of Ben Blue and Caesar, with the other comics filling time. It's a pleasant comedy, but don't go out of your way.