I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now?

The mystery is how it could be so bad. The cast is a great collection of comic character actors of the 1970's. The writer has a top-notch resume filled with wonderful comic scripts, including his collaborations with Woody Allen (the early movies, when Woody Allen movies were funny), and the director isn't incompetent. There are even some good lines in the script. (One attempt on Joanna Barnes' life is introduced by a shot of a shark in a swimming pool, with a sign by the pool reading, "Acme Shark Rentals." Bob Dishy's psychiatrist is confined to a straight-jacket; Dishy asks him why, and the psychiatrist replies, "We can't all be fashion-plates.") But the result is a mess. The actors and the director seem to have responded to what they knew was a failing movie with desperation -- "maybe if we play this broader, louder, quirkier, more over-the-top, we can make it funny." They can't, and they don't.

So what went wrong? The temptation, this having been a product of Hollywood in the 1970's, is to wonder who was on what drugs. If that isn't the explanation, I'd love to hear what was.

Apparently meant to be zany, this incredibly stupid film relates the predicament of "Oliver" (Bob Dishy) who, after being caught pilfering a quarter of a million from his employer, is given a chance, because his father founded the firm, to recompense that amount within 30 days in order to have charges dropped; however, when his wealthy wife, played by Joanna Barnes, informs him of her intention to obtain a divorce, thereby cutting off his income, Oliver arranges for a two-week, million dollar life insurance policy for his spouse with him as sole beneficiary, intending therefore to have her murdered, in this fashion solving his felonious fiscal problem. He then openly asks virtually anyone whom he sees if a payment of $25000 will purchase the murder of his wife, and finally locates a character named Bobo (Bill Dana) who agrees to take on the assignment, but when Oliver changes his mind he finds that Bobo has sub-contracted the hit to another who does the same and so on and on ad nauseum, while a flock of sub-contractors, in this poorly filmed, edited and acted affair, chase about in search of the final $6.95 assassin at the bottom of the barrel, where belongs this weakly episodic movie that is primarily composed of one-liners and gauche physical comedy that rarely is comic.

Bob Dishy's father wants back the money Dishy has stolen from the company. Dishy's wealthy wife, Joanna Barnes, wants a divorce. Dishy's response is to take out a million-dollar insurance policy on her, and then hire Bill Dana for $25,000 to kill her. When it turns out that the doctor who examined her is not a doctor, Dana finds Dana to call it off. Dana, however, has hired Jack DeLeon for $20,000 to kill her. When they track him down.... well, you get how this is going.

It's all shtick all the time from insane characters, as I realized when they got down to Richard Libertini. Insane characters can be fun, but the audience needs someone to hold onto, some one to react to the insanity, which you don't get until Libertini and Vito Scotti are riffing off each other in. Italian. That wasn't anywhere near enough to keep my interest, and the writers seem to have agreed, since they didn't bother writing an ending.

This movie needs to be on the #100 worst movie list.

I watched it at the ages 12-13, and not even then could I like it.

Low budget, low quality acting job. Stay as far away as possible from this one!

Abysmal farce about a man who hires a hit man to kill his wife, but when he wants to call it off he can't because it's been sub-contracted to too many different 'wacky' characters. Similar in style to THE BIG BUS and AIRPLANE, but much more sillier. In fact it gets so silly that it becomes dumb, embarrassing, and even more lame than a kiddie flick. The running gag of a faceless killer (we only see his shoes) repeated attempts at killing the wife are poorly executed and photographed. Making them annoying instead of clever or funny. Out of ninety minutes there are really only three that are even half way amusing. Of the few minor highlights: a cuckoo clock in a psychiatrists office, a mexican waiter in a chinese restaurant, and a out of work actor who agrees to do the killing for $6.95. Funny character actors Darden and Libertini play several different roles.