One Body Too Many [PG]

Albert Tuttle, a timid insurance salesman catches a big break when he is granted an appointment with rich and eccentric recluse Mr. Rutherford. However, when Albert arrives at the mansion for the appointment, it’s only to discover that the man has died and the house is filled with cynical, grubbing relatives bound to stay together in the mansion until their uncle is buried as per his requested terms. No one has seen the will, but it’s been stated that if Rutherford’s burial terms are not met, the order of the will shall be reversed and those that stood to receive small shares of wealth shall inherit larger. Could this be the motive for the attempted murder that occurs just after Albert arrives? 

My interest in this movie was first piqued when I realised that it’s a horror movie starring Jake Haley. Admittedly I only know Haley as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, but it’s still weird to think that there’s a horror/murder mystery flick in the universe that stars him. Having said that, this flick isn’t so much a horror movie but more of a metafictive comedy, even a very early spoof. The sinister setting and who-dun-it? scenario really gets worked to great effect, making One Too Many Bodies a funny little flick that just keeps you guessing. 

Albert Tuttle, a timid insurance salesman catches a big break when he is granted an appointment with rich and eccentric recluse Mr. Rutherford. However, when Albert arrives at the mansion for the appointment, it’s only to discover that the man has died and the house is filled with cynical, grubbing relatives bound to stay together in the mansion until their uncle is buried as per his requested terms. No one has seen the will, but it’s been stated that if Rutherford’s burial terms are not met, the order of the will shall be reversed and those that stood to receive small shares of wealth shall inherit larger. Could this be the motive for the attempted murder that occurs just after Albert arrives? 

There are so many classic comedy elements that are injected into this sinister murder mystery to successfully crossbreed the two genres. We’ve got Albert Tuttle, a bumbling reluctant hero, guided by his desires to impress Rutherford’s niece, and the conflicting voices of his own conscience that appear on his shoulders a few times throughout the flick. The awkward and sometimes incriminating situations that poor Albert finds himself in are actually very funny and playing on our sense of schadenfreude, with some of the more weird ones involving coffins, swimming pools, and hiding in a laundry basket nude with kittens. Yeah, you read that right! 

Then we’ve got the wonderful way the who-dun-it? scenario is played upon. Each and every character in the house is a suspect and have scenes that incriminate them as such… even the butler and the housekeeper in their humorous, constant endeavours to give their guests coffee. It’s all very funny. 

Starring Jack Haley, Jean Parker, Blanche Yurka, Lyle Talbot, Douglas Fowley, Fay Helm, Bernard Nedell, Lucien Littlefield, Dorothy Granger, Maxine Fife, and Bela Lugosi, One Body Too Many is a funny little movie filled with action, murder, mystery, romance, drama, misinterpreted situations, and comedy. I thought it was a clever little merger of the genres of horror and comedy, producing the offbeat little spoof lovechild that is this film.