Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

dwpollar 1st watched 8/10/2014 -- 3 out of 10 (Dir-Frank McDonald): Mixed up whodunit comedy starring the Tin Man himself, Jack Haley -- with Bela Lugosi playing a butler who keeps trying to serve coffee laced with rat poisoning throughout the movie and no-one accepts. This isn't what the movie's about, but does bring a little snicker to an otherwise standard movie where we trap all the possible inheritants into a house overnight waiting to see what happens. The deceased wants to be buried in a to-be constructed glass coffin under the stars, and wants his heirs to squabble until it's done when the final will is revealed. If he's buried underground or anyone leaves the premises-- the will is going to be handled in reverse order making for an interesting situation since no one really knows who's getting what. Tuttle, Haley's character, gets involved when he comes by the place to sell insurance and gets dragged into staying by a comely young woman. This movie tries to be a comedy in the vein of an Abbott and Costello comedy with horror -- but Haley doesn't pull off what could have been funny scenes. Also -- the confusion in the plot just makes the viewer stop caring. There are a couple interesting gags with Tuttle buried alive under water in a pond full of goldfish, and the much-used good conscience vs. bad conscience scenes are different. I guess the main appeal for me was seeing an adult-comedy with Lugosi and Haley, but beyond that there wasn't much. So as a piece of historia it's interesting but as a movie it has very little appeal really.

csteidler Insurance man Jack Haley keeps an evening appointment at a rich client's mansion to make a sales pitch—and is instantly mistaken for a detective. The client is lately deceased, all of his relatives are there for the reading of the will, and funny business has already commenced. Bela Lugosi is tops as the butler: "Perhaps you would all like some coffee," he suggests early on, and then spends the entire rest of the picture trying to persuade the guests to accept a cup of his coffee, which may or may not be poisoned. Jean Parker is fine as the appealing young relative who may be in line to inherit via the will, once it's finally read; she and Haley work nicely together, naturally falling into a romantic subplot that is cute and lively if predictable.The other plot elements are the standard items no dark house can be without—a phone that's mysteriously disconnected, switched bodies in the closet, secret passages all over the place, a thunderstorm. Favorite scene: Haley, having thrown himself into the role of amateur detective, tries to catch Lugosi off guard regarding the mud on his shoes. Lugosi replies that he opened the door for the cat and there was mud from the rain. Haley springs: "What rain?" To which Bela Lu responds with a sort of quiet incredulity, "What rain?"—walks to the door and opens it, displaying thunder and lightning and pouring rain—"The rain that's falling down, sir." It's a lot of fun if not exactly a workout for the brain.

Scarecrow-88 "Leave this house at once if you value your life."Insurance agent, Tuttle, is to sit with the body of a wealthy millionaire while his greedy ancestors await their inheritance from his will. The relatives must stay three days in their wealthy benefactor's mansion or else be disinherited. The contents of the will are not to be read until after the three days are concluded. If the corpse of Cyrus Rutherford is moved, put away successfully, the will be reversed and those who were to get much will get little and vice versa. Rutherford was big on astrology, the stars, and his casket was open-faced with glass so "the stars could shine upon him". Bela Lugosi gets top billing, but he's basically a butler always trying to get the guests of the mansion to drink his coffee(the question is whether or not his coffee is poisoned as he too stands to inherit an allowance for his services to his recently deceased employer). It's actually Jack Haley's movie, as he's a comic foil, bumbling around the mansion, getting himself in trouble unintentionally. The mansion has dead bodies turning up(such as Cyrus' lawyer), secret passageways(Tuttle, in a towel as he was about to bathe, gets lost in the house after walking into one of them located in his closet), and trap doors(the killer uses one to send pursuers after him into the kitchen). Jean Parker is Carol Dunlap, one who stands to inherit if she can stay alive, also Haley's love interest. Played entirely as a comedy with Haley the center of activity, although his Tuttle just wanted to sell Cyrus some insurance.

gavin6942 Jack Haley (Wizard of Oz's Tin Man) and Bela Lugosi star in this horror-suspense-comedy. Although calling it horror is like calling Pauly Shore comedy.A man dies and leaves a very strange will: if his body is buried underground, the order of the inheritances will be reversed so the person with the smallest share receives the largest and so on. Jack Haley shows up as an insurance salesman, but ends up becoming a detective to see who is trying to steal the body and bury it prematurely. Since no one knows what inheritance they're getting, it could be anyone.Highlight of the movie is by far Bela Lugosi as the butler. He tries numerous times to serve the guests coffee which may or may not be laced with rat poison. (The ambiguity is seemingly cleared up at the end of the film, though I cannot say even I know for sure.) Other commentators have said the film was shot in poor lighting. They're right, but I didn't really have a problem with it. I never was confused about what was happening or where anyone was on the screen. And filming this movie in color probably (though who can say for sure?) would have detracted from its character.A problem I did have - not related to the lighting - was trying to figure out who everyone was. Maybe I was not paying attention or maybe the plot is weak, but many characters don't have memorable names or associations with each other. This left me confused about who was who at certain key moments. I'm still not clear on who the actual villain is (although a second viewing would probably clear this up).I laughed, I was suspended, and I laughed some more. Really great film by the standards of the time and worth watching today.