Murder, He Says

Last updated
Murder, He Says
Murderhesays poster.jpg
Directed by George Marshall
Screenplay by Lou Breslow
Story byJack Moffitt
Produced byE.D. Leshin
Starring Fred MacMurray
Helen Walker
Marjorie Main
Cinematography Theodor Sparkuhl
Edited by Leroy Stone
Music by Robert Emmett Dolan
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • June 23, 1945 (1945-06-23)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Murder, He Says is a 1945 American black comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Fred MacMurray, Helen Walker and Marjorie Main. [1] It is about a murderous rural family and the hapless pollster who becomes entangled in their hunt for a cache of money. It was filmed in the spring of 1944, but was held back for a year because Paramount had a backlog of product and felt it was more important to get war-related films released first, lest they suddenly become dated by the impending end of combat.

Contents

Plot

Peter Marshall (Fred MacMurray), who works for the Trotter Poll ("like the Gallup Poll, but not as fast"), is sent out to find a missing co-worker, Hector Smedley. He goes to see the last family the man was supposed to interview, the nutty and murderous Fleagles. There he runs afoul of Mert and Bert Fleagle (both played by Peter Whitney), the gun-toting twin sons of Mamie Fleagle Smithers Johnson (Marjorie Main).

As matriarch of the clan Mamie insists that Peter, to escape death at the hands of Mert or Bert, pretend to be the boyfriend of jailed Bonnie Fleagle in order to gain the confidence of her dying grandmother (Mabel Paige). Grandma Fleagle has hidden $70,000 stolen by Bonnie and her now-executed father, but refuses to divulge where to her unwanted relations for a very good reason: she tells Pete that she has been poisoned by them. Before she dies, she teaches Pete a nonsensical song which is also known to Elany Fleagle (Jean Heather), Mamie's dimwitted daughter.

The Fleagles are sure Grandma told Pete where the money is hidden and keep him captive. Then, a woman claiming to be Bonnie shows up, also looking for the loot. When she gets Pete alone for questioning, she reveals she is actually Claire Matthews (Helen Walker). Her innocent father was maliciously implicated by Bonnie's father in the bank robbery. Pete wants to escape, now that they are alone, but Claire insists on staying. If she can retrieve the money, she can exonerate her father.

The Fleagles try to poison Claire at dinner, but Pete accidentally discovers that all but one of their plates have been poisoned (the poison glows in the dark); only the dish in front of Mamie's third husband, Mr. Johnson (Porter Hall), is safe to eat. Johnson slips away, but is soon found glowing and dead.

The uneasy situation is further complicated when the real Bonnie Fleagle (Barbara Pepper) breaks out of prison and comes for her money. She makes Pete sing the song and she understands the seemingly meaningless lyrics. Pete gets away, and he deciphers the clues hidden in the words, from which Claire finds a key to the safety deposit box. Soon, all of the Fleagles, including Mr. Johnson (who had faked his death), are chasing Pete and Claire through the various secret passageways of the house. The plucky pair are able to drop each of their pursuers into a hay baling machine, from which they emerge safely.

Cast

Critical Reception

In his May 19, 1945 review, New Yorker critic Wolcott Gibbs gave the film a lukewarm review: "Though essentially a demonstration of how cleverly thirty minutes of entertainment can be stretched out into ninety minutes of tedium, just by repeating everything three times, the picture was rather better than most of its species...

"All these wayward types are looking for a $70,000 bankroll said to have been concealed around the premises by a female cousin, at the moment supposed to be doing a little stretch for armed robbery...From here on things get more complex. Grandma dies, burning out like an old electric light, and the general impression is that she has confided the secret of the treasure to Mr. MacMurray, though actually the only clue is a crap of song, stitched on a sampler and going:

Flizon horzis
Beezin Komzis
Onches nobis
Inob Keezis

"Simple as this is to the students of ‘Mairzy Doats’, it takes Mr. MacMurray quite a while to figure out that the keys everyone is (sic) looking for are hidden in a knob on a chest. In fairness, however, it must be said that most of the time the industrious Fleagles are either shooting at him, trying to feed him phosphorous, or dropping him through trap doors. As you can see, a great deal of thought has gone into “Murder He Says,” perhaps a little too much." [2]

In his August 13, 2016 retrospective, Mountain Xpress critic Ken Hanke rated it 4/5 stars, with a more positive review: "One of those movies that never becomes one of the 'great' comedies, but it's sufficiently entertaining and funny that it ought to be better known."

“Breezy, unpretentious fun about a hapless pollster who finds himself at the mercy of a family of homicidal hillbillies. This is the kind of slick fun that studios turned out with pleasing regularity in the 1940s — unassuming, but intelligently crafted nonsense meant to offer nothing more than 90 minutes of entertainment.”

“Every film book that mentions it tends to rave over it — perhaps too much — but it’s rarely revived. (Certainly Gene Wilder knows it since he copied one of its best physical gags in his 1986 old dark-house comedy Haunted Honeymoon.) The film is fast, MacMurray is an engaging lead and Marjorie Main is sheer perfection as the stinging matriarch. There’s a terrific gag with a plate of poisoned (glow-in-dark) food on a revolving table that would just about make the movie worth a look on its own. The only downside is that sure-to-stick-in-your-head song, but it’s worth it.” [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Mary Poppins</i> (film) 1964 film by Robert Stevenson

Mary Poppins is a 1964 American musical fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney, with songs written and composed by the Sherman Brothers. The screenplay is by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, based on P. L. Travers's book series Mary Poppins. The film, which combines live-action and animation, stars Julie Andrews in her feature film debut as Mary Poppins, who visits a dysfunctional family in London and employs her unique brand of lifestyle to improve the family's dynamic. Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, and Glynis Johns are featured in supporting roles. The film was shot entirely at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, using painted London background scenes.

The Our Gang personnel page is a listing of the significant cast and crew from the Our Gang short subjects film series, originally created and produced by Hal Roach which ran in movie theaters from 1922 to 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Pepper</span> American actress (1915–1969)

Barbara Pepper was an American stage, television, radio, and film actress. She is best known as the first Doris Ziffel on the sitcom Green Acres.

<i>Birth of the Beatles</i> 1979 biopic film directed by Richard Marquand

Birth of the Beatles is a 1979 American biographical film, produced by Dick Clark Productions and directed by Richard Marquand. It was shown as a TV film on ABC in the United States, and received a theatrical release in other countries. The film focuses on the early history of the Beatles. It was released nine years after the Beatles disbanded, and is the only biographical film about the band to be released while all four members were alive. Pete Best, the Beatles' original drummer, served as a technical advisor for the production.

<i>The Neanderthal Man</i> 1953 film by Ewald André Dupont

The Neanderthal Man is a 78-minute, 1953 American black-and-white science fiction film produced independently by Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen, as Global Productions Inc., from their own original screenplay.

<i>The Midnight Meat Train</i> 2008 horror film by Ryuhei Kitamura

The Midnight Meat Train is a 2008 American horror film based on Clive Barker's 1984 short story of the same name, which can be found in Volume One of Barker's collection Books of Blood. The film follows a photographer who attempts to track down a serial killer dubbed the "Subway Butcher", and discovers more than he bargained for under the city streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lurene Tuttle</span> American actress and acting coach (1907–1986)

Lurene Tuttle was an American actress and acting coach, who made the transition from vaudeville to radio, and later to films and television. Her most enduring impact was as one of network radio's more versatile actresses. Often appearing in 15 shows per week, comedies, dramas, thrillers, soap operas, and crime dramas, she became known as the "First Lady of Radio".

<i>20 Mule Team</i> 1940 film

20 Mule Team is a 1940 American western film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Marjorie Rambeau, Anne Baxter and Wallace Beery, who appears with his nephew Noah Beery Jr. The film was originally released in sepia-tone, a brown-and-white process used by the studio the previous year for the Kansas scenes in The Wizard of Oz.

<i>Just Before Dawn</i> (1946 film) 1946 film by William Castle

Just Before Dawn (1946) is the sixth Crime Doctor film produced by Columbia Pictures. It was directed by William Castle and written by Eric Taylor and Aubrey Wisberg. The film stars Warner Baxter, Adele Roberts, Mona Barrie and Martin Kosleck. It is also known as Exposed by the Crime Doctor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marjorie Weaver</span> American actress

Marjorie Weaver was an American film actress of the 1930s through the early 1950s.

<i>Murder on the Blackboard</i> 1934 film by George Archainbaud

Murder on the Blackboard is a 1934 American pre-Code mystery/comedy film starring Edna May Oliver as schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers and James Gleason as Police Inspector Oscar Piper. Together, they investigate a murder at Withers' school. It was based on the novel of the same name by Stuart Palmer. It features popular actor Bruce Cabot in one of his first post-King Kong roles, as well as Gertrude Michael, Regis Toomey, and Edgar Kennedy.

<i>Mr. Wong in Chinatown</i> 1939 film

Mr. Wong in Chinatown is a 1939 American mystery film directed by William Nigh and starring Boris Karloff as Mr. Wong.

<i>Primrose Path</i> (1940 film) 1940 film by Gregory La Cava

Primrose Path is a 1940 film about a young woman determined not to follow the profession of her mother and grandmother: prostitution. It stars Ginger Rogers and Joel McCrea. The film was an adaptation of the novel February Hill by Victoria Lincoln.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Whitney</span> American actor (1916–1972)

Peter Whitney was an American actor in film and television. Tall and heavyset, he played brutish villains in many Hollywood films in the 1940s and 1950s.

<i>The Company She Keeps</i> 1951 film by John Cromwell

The Company She Keeps is a 1951 American drama film directed by John Cromwell and starring Lizabeth Scott, Jane Greer and Dennis O'Keefe. It was produced and distributed by RKO Pictures. Cromwell's film of the previous year, Caged, also concerned a woman sent to prison. It marked Jeff Bridges' film debut.

<i>Tillie the Toiler</i> (1927 film) 1927 film by Hobart Henley

Tillie the Toiler is a 1927 American silent film comedy produced by Cosmopolitan Productions and released through Metro Goldwyn Mayer studios. It is based on Russ Westover's popular comic strip Tillie the Toiler. The film was directed by Hobart Henley and stars Marion Davies.

<i>The Lucky Stiff</i> 1949 film by Lewis R. Foster

The Lucky Stiff is a 1949 American comedy crime film directed by Lewis R. Foster, starring Dorothy Lamour, Brian Donlevy, and Claire Trevor. The film is based on the 1945 novel of the same name by Craig Rice.

<i>The Mark of Cain</i> (1947 film) 1947 British film

The Mark of Cain is a 1947 British drama film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Eric Portman, Sally Gray, Patrick Holt and Dermot Walsh. The film is based on the 1943 novel Airing in a Closed Carriage by Marjorie Bowen, which in turn was based on the true life murder trial of Florence Maybrick. It was made at Denham Studios with sets designed by the art director Alex Vetchinsky.

<i>Tess of the Storm Country</i> (1960 film) 1960 film by Paul Guilfoyle

Tess of the Storm Country is a 1960 American drama film directed by Paul Guilfoyle, written by Charles Lang and starring Diane Baker, Jack Ging, Lee Philips, Archie Duncan, Nancy Valentine and Bert Remsen. It is based on the novel with the same title by Grace Miller White and its adaptation for the stage by Rupert Hughes. The film was released on December 8, 1960 by 20th Century-Fox.

<i>Passkey to Danger</i> 1946 film by Lesley Selander

Passkey to Danger is a 1946 American film noir crime film directed by Lesley Selander and written by O'Leta Rhinehart and William Hagens. The film stars Kane Richmond, Stephanie Bachelor, Adele Mara, Gregory Gaye, Gerald Mohr and John Eldredge. It was released on May 11, 1946 by Republic Pictures.

References

  1. Bordwell p.418
  2. Gibbs, Walcott (May 19, 1945). "The Current Cinema: Flizon Horzis". The New Yorker: 47. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  3. Hanke, Ken. "Murder, He Says". Mountain Xpress. Mountain Xpress. Retrieved 29 August 2024.

Bibliography