In 1944’s One Body Too Many, Jack Haley stars as Albert L. Tuttle. Tuttle is an insurance agent. He’s a rather mild-mannered one. In fact, people often have a hard time remembering his name. He’s called “Mr. Turtle.” He’s called “Mr. Title.” Patiently, he explains over and over again that his name is Tuttle. Looking to secure his job, Tuttle hopes to sell $200,000 in life insurance to an eccentric millionaire named Cyrus J. Rutherford.
What Tuttle doesn’t know is that Cyrus J. Rutherford has recently died. His entire greedy family and all of his servants have gathered at the Rutherford Mansion so that they can hear the reading of the will. In his will, Rutherford lays out all the reasons why he didn’t like his family or anyone who worked for him. He accuses the butler, Merkil (Bela Lugosi), of padding his expense account. He accuses his lawyer (Bernard Nedell) of always trying to take advantage of him. Rutherford writes that his last request is that his body be placed in a glass-domed vault so that the stars can forever shine down upon his face. He says that anyone who leaves the house before the glass vault is built will lose their inheritance. If the body is buried instead of in the vault, then Rutherford’s largest beneficiaries will instead become his smallest beneficiaries and vice versa. It’s a bit of an odd will, to be honest. I’m not particularly sure that it would stand up in court today, but in 1944, eccentric millionaires could pretty much do whatever they wanted. Myself, I have to applaud Rutherford for messing with everyone even after death. That takes determination.
When Tuttle shows up, the family mistakes him for a detective that has been sent to make sure that Rutherford’s body isn’t stolen before the glass dome is constructed. Tuttle, not picking up on how weird this all is, assumes that the family is just really excited about insurance. When Tuttle finds himself locked in with the dead body, he immediately demands to leave. However, since the real detective has failed to show up, Rutherford’s niece, Carol (Jean Parker), asks him to stay and guard the body. A good Tuttle appears on one of Tuttle’s shoulders while a bad Tuttle appears on the other. After listening to the debate, Tuttle decides to stay if only because Carol is attractive.
It’s going to be a long night, though. Not only does the body disappear, but it appears that there is a murderer in the house!
One Body Too Many is an amiable comedy, one that features a very 1940s mix of absurd dialogue and slapstick humor. Though Jack Haley, who is best-remembered for playing the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, is the lead and a very likable one at that, the movie is pretty much stolen by Bela Lugosi. Lugosi’s later films tend to be a mixed bag, but One Body Too Many allows Lugosi to give a good and genuinely funny performance as a butler who is far more clever than anyone realizes. Lugosi’s snarky reactions make the film, and they’re a nice reminder that Lugosi was a far more talented actor than he’s often given credit for.
