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Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The first must-see film of the year.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

****SPOILERS**** With the criminally insane John Channing, Milton Parson, escaping from the state mental asylum he makes it to his sister Lorinda's,Cecil Cunningham,family mansion where she's, who in fact planned John's escape, awaiting him. It's there that John is given the job of the family butler as Lorinda's mostly greedy and unscrupulous relatives are to arrive there to be read by family lawyer Peter Thorne, Craig Stevens,her last will & testament. Unknown to everyone involved -except Lorinda-she's got a number of surprises for them that in the end will give them exactly what's coming to them and it isn't her money as well as her stock and bond certificates. She leaves a number of clues for them to find her hidden fortune to trick them instead in doing doing themselves in.By tricking her family members into thinking that she suddenly died of heart failure Lorinda gets to know their true motives in being there and has them off themselves in their greed to screw each other out of their inheritance. Even the greedy and sleazy former Japanese butler, until John took his place, Mallo played by Chinese Kam Tong who ends up getting it up the creek, as a going away present, when he tried to jump the gun in getting the clue where Lorinda's hidden cash was located. In fact the only one who Lorinda planned to leave her fortune to was her good friend Mary Winfield, Elisabeth Fraser, actually didn't want a penny of it but was targeted by the rest of the family members to be murdered so that they instead could end up getting it.***SPOILERS**** As it turned out the sleaziest of the bunch was the one Lorinda entrusted to bring her back to life after her fake fatal heart attack Dr. Lawrence Channing, Frank Wilcox. It was Dr. Channing who let her die, or so he thought, by not administrating the antidote to bring Lorinda back to life. He ended up getting it the worst of all by having to face justice instead getting a quick exit like most of the other members of the cast or Channing family. As for Lorinda her plan soon backfired in trying to keep Mary from dropping down through the trap door she set for everyone else and instead unknowingly ended up taking her place. P.S Check out the hilariously funny Willie Best as the family chauffeur Eustace who unlike most of those in the film had something to hang on to when the trap door was sprung on him!

I think that in the past six months alone, I have watched at least 6 films and reviewed them that had the often told plot line of a family gathering where an aging relative expresses their displeasure over their family's greed and ends up being murdered for their honesty. In this film's storyline, there's a bit of an "Arsenic and Old Lace" twist with the presence of a crazy uncle (Milton Parsons) posing as the butler, never seen by his greedy nephews and their money-grubbing wives. Matriarch Cecil Cunningham (in one of her hammiest performances) plots to have herself put into a death-like trance to test them after she announces that her devoted secretary (Elizabeth Fraser) will inherit the majority of her estate. But a greedy doctor is ultimately tested and Cunningham is indeed buried alive inside the family crypt. Twists and turns in this plot line make it a fun programmer with a short running time and amusing dialog. Comical black actor Willie Best provides some of the film's funniest moments as a devoted servant, while psychotic Parsons' eyes alone also deliver both chills and chuckles. This may not be no "Old Dark House" in the realm of Hollywood classics, but for a plot that has been repeated probably 50-100 times, what results is a far cry better than most in this genre.

This is no "Halloween", but I really enjoyed this movie..not for the scares, but for the laughs. It was a great way to pass a couple of hours on a lazy Sunday afternoon in the middle of winter. Willie Best was really entertaining. The other characters did just enough and although it was very campy by today's standards, I can't fault any of them. At the end when the policemen all left the house satisfied that they had solved the crime (but left all the bodies in the hidden basement well), I laughed right out loud. I found this movie on the Turner Classic movie channel, where I watch most of the black and white movies I enjoy. If you just look at it as pure entertainment, you'd be sure to enjoy it.

Milton Parsons was a great character actor of the 1940's, and appeared in many films, especially the Charlie Chan series.This film is probably his BIGGEST role; altho, for some odd reason he is billed 8th (He's one of the top 3 characters).He plays an escaped maniac from a mental institution, who helps his not-so-sane-either sister kill off the greedy members of their family, who want the "hidden treasure".An excellent film, with many plot twists, secret panels, and great scared-reaction comedy by Willie Best.