Main Cast: Joe E. Brown, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone
Release Year: 1964
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
Plot
On the verge of bankruptcy, undertaker Vincent Price hits upon a novel method of drumming up business. Together with his cringing assistant Peter Lorre, Price sneaks into the homes of wealthy old men under cover of night and smothers the sleeping occupants to death--then collects a hefty commission when the victims' relatives come calling. At home, Price is continually frustrated in his efforts to poison his senile father-in-law Boris Karloff, who owns the undertaking business. Meanwhile, Price's neglected wife Barbara Nichols takes quite a shine to the shy Lorre. The homicidal undertaker's best-laid schemes go terribly agley when his latest "customer," wealthy Basil Rathbone, doggedly refuses to stay dead. Joe E. Brown has a cameo as a cockney graveyard attendant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Set sometime in the mid to late nineteenth century in New England, the film tells of drunkard Trumbull (Price), an unscrupulous undertaker who murders people in their own homes in order to keep himself in business and to have enough money for more drink.
One night, after one failed attempt when the widow of his victim leaves without paying his fee, Trumbull and his lowly servant Gillie (Lorre) decide to murder their landlord, Mr. Black (Rathbone), who is said to have bouts of death-like sleep, which Trumbull and Gillie are unaware of.
Black seemingly dies of a heart attack from being frightened by Gillie, and Trumbull places the supposedly-deceased Black in his family crypt and returns home to celebrate his new-found wealth. However, Black awakes and returns to the funeral parlour, quoting random lines from Shakespeare's Macbeth, which he was reciting from a script at the time of his heart attack. Humorous events follow as Black chases Trumbull and Gillie around the parlour before (finally) being killed after a lengthy monologue.
Gillie elopes with Trumbull's abused wife, who he has taken a shining for, and Trumbull is left a depressed heap on the floor. His father-in-law (Karloff) appears after only a few short appearances throughout the film, and gives Trumbull some "medicine" (which is actually poison) that Trumbull was attempting to feed him throughout the film. The medicine works as intended, and Trumbull drops dead as Karloff makes his way back to bed, oblivious to any unusual happenings.
It's worth noting that Black once again sniffs with an allergic reaction to Cleopatra, the cat, at the end of the movie, once again proving quite how indestructable he is.
Tout Ça ne Vaut pas l'Amour (1931) ·Pour Être Aimé (1933) ·Les Filles de la Concierge (1934) ·Romance of Radium (1937) ·The Man in the Barn (1937) ·They All Come Out (1939) ·Nick Carter, Master Detective (1939)
