Themes: Perfect Crime, Hide the Dead Body, Blackmail
Main Cast: Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds, Carl Reiner, John McGiver, Mabel Albertson
Release Year: 1959
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Any murder mystery featuring a pigeon named Herman can be trusted to offer more mirth than mayhem and that is the case with this upbeat film by director George Marshall. Glenn Ford stars as Elliott Nash, a television playwright married to Nell (Debbie Reynolds), a successful Broadway thespian. Nell had an ignominious moment in her past when she posed for some photos best left in obscurity and now Elliott is being blackmailed by the owner of the photos. Elliot's solution is to carry out a carefully executed murder and then bury the body underneath a gazebo being constructed in the backyard. Although the dastardly deed goes off without a hitch, the body of the blackmailer turns up elsewhere, leaving Elliott to track down who it was he buried under the gazebo. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
A nice little black comedy that loses a few points for cheating, The Gazebo is nonetheless a delightful way to wile away a couple of hours. George Wells' adaptation of the Broadway play is breezy and bright, even when the subject matter is veering off into the darker edges. More importantly, it's impeccably structured, an absolute necessity in a murder mystery-slash-comedy such as this. As hinted above, Gazebo does have a failing -- it raises a moral dilemma involving a man who decides to murder the man who is blackmailing him, and then tries to duck this very issue by fudging the man's direct involvement in that murder. It's a cheat, but it would have been easier to take if the groundwork had been laid out for it earlier, or if the creators had taken a whole different approach in tone and substance. However, Gazebo is so much fun along the way that most will be relieved rather than annoyed at this flaw. There's no faulting the cast, with Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds in top form and Carl Reiner even better. Throw in the always reliable Mabel Albertson and John McGiver, and a very young Martin Landau, and the result is a very fine romp indeed. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
George W. Davis - Art Director, Paul Groesse - Art Director, Alex Romero - Choreography, Helen Rose - Costume Designer, Erich Von Stroheim, Jr. - First Assistant Director, George Marshall - Director, Adrienne Fazan - Editor, Walton Farrar - Composer (Music Score), Walter Kent - Composer (Music Score), Jeff Alexander - Composer (Music Score), William J. Tuttle - Makeup, Paul Vogel - Cinematographer, Lawrence Weingarten - Producer, Henry W. Grace - Set Designer, Robert Priestley - Set Designer, Robert R. Hoag - Special Effects, George Wells - Screenwriter, Alec Coppel - Play Author, Alec Coppel - Short Story Author, Myra Coppe - Short Story Author
Television writer and director Elliott Nash (Glenn Ford) is being blackmailed by Dan Shelby over nude photographs of his wife Nell (Debbie Reynolds), taken when she was eighteen years old. Elliott does not inform Nell, the star of a Broadway musical, what is going on, but works feverishly to make enough money to pay off the ever-increasing demands.
Finally, Elliott decides that murder is the only way out. He makes preparations, incorporating some advice from a friend, District Attorney Harlow Edison (Carl Reiner). When the blackmailer shows up at the Nashs' suburban home as arranged to collect his latest payment, Elliott shoots him, then hides the body in the cement foundation being poured for the antique gazebo his wife has bought. He has to keep Sam Thorpe (John McGiver), the contractor hired to install the structure, and Miss Chandler (Mabel Albertson), the real estate agent trying to sell the Nashs' house, from stumbling across his scheme.
Then, Harlow brings news that Shelby has been shot and killed ... in his hotel room, leaving Elliott wondering who he murdered. Nell's name is on a list of blackmail victims belonging to Shelby, so both she and Elliott are suspects. (As it turns out, Shelby approached Nell first, but was rejected; the publicity would have greatly boosted the musical's audience.) They are cleared when the murder weapon is found to belong to Joe the Black, an associate of Shelby's. It is clear to Lieutenant Jenkins (Bert Freed) that Joe decided not to split the money. Elliott is relieved to discover his victim was a criminal.
However, there were two others in the gang. The Duke (Martin Landau) and Louis the Louse (Dick Wessel) kidnap Nell and take her to her home. They followed Joe the Black to the Nash house, and know he did not come out. They want the briefcase (containing $100,000) he was planning to disappear with. They eventually figure out that the body is in the gazebo's foundation, now crumbling due to unexpected rain. They find the briefcase and leave. When Elliott gets home, he unties his wife and confesses what he has done.
While they are trying to figure out what to do next, Lieutenant Jenkins shows up with his prisoners, the Duke and Louis. From what they have told him, Jenkins is sure that Elliott is a murderer. Just as Elliott is about to confess, he sees that the bullet he fired missed Joe and ended up lodged in a book. A doctor confirms that Joe actually died of a preexisting heart problem, and Elliott's pet pigeon Herman flies off with the bullet, so there is no evidence to tie him to the death.
