The Missing Corpse (1945)

Director:

Albert Herman

Writers:

Raymond L. Schrock (screenplay), Harry O. Hoyt (story)

Stars:

J. Edward Bromberg, Isabel Randolph, Frank Jenks

Cast

Complete credited cast:
J. Edward Bromberg	...	Henry Kruger
Isabel Randolph	...	Alice Kruger
Frank Jenks	...	Mack Hogan
Eric Sinclair	...	James Kruger
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Andy McDonald
Ben Welden	...	'Slippery Joe' Clary
Charles Coleman	...	Egbert
Eddy Waller	...	Desmond

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

gin rummy | farce | butler | murder | newspaper publisher | 

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Taglines:

The Body Was A.W.O.L.... and a House Party was on the loose!

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Genres:

Comedy | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 June 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stranger in the Family

Company Credits

Production Co:

Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Home, Sweet Home"
Music by Sir Henry Bishop (aka H.R. Bishop)
Played under the opening and closing credits

User Reviews

Pleasingly Done Example Of A "B" Film Hybrid.

PRC produces an enjoyable item here with little funding, a comedic melodrama that successfully incorporates both verbal and visual humour, along with a dollop of suspense, in creating a picture notable for its rare featured performance by veteran supporting actor J. Edward Bromberg, skillful direction, and especially effective scoring, in addition to a clever scenario that benefits from perfect pacing to smoothly advance the action. A whimsical plot requires that scripting, acting, and editing combine equally to avoid mere giddiness, and that is the case here, with Bromberg cast as Henry Kruger, an ethical newspaper publisher who threatens Andy McDonald, his counterpart upon a rival big city (Los Angeles) tabloid, with physical harm after McDonald splashes a nightclub escapade involving Kruger's daughter upon his journal's front page. After the blackmailing McDonald is murdered by one of his victims, his corpse is chased from the unsuspecting Kruger's automobile trunk to a series of makeshift hiding places, with humorous perplexity resulting from Kruger's attempts to avoid being implicated in the homicide. Director Albert Herman, for his final feature film commission, ably leads his actors in the briskly gaited affair, and manages in fine fashion to balance comedy with sequences of suspense, aided throughout by a splendid score contributed by classically trained Karl Hajos, who adds pages to his prior work from studio stock, seamlessly blending the total into the narrative. Acting is of variable merit, with Frank Jenks winning the Thespic laurels in the role of Kruger's chauffeur and companion, a typically sharply defined performance from him, capitalizing upon his impeccable sense of timing.