Murder, He Says (1945)

Really Surprised!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

best movie i've ever seen.

This film was an insult to anyone's intelligence.Fred MacMurray collects statistics regarding rural areas and comes up a bunch of hillbilly murderers who are seeking a fortune buried somewhere.Helen Walker comes along and pretends to be the head gal of the clan who just broke out of jail. Turns out that she isn't Bonnie and is only there to clear her father's name. Her father was working in the bank on the night of the robbery and was accused of being part of the robbery team.Marjorie Main is the common old hag with two idiotic sons and a granddaughter who sings constantly. Main walks around with a whip and shoots a gun a lot as well. She is vile as her character is the beginning of a kinder Ma Kettle 2 years later, in 1947, and later.Bad enough, the film gets even worse with chase scenes, the real Bonnie showing up, people getting hit over the head and choked. The barn scene finale at the end becomes annoying.

"Murder, He Says," is a comedy from 1945 starring Fred MacMurray, Helen Walker, Marjorie Main, and Porter Hall.MacMurray plays Pete Marshall, a pollster who goes looking for another employee who disappeared. He soon finds himself at the mercy of a bunch of inbreds who are looking for money hidden by a relative, Bonnie Fleagle, who is in prison. The matriarch, Ma (Marjorie Main) walks around with a whip to keep everybody in line. Everybody includes twin brothers, Mert and Bert, one of whom has a crick in his neck. This leads to a funny scene later.Pete can't seem to get away from them, and they make him pretend he's Bonnie's boyfriend, hoping that grandma, whom Ma poisoned with something that makes her glow in the dark, knows where the money is. Grandma gives Pete a sampler with a song on it, and something to quote for Bonnie. Meanwhile, another relative, Elany, seems to know the song, but the words she sings are nonsensical.Things become more complicated when Bonnie (Helen Walker) escapes from prison and shows up. Except she's not Bonnie. Her father was accused of helping Bonnie Fleagle steal $70,000, and she wants to find it to clear his name. Pete is all for hightailing it out of there, but she wants to stay and find the loot. Everyone knuckles under to her until the real Bonnie (Barbara Pepper) shows up.I perhaps wasn't in the mood for this comedy, but it was very funny anyway, if a little long. The scene at the dinner table is hilarious. I just don't understand how this glow in the dark stuff was supposed to work. Anyway, the house is filled with hidden passages that everyone disappears in and appears from.Fred MacMurray was perfect for this, a normal guy caught up in complete insanity. Helen Walker, whose career would suffer so badly later on, is terrific. Marjorie Main - off the wall with that whip. Brilliant.The denouement is clever and a riot.Helen Walker gave a ride to three soldiers on New Year's Eve 1946, and had a terrible accident where one soldier was killed and the other two injured. The surviving soldiers accused her of driving drunk and speeding, and she was put on trial. She was cleared, but her career was basically over. She died at 47. In this film, she's on the verge of stardom and after "Murder, He Says," she was cast as the lead in a big film, "Heaven Only Knows," but the producers replaced her.She's very good here -- if you get a chance to catch this film on TCM, don't miss it.

Professional pollster Fred MacMurray (as Pete Marshall) arrives in the Ozarks, collecting data for a survey of rural areas. He's replacing another pollster, "Hector P. Smedley", who disappeared after encountering the murderous "Fleagle" family. Led by whip-cracking Marjorie Main (as Mamie), the hillbilly clan abducts Mr. MacMurray. They think he may know how to locate a missing $70,000. Also looking for the money is beautiful Helen Walker (posing as Bonnie), after a jail bust. She arrives with a gun, a cigar and a secret...Best part of this witty comedy is watching Peter Whitney play twins "Mert and Bert". Other than an early scene where Mr. Whitney's double keeps his back to the camera, you'd think they were real twins. The special effect, by Gordon Jennings and Paul Lerpae, is incredibly well-maneuvered. One highlight has director George Marshall coordinating the twins and MacMurray while the latter converses with an imaginary character. Another great scene occurs when MacMurray knocks Jenkins out and pretends they are one.******** Murder, He Says (6/23/45) George Marshall ~ Fred MacMurray, Helen Walker, Marjorie Main, Peter Whitney

I just saw this movie at the LaSalle Bank Cinema, a theater in Chicago where, each Saturday, a film noir movie is shown. This week's movie was Murder, He Said starring Fred Mac Murray. The audience (over 300 people) laughed out loud and were accompanied by a lady (near the front of the theater) who would react with a scream or a warning to Mac Murray whenever trouble would arrive. To say that a film over 60 years old would receive such reactions from a contemporary crowd would testify to the holding power and entertaining qualities of these old films. Mac Murray's comedic timing for the pratfall, wise crack and sarcasm was impeccable. I understand that this movie may have been intended as a vehicle for Bob Hope but Mac Murray did well. Marjorie Main with her whip, Peter Whitney as "the twins", and the beautiful Helen Walker as the heroine/love interest, were superb. Yes, I would recommend seeing this film but, as with many films, its best seen with a crowd with whom you can share in their reactions.