Money Madness (1948)

Just perfect...

Absolutely the worst movie.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Wow, this one is certainly a candidate for restoration.. the sound and picture quality are just terrible. Hugh Beaumont is "Steve", a crook on the run from "something"... we're not sure just what. Beaumont was the Dad on Leave it to Beaver. Steve meets up with "Julie", (Frances Rafferty) who ALSO has a past of her own. They hit it off, and that's when the trouble begins! Dick Elliot is in here as a customer in the diner... Elliot was the town mayor in Andy Griffith. Gumming up the works is Julie's elderly aunt, who sometimes fakes being ill to get attention, but sometimes really is sick. Dealing with that brings out the worst in both Julie AND Steve, so it's going to hit the fan fast! Another fun face in here is "Mrs. Ferguson"... Ida Moore. She was ALWAYS a little old lady... she had a great, tiny little part in Desk Set! (Gotta see that if you haven't already) Money Madness flows right along, no plot-holes, or glaring problems. Not many big names, which is probably why its playing on Moonlight Movies channel. Beaumont had done a bunch of war films in the 1940s, and more in the 1950s, but he's probably the biggest name in here. Directed by Sam Newfield.. he and his brother Sigmund were bigshots in "the biz", and they turned out TONS of films, starting in the silent shorts. This one is actually pretty good.

While this film has a few minor issues, it's a generally well made film noir picture and provides a wonderful opportunity to see Hugh Beaumont (the father on "Leave it to Beaver") playing a cold-blooded monster!When the film begins, Steve Clark (Beaumont) blows into a new town and gets a job as a cab driver. In one of his first fares, he has an annoying drunk sexual harasser who is out on a date with a nice girl who is refusing his advances. Julie (Frances Rafferty) is thrilled with the cab driver intervenes and he looks like a really nice guy. And, through much of the film Steve appears to be a real sweetheart. However, underneath this veneer is a real sociopath and by the time the film's over, he's terrorized sweet Julie as well as killed a couple folks...and is about to kill more!!The best thing about the film is Beaumont's performance. He is creepy and very convincing. Unfortunately, Rafferty is not very good and much of it could be the writing...as her character is too weak and a bit stupid. Plus, she believes that because she's married Steve that she cannot legally testify against him...which is NOT the case. She could not be COMPELLED to testify against him if she didn't want to...and there is also question as to whether or not they are actually married. Still, a very enjoyable film...one that I would strongly recommend to noir fans.

It's an inexpensive thriller set in Los Angeles. They must have ground them out by the droves. Yet it's not bad. I mean the script isn't bad. Poor Frances Rafferty, looking cuddly, lives with her cross and self-absorbed aunt Cora, Cecil Weston, and the script established their relational dynamics in a few minutes of introductory dialog. The crotchety old aunt is one of those people who are particularly adept at bringing pain to others, but this is no place to discuss my marriage.Ida Moore overacts as if in a vaudeville sketch but it's barely noticeable because everyone overacts except Hugh Beaumont, a taxi driver newly come to town, who hardly acts at all. Rafferty gives the closest thing to a polished performance, not just because of her physical appeal. The script does have its minor weaknesses. Rafferty and Beaumont meet by accident, have a cup of coffee, and fall in love at once, to the point at which they -- well -- they KISS at her front door! An attractive woman falls for a guy in half an hour. It happens to me all the time but to see it happen to somebody as bland as Hugh Beaumont requires not such a suspension of disbelief; it calls for wrenching off the head of disbelief and a violation of its neck cavity.At any rate, Beaumont and Rafferty are soon married. His courting has been suave. "I'm going places in the world, Julie. Want to come along?" Between Beaumont's carrot and Aunt Cora's stick, how could she resist? Beaumont is not the cheerful fellow he first appears. He is, in fact, a slimy worm. And when he moves in with Rafferty and Cecil Weston, he promptly poisons the latter. It's understandable. She has a big house.Beaumont tips Rafferty off and explains his tactic in a perfectly reasonable way. After all, Weston is old and unhappy, so what's the big deal? And Rafferty, now his wife, can't testify against him. Further, it was she who served Aunt Cora the poisoned tea. And on top of all that, Beaumont has two hundred large stuck away in a box that he can't get at because he'd have to explain where the loot came from. When she balks, he grabs her and growls threats. Beaumont is brusque when he needs to be. "Beat it. Get out of here and keep your trap shut." He's much more convincing as a maniac than as an affable taxi driver.It all seems to work out for Beaumont. Aunt Cora kicks it apace, Beaumont retrieves the loot from his previous job, stashes it in an old trunk in the attic and -- voila! The old biddy had been hiding two hundred thousand dollars all these years! Of course there will be a few months before Beaumont can lay his excremental hands on that money because the will must be probated, in case someone else has a claim against the money. Rafferty's emotions are in turmoil but she can't see a way out of her predicament.The waiting period is disturbed when one of Beaumont's old gang shows up, having tracked him down after being double-crossed during that previous job. Beaumont confronts him with a revolver, "my little friend here" while Rafferty stands aghast. The confrontation turns out to have been a mistake on the part of Beaumont's old pal, R. I. P. Beaumont forces her to help him stuff the body in the trunk of her car then orders her to drive to a drop spot. The car stalls and the police intrude. When a car has a dead body in the trunk, it is always stopped by the police for some reason or other.Actually, the tension builds quite a bit during the last half of the film until the implausible climax. Rafferty's character has been swept up in events and she's more or less helpless, and her new boyfriend, a lawyer, is a dull good guy, but Beaumont's character is given a bit of depth as the story unfolds. All things considered, it's not badly done.

Constantly underrated Hugh Beaumont puts in a memorable performance as a chilling sociopathic murderer. Soon after he arrives in a small town carrying the proceeds of a recent bank robbery, he finds a vulnerable young woman (Frances Rafferty) and charms her into marriage. He quickly embarks on his nefarious schemes to better himself by arranging for the girl to inherit her Aunt's house and estate by killing the old lady. He continues to terrify and control the girl until she is entirely caught up in his web of murder and deceit and her own character becomes irredeemably compromised as an accessory to his crimes. Beaumont is outstanding and truly menacing as the killer, but he was equally adept at playing the playful and flirtatious, wisecracking hero as in his Mike Shayne films. There is a very natural delivery to his acting which always makes him believable...he seems to embody his roles so effortlessly that it hardly seems he is acting. This is a rare talent that few performers in films have had. For some reason, he never got to be A-list but his talent certainly deserved more recognition. Recommended.