THE MISSING CORPSE
US, 1945, 62 minutes, Black-and-white.
J. Edward Bromberg, Frank Jenks, Isabel Randolph, Eric Sinclair, Paul Guilfoyle.
Directed by Albert Herman.
This is a small supporting feature offering a few moments of light entertainment.
J. Edward Bromberg plays a somewhat pompous newspaper proprietor, living very comfortably, but finding at his breakfast table that everything is delivered first to his somewhat insufferable wife in bed, then to his daughter was out on the town, then to his son who has a hangover after a fraternity bash. And his servant has the touch of criticism.
He challenges a rival newspaper proprietor when he sees his daughter set up in a compromising photo on the front page. There is no love lost between the proprietors, especially when an associate of the tabloid proprietor who has just got out of jail appears and there is discussion about how he was set up and his confession used against him. The ex-convict angrily shoots the proprietor – but the staff have heard our hero threaten him. He Goes home and decides to disappear for a holiday, going hunting with his associate, Mack (Frank Jenks) and a whole lot of compromising situations are set up – paying off the local storekeeper to keep his presence quiet, buying lime to get rid of garbage, the discussion about guns, his leaving his newspaper staff to manage and not telling anybody where he was going.
He then discovers that the criminal has put the dead body in the boot of his car – which leads to him speeding away to attempt to get rid of the body but being chased by the local policeman. Very humorous situations arose with the missing corpse which is continually being moved by Mack to avoid discovery, in a box in the home their local friend, under beds, in cupboards…
And, the word gets around, the family arrives with the servant, everybody wanting to stand by the proprietor but thinking that he is guilty. Even his son is willing to take the responsibility.
Eventually, the criminal himself has followed, taking the proprietor’s car, looking for the body so that he can find the confession and destroy it.
And, everything sorted out, and happy ending where “there’s no place like home� and the breakfast routine continues with everybody neglecting the proprietor!
