FORMAT: DVD
Jack Haley (from One Body Too Many and… uh… The Wizard of Oz) stars as a bumbling reporter who is sent by his asshole editor to cover a wine festival. Naturally, since he’s such a putz, he winds up on the wrong bus. When the passenger sitting next to him is murdered, Haley quickly becomes the prime suspect. Before long, a gangster arrives on the scene looking for some priceless chess pieces, and it’s up to Haley to come back to his editor with a story… if he can survive, that is.
I’ll tell you. A little of Haley’s shtick goes a long way. His jittery demeanor and twitchy behavior don’t exactly translate into laughs. (The scene where he engages in a battle of wits with a car horn and loses is especially tiresome.) I guess when you’re covered in silver face paint and playing third fiddle to Judy Garland, this kind of routine can be tolerable. However, as a leading man, he’s borderline insufferable. (The irritating know-it-all Encyclopedia Brown wannabe junior detective kid will also grate on your nerves.)
I was able to stomach Haley’s brand of comedy while rewatching One Body Too Many. That’s mostly because that film was deeply rooted in Old Dark House murder/mystery cliches, and I have a certain affinity for the genre. Here, he’s stuck inside what is essentially a tepid whodunit comedy, and he flounders. Badly. (Even the requisite scenes of secret walls, hidden passageways, and bodies suddenly turning up feel awfully tired.)
I guess die-hard Wizard of Oz fans may enjoy it. For me, this Tin Man wasn’t just missing a heart, but he apparently lost his funny bone as well. As for Treasure of Fear, it was in desperate need of an oil can too, as it was creaky as fuck.
AKA: Scared Stiff.
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