Over My Dead Body

Milton Berle is a mystery writer. His novels are so good that even he can't figur out who dunnit. This irritates when Mary Beth Hughes. But when One of her bosses commits suicide because the other three partners have made crooked investments, Berle realizes this is the plot of one of his novels. Like the novel, he offers to be accused of murder for $15,000. This will let the partners collect insurance on the dead man and make good the losses before their books can be examined. Except Berle finds himself confounded. He doesn't know what really happened, and faces the electric chair as a result.

Berle gives a fast-talking, Bob Hope sort of performance here, except there's no lasciviousness. By about the half-way mark, the mystery side of the story overwhelms the comedy. With Reginald Denny, Wonderful Smith -- yes, there is a performer by that name -- J. Pat O'Malley, Milton Parsons, John Hamilton, and Sig Arno.