Murder, He Says (1945)

I'll tell you why so serious

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

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.

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

If the hicks were nixing styx pix when this came out, they were missing one of the funniest films of the 1940's: a comic romp that outshines the more well known "The Egg and I", of which two stars from that 1948 film appear in this.Research gatherer Fred MacMurray shows up in the hills to find a missing associate and gets involved in a hillbilly battle to find a hidden $70,000. Warned by the local townsfolk about the Fleagle family, he arrives to no great welcome. Whip-toting Ma (Marjorie Main) seems determined to have as many husbands as Ma Kettle did children, while two gun-toting twins seem to be missing their other brother, Darrel, and Grandma (Mabel Paige in a riotous cameo) truly shines. The rough-and-tough Helen Walker shows up, pretending to be a cousin who had the money hid in the first place by Granny, and all sorts of comic mayhem ensues. The farce-filled conclusion truly is something that will need the entire clan "bailed" out.Those who know this film well all try to remember the song used as a clue to locate the money, first heard over the credits, and later reprised on an organ with a reference to director George Marshall's previous hit, "The Ghost Breakers". MacMurray's city slicker proves he has what it takes to take on these rough mountain folk, whether fighting with an imaginary ghost or utilizing the family's lazy susan type dining table to prevent Walker from swallowing poison. I began singing "Round and round the table goes, where the poison stops, nobody knows", and found myself shouting all sorts of irreverent cracks in my enjoyment of this film. Barbara Pepper and Porter Hall are also along for the fun, of which there is plenty.

I'm 52, and, along with my younger sister and brother, saw this movie, when I was a kid. It remains one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, and I've seen an awful lot of movies. After seeing it the first time, and literally screaming and crying with laughter at much of it, my siblings and I would search the TV Guide as soon as the magazine arrived at our house hoping to find Murder He Says among the listings for the coming week. Once or twice a year, we would be beside ourselves with glee to find it. It was an absolute treat for us.Many of its scenes are indelibly etched in my memory: Fred MacMurray with Grandma; the scene at the large, lazy-susan dinner table, with everyone trying to move the table one way or another to get the poisoned food away from them; the scenes in the basement toward the end of the movie, and, especially, the scene when Fred MacMurray is caught in the basement coal bin by Bonnie Fleagle (unquestionably, one of the funniest scenes in movie history.It's a movie that is both frightening and extremely funny. Directed by George Marshall, who also directed several other favorites of mine: Destry Rides Again (Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich; a 1939 classic); Fancy Pants (Bob Hope) and The Mating Game (Tony Randall, Debbie Reynolds).Yes, it's improbable and, I'll grant you, silly. It is also, IMHO (in my humble opinion) a great movie. Yes, great...so there!!