The Busy Body (1967)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

William Castle

Writers:

Ben Starr (screenplay)
Donald E. Westlake (novel)

Release Date:

12 March 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A Joyous Comedy of Peril!

Plot:

Sid Caesar stars as the bumbling right hand man of mob boss Robert Ryan who is sent to find a corpse buried in a suit lined with stolen mob money.

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film | Based On Novel

Cast

Sid Caesar	...	George Norton
Robert Ryan	...	Charley Barker
Anne Baxter	...	Margo Foster Kane
Kay Medford	...	Ma Norton
Jan Murray	...	Murray Foster
Richard Pryor	...	Whittaker
Arlene Golonka	...	Bobbi Brody
Charles McGraw	...	Fred Harwell
Ben Blue	...	Felix Rose
Dom DeLuise	...	Kurt Brock
Bill Dana	...	Archie Brody
Godfrey Cambridge	...	Mike
Marty Ingels	...	Willie
George Jessel	...	Mr. Fessel
Mickey Deems	...	Cop #1

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

William Castle Productions

Trivia:

Richard Pryor's first film.

Soundtrack:

Out of Nowhere

Borscht Belt Hoods and Mr. Ryan

This is definitely not the greatest film comedy, but it has it's moments.

The plot has to do with mob boss Ryan's discovery of a large scale theft of cash that seemed about to be uncovered by his mob's bookkeeper, Bill Dana. Dana is killed in front of Ryan and his right hand gopher Sid Caesar while barbecuing (somebody tampered with the oil used on the barbecue grill). When the discovery is made, Ryan zeroes in on Caesar as the thief, and probable murderer of Dana. Caesar spends the film trying to 1) keep out of the hands of Ryan and his goons (Godfrey Cambridge and Marty Ingalls), 2) keep out of the hands of the police (Richard Pryor), 3) keep his meddlesome mother out of his hair (Kay Medford), 4) solve the mystery of the death of Dana and his disappearing corpse, 5) find out who, exactly, is trying to frame him, and 6) looking after Dana's newly made widow (Arlene Golonka) who is looking very appealing to Caesar.

Actually the plot fits pretty well, but it is a so-so plot for all that. I think by the time the film is half-way through you will realize who the framer is. But it is the little shticks by borscht belt comics, Caesar, Jan Murray, Cambridge (with Ingalls), Dana (briefly), and with long time comedian Ben Blue and recent arrivals Richard Pryor and Dom DeLuis, that should hold one's attention. Blue is the perennial nervous nelly, a witness against Caesar who is confronted by him (not threatened by him, mind you, but confronted) and keeps collapsing in fear of being tortured. As mentioned in another comment on this thread, a woman tries to vamp a dummy that Caesar has left at a bus stop. You have to understand that Caesar introduced her to the dummy as his friend , Matthias Kreplach, who was rich. The woman leaves in a huff when Matthias just won't respond to her chatter - he just sits there like a dummy.

I may add that while that scene is good, my favorite moment is the last scene involving Jan Murray and Anne Baxter as a larcenous husband and wife. He gets a final rise out of her that George Sanders did not achieve in ALL ABOUT EVE.