Fred MacMurray (Pete) arrives at a backwater town to carry out some market research and find out what happened to his predecessor. He is pointed in the direction of the Fleagle family and he basically never leaves their premises. The Fleagles are a murderous bunch who are after some hidden money.
The film is a comedy with plenty of slapstick. It's OK as entertainment but that's all, I'm afraid. There are some genuinely funny laugh-out-loud scenes. Two to watch out for are the Lazy-Susan episode where 7 people sit down to dinner and keep spinning the table around to avoid the plate of poison food. It's funny throughout and ends with a surprise. The second stand-out scene occurs when escaped convict Barbara Pepper (Bonnie) confronts MacMurray and mistakes him for one of her thick cousins. She quizzes him as to where the money is hidden whilst MacMurray is sitting on the real cousin who is inside the chest but whose legs are dangling over the edge making it look like they belong to MacMurray. This scene is hilarious as MacMurray tries to control the legs and throws in a bit of improvisation. I love how MacMurray keeps turning to bash the cousin on the head inside the trunk. MacMurray is good as always taking everything in his stride. Unfortunately, outside of these scenes, the film drags and certain episodes just aren't funny. You end up willing the film to finish and the final chase just drags on.
The film is a comedy with plenty of slapstick. It's OK as entertainment but that's all, I'm afraid. There are some genuinely funny laugh-out-loud scenes. Two to watch out for are the Lazy-Susan episode where 7 people sit down to dinner and keep spinning the table around to avoid the plate of poison food. It's funny throughout and ends with a surprise. The second stand-out scene occurs when escaped convict Barbara Pepper (Bonnie) confronts MacMurray and mistakes him for one of her thick cousins. She quizzes him as to where the money is hidden whilst MacMurray is sitting on the real cousin who is inside the chest but whose legs are dangling over the edge making it look like they belong to MacMurray. This scene is hilarious as MacMurray tries to control the legs and throws in a bit of improvisation. I love how MacMurray keeps turning to bash the cousin on the head inside the trunk. MacMurray is good as always taking everything in his stride. Unfortunately, outside of these scenes, the film drags and certain episodes just aren't funny. You end up willing the film to finish and the final chase just drags on.