Whistling in the Dark

A cult leader who fleeces his members out of their money upon their deaths is set to inherit 1 million dollars from a recently deceased member when he finds out her only surviving relative is all that stands in the way. Desperate for a way to collect the money, he decides to kidnap The Fox, a radio personality whose crime program involves ingenious crime plots and their eventual unraveling. The leader tells The Fox to devise the perfect murder to bump off the heir, and that he'll be released after the deed is carried out. When he refuses, his girlfriend and the sponsor's daughter are kidnapped as well putting him in a position where he must concoct the murder, prevent it from being carried out, and escape with girls before they are inevitably murdered. "Whistling in the Dark" was the first starring role for Red Skelton and its the first movie that I have seen him in as well. I found his style of comedy to be extremely funny and his wisecracking style and brand of physical comedy can be seen in generations of comics down the line from Mel Brooks to Woody Allen to Steve Martin to Jim Carrey. The movie itself is kind of brilliant as well and the climax (spoilers) where Skelton and the girls try to warn the intended victim who's on an airplane by way of their radio program, which they pretend is an act, is pretty incredible and highly entertaining. Casablanca's Conrad Veidt also makes a very sinister and very amusing villain. "Whistling in the Dark" achieves something extremely difficult in taking a silly, zany plot and crafting an entertaining and very funny film.