''Scared Stiff'' (also known as ''Treasure of Fear'' (American television title) and ''You'll Be The Death Of Me Yet'') is a 1945 American comedic murder mystery directed by Frank McDonald for Pine-Thomas Productions and released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. The film stars

Jack Haley John Joseph Haley Jr. (August 10, 1897 – June 6, 1979) was an American actor, comedian, dancer, radio host, singer and vaudevillian. He was best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man and his farmhand counterpart Hickory in the 1939 Metro-G ...

, Ann Savage and

Barton MacLane Barton MacLane (December 25, 1902 – January 1, 1969) was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He appeared in many classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s, including his role as General Martin Peterson on the 1960s NBC ...

Plot

At his uncle's newspaper where Larry Elliot (

) works as a reporter specializing in chess, he is known to miss out on bigger stories to cover more trivial events of minor interest. Confronted with an ultimatum if he wants to keep his job, Larry is assigned to cover a big harvest festival held at a winery in Grape City. Larry begins with getting off the bus at the wrong stop, Grape Center instead of Grape City. He has brought along his girlfriend Sally Warren ( Ann Savage), who deals in antiques. Accidents rarely come alone, and the man sitting next to Larry on the bus is found murdered, holding a chess piece in his hand when the police find him. Of course Larry, who is a chess expert, is blamed for the killing. All the bus passengers are held in custody at Grape Center awaiting the sheriff to start the murder investigation. Before he arrives, Sally finds a set of antique chess pieces she wants to acquire, and involves Larry in her quest to buy them. The set is said to have been the property of

Kublai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...

in the 13th century, and brought to the West by

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

. Unfortunately, the set is divided between Charles and Preston Waldeck (

Lucien Littlefield Lucien Littlefield (August 16, 1895 – June 4, 1960) was an American actor who achieved a long career from silent films to the television era. He was noted for his versatility, playing a wide range of roles and already portraying old men befor ...

), twins owning the winery, who have not spoken to each other in 10 years. Sally manages to acquire the white set pieces from Preston. When Larry is about to get the black pieces from Charles, both he and Charles are knocked out by an unknown attacker, who also steals the black set pieces. The sheriff arrives, and starts conducting his investigation. The prime suspect is convicted murderer Deacon Markham (

), who first sold the antique chess set to the Waldeck brothers, after stealing it from its rightful owner. The theory is that Markham now wants the set back to sell it back to the first owner and get the money he needs to escape the country. Markham reveals himself when holding Larry at gunpoint in his hotel room to get the white pieces from the set. Markham and his accomplice Mink (

George E. Stone George E. Stone (born Gerschon Lichtenstein; May 18, 1903 – May 26, 1967) was a Polish-born American character actor in films, radio, and television. Life and career Stone was born Gerschon Lichtenstein in Łódź, Congress Poland, into ...

) hide when Sally enters the room, telling Larry she hid the pieces in his room. Soon after, another guest, Flo Rosson (

Veda Ann Borg Veda Ann Borg (January 11, 1915 – August 16, 1973) was an American film and television actress. Early years Born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Gottfried Borg, a Swedish immigrant, and Minna Noble, Borg became a model in 1936 before winni ...

), also enters the room and reveals that she is an insurance agent tracking Markham's gang to retrieve the chess set. She also reveals that the man killed on the bus was part of this gang of thieves. Also at the inn is Preston's grandson, Oliver Waldeck (

Buddy Swan Paul "Buddy" Swan (October 24, 1929 – March 21, 1993) (also credited as Buddy Swann) was an American child actor, best known for playing the title character of the 1941 film '' Citizen Kane'' as an eight-year-old boy. He also appeared in t ...

), a precocious boy genius, and his mentor, Professor Wisner (

Robert Emmett Keane Robert Emmett Keane (March 4, 1883 – July 2, 1981) was an American actor of both the stage and screen. Biography Keane began on stage in the 1910s, his first Broadway appearance being in the production of '' The Passing Show of 1914''. He co ...

). Oliver frightens Larry with scary antics, including a pronouncement that the corpse's head was chopped off, placing a cabbage adorned by a toupee in Larry's room. Oliver throws a smoke bomb into the room, and everyone is forced out into the corridor. In the ensuing commotion, the white pieces are stolen. Snooping about the winery, Larry manages to find the black set, but is knocked unconscious in the wine cellar. When she finds the other part of the set, Sally is also knocked out by Oliver's tutor, Professor Wisner. Larry wakes up, unties himself and goes after the killer, who turns out to be Professor Wisner, and ultimately finds the dead body. After Sally has found the complete set, the insurance adjuster Flo offers her a $1,000 reward for retrieving it. Larry phones his editor, explaining the events at Grape Center and how he caught the murderer. He then asks his editor if he should continue to the festival at Grape City or come back and get fired.

Cast

as Larry Elliot * Ann Savage as Sally Warren *

as George "Deacon" Markham *

as Flo Rosson *

Roger Pryor Roger Atkinson Pryor (July 19, 1828 – March 14, 1919) was a Virginian newspaper editor and politician who became known for his fiery oratory in favor of secession; he was elected both to national and Confederate office, and served as a gen ...

as Richardson *

as Mink *

as Prof. Wisner *

as Charles Waldeck / Preston Waldeck *

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, b ...

as Sheriff *

Arthur Aylesworth Arthur Preston Aylesworth (August 12, 1883 – June 26, 1946) was an American stage and film actor. Early years Aylesworth was born in Apponaug, Rhode Island, to a military family; his father and his grandfather graduated from the United ...

as Emerson Cooke *

Eily Malyon Eily Malyon (born Eily Sophie Lees-Craston; 30 October 1879 – 26 September 1961) was an English character actress from about 1900 to the 1940s. She had a stage career in Britain, Australia and America before moving to Hollywood to perfo ...

as Mrs. Cooke *

as Oliver Waldeck

Production

Principal photography under the working title of ''You'll Be the Death of Me Yet'' on the production began in early November 1944.

had been signed to a multi-picture contract with Pine-Thomas in 1944. Pine-Thomas were so pleased with Ann Savage that they signed her to a three-film contract.

Reception

As with other Pine-Thomas Productions, ''Scared Stiff'' was released as a

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

with low production values. Ann Savage's biographers Lisa Morton and Kent Adamson relegated ''Scared Stiff'' to merely "lackluster" and "forgettable". The production team of William H. Pine and William C. Thomas, known in the industry as the "Two Dollar Bills", reissued the film as ''Treasure of Fear'', as part of a package of 30 of their films for television in 1955. By that time Paramount had used the title ''Scared Stiff'' for the

Martin and Lewis Martin and Lewis were an American comedy duo, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis. They met in 1945 and debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 25, 1946; the team lasted ten years to the day. Before they teamed up, Martin w ...

1953 film of the same title. Due to copyright problems, ''Scared Stiff'' fell into

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

; recently it was released in Mill Creek's Fabulous Forties box set.Bowman, Lisa Marie
"The Fabulous Forties #13: Scared Stiff."
''Though the Shattered Lens'', April 13, 2016. Retrieved: May 19, 2016.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Morton, Lisa and Kent Adamson. ''Savage Detours: The Life and Work of Ann Savage''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009. .

External links

* * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Scared Stiff 1945 films 1940s comedy mystery films 1940s crime comedy films American crime comedy films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films Films directed by Frank McDonald American comedy mystery films 1945 comedy films Paramount Pictures films 1940s American films