ksf-2 The TIN MAN.. Jack Haley with his Massachusetts accent is the big name in this one from Paramount, 1945. It's listed on Moonlight Movie Channel as "Scared Stiff", but the opening title card says "Treasure of Fear". Haley is Larry Elliot, the bumbling reporter that keeps making bad decisions in his reporter's stories. Haley should have demanded a re-write of the script... this was a couple years AFTER wizard of oz, so clearly he had star-power from that. Co-stars Ann Savage. This story is all over the place. and the bad guys keep saying "that's the dame, See? and give us the loot, See? i guess humphrey bogart started that. or maybe Ed Robinson. skip this one. It's a no -go. yecch. directed by Frank McDonald, who seems to have appeared about the same time as talkies did in hollywood. Pass on this one.

blanche-2 I just saw a horrible print of Paramount's "Treasure of Fear" or "Scared Stiff" from 1945 starring Jack Haley, Barton Maclane, Ann Savage, and Veta Ann Borg.This is a comedic murder mystery about a rotten reporter who normally covers chess, Larry (Jack Haley) who is supposed to go to Grape City and report on a beauty contest. Instead, he gets off at Grape Center and becomes involved in a murder -- since the person murdered was the man sitting next to him on the bus. Of course he's a suspect. He and some other bus passengers are staying at a tavern run by twin brothers who haven't spoken to one another for ten years. The two women who are there - one whom he knows from an antique store in his town - are there for a valuable chess set kept at the hotel by the twins. One has the white set and the other the black. Barton MacLane is an escaped convict the police are searching for. Like someone else whose review I read here, I couldn't believe Ann Savage's performance as a sweet, dulcet voiced, helpful woman. I mean she spit nails in Detour. WHAT an actress, and what a shame she retired early to move away with her husband. She came back much later, after his death, to receive raves all over again.And of course what's a B movie without Veda Ann Borg. She does her usual good job as an aggressive, man-hungry woman.As for Jack Haley, it seems no one liked him in this movie. I thought he was funny and played the dizzy character well. I wasn't annoyed by him at all.Not a great film, but if you're a fan of Ann Savage and haven't seen this incarnation of her, see this. A wonderful talent.

gridoon2018 Laughs....chills....howls....thrills! Or at least that's what the tagline promises. But you won't find too many of any of the above in "Scared Stiff". The setup is not unpromising (a murder in a bus as it's passing through a tunnel), but when the action settles down in a tavern / inn, the film becomes static: it is always a bad sign when an one-hour running time feels more like three. It's much more of a comedy than a mystery, but there are only two moderately funny sequences: one with a car that keeps honking when Haley approaches it, and one with several people coming in Haley's room and then hiding as other people, who must not see them there, keep coming. The DVD print of the Alpha version is in pretty poor shape, but I suppose we should be thankful that some of these obscure B-movies are available at all. ** out of 4.

MartinHafer Jack Haley stars as a bumbling reporter who has a chess column in the paper. However smart he is when it comes to this game, he's a rather absent-minded and oblivious writer--missing important non-chess stories that occur all around him. The newspaper owner is at his wits end and offers Haley one final chance--or he's fired. It seems all the REAL reporters are off investigating a sensational prison escape, so they have to have Haley report on a grape festival. But, when he gets on the wrong bus, he's pulled into another unexpected story, as the guy next to him is stabbed to death during this trip! And, naturally, they suspect Haley of this crime. Haley is torn between trying to sneak out of town to get to the festival and trying to solve the murder to get the police off him.This film is a comedy-mystery film and it tries very hard to be goofy--with middling results. Sometimes, it's cute and clever and sometimes it comes off as very forced--such as including the ridiculous child prodigy character. This kid is 100% unrealistic and just plain annoying--even though the writer clearly intended the kid to be comic relief. The only relief I might have felt was if HE had been the murder victim! And, as the film progressed, I kept hoping he'd be next! Fortunately, he's not in the movie all that much--otherwise I might have bailed on this movie before it concluded. What I did like was Haley and his pleasant performance. And, for a B-mystery film, this is pretty good for the most part. While not a great film, it's an agreeable film...plus the brat gets it in the end!