You'll Find Out (1940)

A bandleader (Kay Kyser) and his orchestra are hired to play at the 21st birthday party of an heiress. The festivities turn deadly, however, when an attempt is made on her life. Directed by David Butler (CALAMITY JANE), this movie should be a lot more fun than it is. I'm a sucker for those "old creepy mansions with secret passages on a dark and stormy night as a killer stalks the house guests" horror comedies but this is no CAT AND THE CANARY or GHOST BREAKERS and, alas, no Bob Hope or Abbott & Costello. Instead, we're stuck with the weird Kay Kyser and the unfunny Ish Kabibble, who apparently were the cat's meow to 1940 audiences but their brand of comedic hi-jinks hasn't traveled well. I only laughed once when a dog with a stick of lit dynamite in his mouth ran around chasing everybody. The film does have an ace up its sleeve, however, a trifecta of villains played by Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Bela Lugosi. Unfortunately, none of them are at their best and, in fact, Karloff and Lugosi are wasted while Lorre has a few good moments. With Dennis O'Keefe, Ginny Simms, Harry Babbitt and Alma Kruger.