Can anyone ID this movie?

[Sue Heal]

Can anyone out there help in identifying an old movie - I'm a bit hazy on
details but it was a whodunit, with a cerebrally challenged character (my
brother says male; I say female) who wandered around singing a little
ditty, which sounded incomprehensible, but turned out to be "On horse flies
is, on comb bees is, on chest knob is, in knob keys is" - the keys being
the vital clue to the whole thing.

Any assistance gratefully received.

TIA

Sue Heal

[ab...@pipeline.com]

"Sue Heal" <sh...@powerup.com.au> wrote:

>Can anyone out there help in identifying an old movie - I'm a bit hazy on
>details but it was a whodunit, with a cerebrally challenged character (my
>brother says male; I say female) who wandered around singing a little
>ditty, which sounded incomprehensible, but turned out to be "On horse flies
>is, on comb bees is, on chest knob is, in knob keys is" - the keys being
>the vital clue to the whole thing.

_________________________________________

MURDER, HE SAYS, with Fred MacMurray as a pollster who gets
involved with hillbilly Marjorie Main and her murderous
clan. As I recall, there are several characters with
diminished mental capacities but the one who floats around
singing the clue in a "Mairzy Doats" chant is an ethereal
young woman.

Abfou

[K. Harper]

Sue Heal wrote:
>
> Can anyone out there help in identifying an old movie - I'm a bit hazy on
> details but it was a whodunit, with a cerebrally challenged character (my
> brother says male; I say female) who wandered around singing a little
> ditty, which sounded incomprehensible, but turned out to be "On horse flies
> is, on comb bees is, on chest knob is, in knob keys is" - the keys being
> the vital clue to the whole thing.

That's MURDER HE SAYS (Paramount 1945) starring Fred MacMurray. The
"Latin chant" the pretty young nympho sings is:

Honors phlisis, incombisis.
Onchis nobis, inobchesis.

(National Public Radio uses the same tune to introduce "All Things
Considered" every afternoon.) MacMurray eventually figures out that the girl
is singing the words you quote above and that the key to a store of treasure is
hidden in the knob of an old chest.

This is a *very* funny film--particularly the attempted poisoning scenes with
backwoods matriarch Marjorie Main, her henpecked husband and their big,
mean twin sons. (Not to give the plot away, Granny and the resident hound
dog glow in the dark.) Watch for this one on AMC.

Kathy

Katherine Harper
Department of English
Bowling Green State University

[Robert Lipton]

In article <01bcd490$8c11fee0$a1ed8bca@sheal>, "Sue Heal" wrote:
>Can anyone out there help in identifying an old movie - I'm a bit hazy on
>details but it was a whodunit, with a cerebrally challenged character (my
>brother says male; I say female) who wandered around singing a little
>ditty, which sounded incomprehensible, but turned out to be "On horse flies
>is, on comb bees is, on chest knob is, in knob keys is" - the keys being
>the vital clue to the whole thing.
>

MURDER HE SAYS

Bob

[Man...@webtv.net]

The ethereal young woman mentioned by abfou is played very well by Jean
Heather. BTW, I can trade a copy of it, if anyone is interested.

Mandy99

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[mack twamley]

> _________________________________________
>
> MURDER, HE SAYS, with Fred MacMurray as a pollster who gets
> involved with hillbilly Marjorie Main and her murderous
> clan. As I recall, there are several characters with
> diminished mental capacities but the one who floats around
> singing the clue in a "Mairzy Doats" chant is an ethereal
> young woman.
>
> Abfou

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The actress who played the ethereal young woman was Jean Heather.