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Money Madness
Money Madness
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sam Newfield
Screenplay by	Al Martin
Story by	Al Martin
Produced by	Sigmund Neufeld
Starring	Hugh Beaumont; Frances Rafferty
Cinematography	Jack Greenhalgh
Edited by	Holbrook N. Todd
Music by	Leo Erdody
Production; company	Sigmund Neufeld Productions
Distributed by	Film Classics
Release date	April 15, 1948 (United States);
Running time	73 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Money Madness is a 1948 film noir mystery film directed by Sam Newfield starring Hugh Beaumont and Frances Rafferty.^[1]

Plot

Steve Clark (Hugh Beaumont) is on a Los Angeles-bound bus and gets off in a small town en route. In his suitcase he has been carrying loot from a bank robbery; he stashes it in a safety deposit box. He becomes a taxi driver, which leads him to a chance encounter with Julie Saunders (Frances Rafferty), a local woman in her 20s. Julie lives with an elderly, bitter aunt who makes her life miserable. Clark, with his charm and original outlook on life, instantly becomes a ray of sunlight for her, and they quickly marry.

However, Clark soon admits to her that the marriage is part of a plan he has crafted, to help him launder his ill-gotten cash—but it also involves murder and will make Julie an accessory to it, against her will.

Cast

Hugh Beaumont as Steve Clark
Frances Rafferty as Julie
Harlan Warde as Donald
Cecil Weston as Cora
Ida Moore as Mrs. Ferguson
Danny Morton as Rogers
Joel Friedkin as Mr. Wagner
Lane Chandler as Policeman

Reception

Critical response

Film critic Dennis Schwartz, while giving the film a mixed review, liked the feature, writing, "A low-grade film noir that has its chilling moments. It opens with Julie Saunders (Frances Rafferty) sentenced to a prison term of ten years for being an accomplice to murder. A flashback is used to show how a sweet girl like Julie could have gotten into such deep trouble ... Beaumont went on to be Ward Cleaver in television's Leave It to Beaver, but here he's great to watch as a sleazeball and sicko killer. It's film where it takes a suspension of belief to get through all the problems built into the implausible plot, but nevertheless the film has a certain insanity kicking in that somehow works to give it an edge."^[2]