History Film / WhoDoneIt

--> '''Mervyn:''' ''HEEEELP!!''

* ChekhovsGun: Near the beginning of the film, Chick and Mervyn find the killer dropped a rubber glove while rigging the fatal chair up, meaning whoever did it has a hand that fits the glove. They initially keep the glove as evidence, with the killer trying to retrieve it at one point. It’s forgotten about halfway through, until the very end, when Mervyn uses it as a slingshot to smash a neon sign’s letters “VOTE TOWNSHEND PHELPS” into “S END HELP” while he’s trapped on the roof with the killer.

* ConMan: The building’s doorman is a clever little chiseler who keeps scamming Mervyn whenever he can. First, he tricks him into giving up show tickets by telling him that they expired, then saying "I'll give you a nickel for two dimes". Finally, he claims that he witnessed the murder and he'll squeal for half a buck, then he literally makes loud squealing sounds after Mervin pays him half a dollar.

''Who Done It?'' Is a 1942 mystery comedy film directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Creator/AbbottAndCostello, with Patric Knowles, William Gargan, Louise Allbritton, Jerome Cowan and William Bendix.

''Who Done It?'' Is a 1942 mystery comedy film directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Creator/AbbottandCostello, with Patric Knowles, William Gargan, Louise Allbritton, Jerome Cowan and William Bendix.

''Who Done It?'' Is a 1942 mystery comedy, starring [[Creator/AbbottandCostello Bud Abbott and Lou Costello]].

Writer Jimmy Turner turns down a job at a major radio station’s headquarters, despite producer Jane Little and station owner Col. J.R. Andrews’ best attempts to keep him. Meanwhile, Chick Larkin and Mervyn Milgrim, two soda jerks working behind the counter in the drugstore at the base of the building, dream of being writers for a radio mystery show, and see their chance when they get tickets to attend the live broadcast of the station’s own mystery program, “Murder at Midnight”. After losing their tickets, they sneak in, but to their horror, Andrews mysteriously drops dead just before he can read a speech into the microphone. It seems someone electrocuted him by rerouting part of the station’s power into the metal chair he was sitting in. Chick realizes that if they can solve the mystery, they can become the only murder mystery writers for radio who have solved an actual murder mystery. They impersonate detectives, and start asking questions, but it isn’t long before two real police detectives, Moran and Brannigan, show up and mistake the frauds for the killers. They flee the detectives on a long chase through the studio, helped by studio secretary Juliette Collins. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Jane start finding legitimate clues to the killer’s motivation. It seems Andrews may have known too much about some sinister goings-on at the studio, and things get even more confusing when the body of Andrews’ old friend Dr. Marek is found in a closet. With the detectives busy pursuing the wannabes, it’s anyone’s guess as to who’s responsible as HilarityEnsues.

Like Abbott and Costello’s later horror-themed comedies, ''Who Done It?'' takes the parodic elements of the genre, and mostly plays them dead straight alongside the boys’ usual antics. It’s generally known for being the first of the duo’s films to not feature a single musical number, and the inspiration for George Lucas’ ''Film/TheRadiolandMurders''.

** '''Mervyn:''' ''HEEEELP!!''

* SignsOfDisrepair: An intentional example Mervyn smashes an illuminated sign reading "VOTE FOR TOWNSEND PHELPS" so it reads "SEND HELP" while they're trapped on the roof of the radio station with the killer. Later, it gets smashed again to read "END".

* WhosOnFirst: The trope namers never actually recite the routine on-screen, but it’s referenced twice: When talking about the station’s power grid, they get into an argument about what Col. Andrews was hit with, “Watts” or Volts (“Next thing, you’ll tell me Watt’s on second base!”). Later on, we hear part of the routine through a portable radio.

Like Abbott and Costello’s later horror-themed comedies, Who Done It? takes the parodic elements of the genre, and mostly plays them dead straight alongside the boys’ usual antics. It’s generally known for being the first of the duo’s films to not feature a single musical number, and the inspiration for George Lucas’ ''Film/TheRadiolandMurders''.

Writer Jimmy Turner turns down a job at a major radio station’s headquarters, despite producer Jane Little and Col. J.R. Andrews’ best attempts to keep him. Meanwhile, Chick Larkin and Mervyn Milgrim, two soda jerks working behind the counter in the drugstore at the base of the building, dream of being writers for a radio mystery show, and see their chance when they get tickets to attend the live broadcast of the station’s own mystery program, “Murder at Midnight”. After losing their tickets, they sneak in, but to their horror, Andrews mysteriously drops dead just before he can read a speech into the microphone. It seems someone electrocuted him by rerouting part of the station’s power into the metal chair he was sitting in. Chick realizes that if they can solve the mystery, they can become the only murder mystery writers for radio who have solved an actual murder mystery. They impersonate detectives, and start asking questions, but it isn’t long before two real police detectives, Moran and Brannigan, show up and mistake the frauds for the killers. They flee the detectives on a long chase through the studio, helped by studio secretary Juliette Collins. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Jane start finding legitimate clues to the killer’s motivation. It seems Andrews may have known too much about some sinister goings-on at the studio, and things get even more confusing when the body of Andrews’ old friend Dr. Marek is found in a closet. With the detectives busy pursuing the wannabes, it’s anyone’s guess as to who’s responsible as HilarityEnsues.

* BigWordShout: When Merwyn and Chick have been collared by the detectives right after he wins Wheel of Fortune, and it looks like all hope is lost, Merwyn asks if he can say one word into the Wheel of Fortune radio mic. They oblige him.

** '''Merwyn:''' ''HEEEELP!!''

* ConMan: The building’s doorman is a clever little chiseler who keeps scamming Mervyn whenever he can.

* RooftopConfrontation: The climax takes place on the building’s roof, between Chick and Merwyn, and the spy. The latter went to the roof to hide from the police, while the former two went up there to hide from the latter, ironically.

* [[Sting]]: Parodied. After Jimmy announces Col. Andrews was murdered, Mervyn staggers backwards into the studio’s pipe organ, which lets out a loud, discordant, ominous tone that goes on a little too long.

** ''Merwyn:'' '''HEEEELP!!'''

''Merwyn:'' '''HEEEELP!!'''

* HilariousInHindsight: The radio show “Wheel of Fortune”, a ShowWithinAShow from 1942, which preceded the modern television show of the same name by decades.

!!''Merwyn:'' '''HEEEELP!!'''