The Adding Machine

Well-acted film based on the 1923 Elmer Rice play has accomplished Irish actor O'Shea as the frustrated, wife-weary office employee who slaves for retirement only to be fired, replaced by an adding machine. He, in turn, murders his boss and is placed on trial, giving a marvelously moving performance from the witness stand; he is convicted and executed, glad to be rid of his shrewish wife, Diller, whose tongue-lashings and bitchy posturing make her a classic character of hate. Instead of going to Hades, O'Shea is transported to a heavenly area which is peopled by other compulsive killers all waiting to be reassigned to a new life. The heavenly atmosphere is convinci...