In 1945 Carole starred in the screwball comedy Having Wonderful Crime. She is Helene Justus, a ditzy newlywed who gets involved in a murder mystery while on her honeymoon. Fox loaned her to RKO to make the movie. George Murphy plays Helene's husband Jake Justus who helps her solve a crime involving a missing magician and a check for $50,000. She and George also costarred in the 1942 comedy The Powers Girl. The cast includes Pat O'Brien, George Zucco, and Lénore Aubert. Pat and Carole had worked together before in This Woman Is Dangerous and Secret Command. Carole was close friends with Pat and his wife Eloise. Having Wonderful Crime was based on the book by Craig Rice.
The movie was directed by Carole's friend Eddie Sutherland who would later be a pallbearer at her funeral. The costumes were designed by Edward Stevenson. Having Wonderful Crime was made as a low budget B-movie. It was filmed on location in Del Monte, Carmel, and Malibu Lake. Filming began on April 25, 1944 and ended on July 1. During this time Carole was having marital problems and she was hospitalized after a suicide attempt. Having Wonderful Crime was released on April 12, 1945. The tagline for the film was "When a body meets a body...in a trunk". Unfortunately the movie was not a box-office hit. Although it got mostly bad reviews some critics said that Carole gave one of her best performances.
Carole said of her costar Pat O'Brien "When Pat's a friend he's a real friend, and forever. I met him first in 1937 when I had one line to say in a film called This Woman Is Dangerous which Warner Brothers made, co-starring Kay Francis and Pat O'Brien. I was awfully frightened of big important stars in those days, and had trouble saying my one line. Pat talked me out of my mike fright - and has been one of my staunchest friends ever since."
* Having Wonderful Crime has not been released on DVD
Helene: "Not so fast, my skirt's too tight!"
Jake: "Oh, I told you you didn't know how to dress for a murder."
