Gildersleeve's Ghost

Two Gildersleeve ghosts discover experiments being conducted by mad scientist Dr. John Wells which include an invisible woman and an escaped gorilla. Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve is running for police commissioner against the incumbent Haley. His niece and nephew want to campaign for him in costumes, Leroy in a gorilla costume. This leads a mistaken identity and a hunt for a real gorilla although Haley believes that it's a PR stunt.

It's a minor comedy. The outlandish premise has some screwball potential. I don't know much about the comedic stylings of Harold Peary. It feels like that he's one half of a comedic duo and he struggling to fill both roles. With his tone, he should be a fraidy cat running from ghosts and other monsters. Chauncey dealing with the invisible woman is probably the funniest bits but one has to ignore the bad stereotype. He has a good amount of fraidy cat tone but he can go overboard. This would work better with more slapstick and physical humor. It's all a little less funny than the wacky premise should be able to deliver.

Its common, I suppose, for celebrities to make it on a single attribute. Julia's smile, Jaylo's butt... and Peary's laugh. He was already one of the top radio personalities of all time based on his exploitation of that one comic effect.

Here, it is transferred to the screen as nearly all radio successes were. And it is shoehorned into a formula cornucopia: a real gorilla and a gorilla costume; a disappearing and reappearing "show" girl (who gets to be nude on screen in a shower scene, but invisibly so); and a mad scientist. The whole thing is framed by the ghosts the ancestors of Gildy's and his sidekick, played by the same actors of course.

Its the old kind of simple comic nesting: the story within the story, that contains actors acting and confusions between the two.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Though no great shakes on its own, "Gildersleeve's Ghost" is at least much better than "Gildersleeve's Bad Day", the only other film in this series I have seen so far. It throws in everything but the kitchen sink: ghosts, a mad scientist and his shady assistant, a loose gorilla, an invisible woman, a "haunted" mansion with secret passageways, a thunderstorm, etc. Clever special effects, funny if old-hat gags, an astoundingly fleshy and bodacious Marion Martin (when we see her body in the flesh, that is), and a good supporting comedic performance by the prolific but little-known Nicodemus Stewart. **1/2 out of 4.

The final Great Gildersleeve picture from RKO is a weird one but entertaining. The plot this time is that Gildersleeve (Harold Peary) is running for police commissioner. The ghosts of two of his ancestors (both also played by Peary) decide to help him but only get him involved with a mad scientist, an invisible woman, and a gorilla! They are Gildersleeves, after all.

This one's fun. I've enjoyed all of the Gildersleeve movies but this one appeals to me especially as I'm a big fan of old horror/sci-fi movies. Harold Peary is great in this one playing three separate roles. Frank Reicher is appropriately sinister as the mad scientist. Beauties Marion Martin and Amelita Ward pretty things up as the invisible woman and French maid respectively. Martin is also very funny. Love her scenes with Gildersleeve. Richard LeGrand, Emory Parnell, Lillian Randolph, Margie Stewart, and Freddie Mercer all offer good support. Marie Blake is the lady in love with Gildersleeve. Every movie in the series had to have one. Nick Stewart is hilarious as a cowardly chauffeur. It's a stereotypical role but he does a lot with it. The 'old dark house' touches are very nice. The guy in the gorilla suit may not be convincing but that's part of the charm of it. Every scene with the gorilla is great. The scene where Gildersleeve threatens to spank the gorilla, believing it to be his nephew Leroy in a costume, is priceless. I can understand it not appealing to everyone but if you enjoy old-school horror comedies with a little atmosphere and a lot of laughs, you'll probably like this.

Normally, if I were going to watch a picture from a series, I'd start at the beginning. But the fourth or four Great Gildersleeve films called to me when I read the summary on IMDB. I sounds so weird, so ill-conceived and so nutty that I had to see it!

Throckmorton Gildersleeve is running for police commissioner. Two of his dead relatives (all played by Harold Peary) visit him and decide to help him in the election. Unfortunately, things get really foul things up and Throckmorton becomes involved with a mad scientist, an invisible (and quite frisky) woman and a sometimes invisible gorilla. I kid you not!!! Can it get any stranger than this????

The best thing going for this film is that thankfully it doesn't take itself seriously...which separates it from films like those of, for instance, Ed Wood Jr.. It's meant to be hokey and silly...and it does certainly succeeds at this!

So is it worth your time? Well, a lot of it depends on you. For many, I am sure it's so silly that you would hate it. But for others, its ridiculous story elements (and it's chock full of 'em) make it a must-see! For me, I enjoyed its dopiness. It's not good...but it IS entertaining! And, it certainly won't be mistaken for an Oscar nominee or addition to the Criterion Collection!

By the way, while he acts much like Willie Best and looks a lot like him, that's Nick Stewart playing Chauncy. You might remember his as Lightnin' in the old "Amos 'n Andy" TV series. While some might dislike his scared black guy shtick in this film and find it's not politically correct, it's very similar to Lou Costello in "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein"...in fact it's nearly identical.