Ghost Catchers

I was a youngster when I last saw this film. I remember it as being a little scary. There was a haunted house in New York City. When the scenes changed to the swinging night club, this was the comic relief (for me). I remember the music to be tune-full, swinging. I would love to see this movie again.

Olsen and Johnson never achieved widespread success in films...they were definitely niche comics. When I've seen their films recently, I was surprised by this as I think some of their films are every bit as good as the best comedies of the era...especially "Helzapoppin". In many ways, they were a bit like Abbott and Costello combined with the zaniness of the very early Marx Brothers films (before they came to MGM and were given MUCH tamer material). Is "Ghost Catchers" among the team's better films?

Early in the film I noticed some good things and some bad. On the good side, Olsen and Johnson are given good support with the likes of Walter Catlett, Lon Chaney Jr., Leo Carillo and Andy Devine. Also, the film is weird....something you want in their films. But on the negative, the comics are stuck with lots of unnecessary and comedy-killing musical numbers. This wasn't uncommon in this era.... Abbott and Costello's early films had singing from the Andrews Sisters and the Marx Brothers always provided their own musical number. But the numbers in "Ghost Catchers" really were pretty dull and really derailed the comics' momentum...plus there was just too much singing. For this reason alone, I much prefer "Hellzapoppin".

As for the plot, a woman and her father have rented a place that ends up being haunted. The rental agent won't budge when they refuse to stay...demanding they honor the lease. So Olsen and Johnson arrive with some friends to try to drive away the ghosts...and there really DO seem to be some ghosts!

The film has laughs...but just too many musical numbers for my taste. Still, it is funny and has the weird sense of humor fans of the team enjoy....well worth your time.

Without a doubt, this film is O & J's best film! A Colonel (with 2 daughters) move from Ga to NYC for the girl's Carnegie Hall debut.

The house they choose is haunted....by gangsters AND a REAL ghost!

Great O & J slapstick comedy, Swing dancing, and music ("Blue Candlelight" is the showstopper).

Plus, the ghosts (real & fake) are CREEPY!

"Last the best of all the game"!

In honor of today which is Halloween, I decided to watch various comedy teams' movies which has some scary stuff. This is the first of the Ole Olsen & Chic Johnson movies that I've seen and are now on YouTube. They play themselves as entertainers whose nightclub is next to a haunted house. That's all I feel I have to explain since the plot is pretty much ripped to shreds not only by their act but also by some singers like Gloria Jean, Morton Downey Sr., and Ella Mae Morse of which the last one provides some swingin' Big Band entertainment while the other two are more romantic ballad-like. I think I like Ms. Morse's numbers better than the other two though, really, there's too much of them. And while there are some funny punchlines and amusing visual bits, as well as an early thrill at the beginning, the whole thing was just too silly for my tastes. I did like the appearance of both Andy Devine and Lon Chaney Jr. as a horse and bear, respectively. So on that note, Ghost Catchers is worth a look at least once. P.S. Yes, this Morton Downey Sr. was the father of the late notorious talk show host, Morton Downey Jr.

While some of the reviews here are raves for this film, I am firmly in the opposite camp. I find comedy duos like Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello very funny even today, but Olsen and Johnson are not. Their shtick may have played better in the 40s, however, I don't think it works in this movie at all. Part of the problem is that the paper thin plot seems to take a back seat to far too many musical and comedy interludes. The songs aren't memorable and neither are the slapstick bits. I found the duo's antics insufferable and I didn't care who the killer was by the end.

As a Universal genre completist, I'm glad I finally got to view this little seen film, but I would never put myself through watching it again. Stick with the far better Hold That Ghost from Abbott and Costello, or Ghost Breakers with Bob Hope. 2 1/2 stars.