Gildersleeve's Ghost

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.

"The Great Gildersleeve" is my favorite old time radio show, but I can't necessarily say this is this big-screen version is the best example of what made the show work so well.

Running for police commissioner, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve is caught up in a whirlwind affair involving an escaped gorilla, an invisible woman and a mad scientist lurking in a mysterious mansion near Summerfield. The chain of events is set in motion by two ghosts from the Gildersleeve family tree (played by Harold Perry, in addition to his work as our favorite Uncle Mort). Of course, only Gildy sees the gorilla, the ghost girl and other mysterious goings- on, leading everyone to believe he's probably going a bit mad.

Lots of the humor comes from misunderstanding or conveniently placed trap doors and invisible girls vanishing at just the right moment. Plot threads are brought up and then dropped just as quickly (once the ghosts vanish in the first reel, they're not heard from again, despite claims they want to help our hero).

As a fan of the radio program, it's fun to see various cast members from the show on screen, playing their familiar roles. Marjorie and Leroy are played by different actors (a necessity since both roles were played by older actors than the characters they played) however. Mr. Peavey and Judge Hooker are on hand, with Mr. Peavey playing the foil to Gildy throughout the film. (You may become weary of his famous line, "Well now, I wouldn't say that" before the final reel).

At just over an hour, the movie doesn't overstay its welcome, but it's not necessarily anything to write home about either. If you're a big fan of the radio show, give it a try. If you've not heard of Gildersleeve, find some of the radio programs first to get a better feel of why the show was so popular.

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.

Unfortunately, the above quoted line is the best line in the film and comes early on when the plot involves two ghosts of Gildersleeve's ancestors rising from the grave and deciding to help him become police commissioner. Mad scientists with a potion that makes a girl (MARION MARTIN) invisible and an ape on the loose are the ingredients that add to the plot's ill advised mixture of laughs and fright.

RICHAD LeGRAND gets to say his famous line a little too often ("Well, I wouldn't say that"), and the scatterbrained cast includes AMELITA WARD, MARIE BLAKE and FREDDIE MERCER, all badly needing better material.

The ectoplasm is indeed strained to the utmost and the result is a flat comedy in search of a good script. What might potentially have seemed like fun material for Gildersleeve is turned into a forgettable sophomoric mess.

Not recommended, even for fans of the Gildersleeve radio comedy series.

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.