The Living Ghost

James Dunn stars as Nick Trayne in "The Living Ghost" from 1942. Dunn's fortunes were on the downward swing and doing B pictures after being a major star at 20th Century Fox. His performance in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" a few years after this won him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Nevertheless, his movie career continued to decline. It was on the stage and television that he found steady work.

The film also stars a Queen of the Bs, Joan Woodbury, and Paul McVey. It was directed by William "One Take" Beaudine for Monogram.

Dunn plays a smart-alecky former detective, Nick Trayne, who is called in by a friend when a wealthy man disappears. Was he kidnapped? What happened?

Craig shows up, but his brain is atrophied, something to do with the cerebral cortex cells. It's up to Trayne and Billie (Woodbury) to find out whodunit. Unfortunately for them, the whole group is crazy.

Nothing special, but I liked Dunn - he was fast talking and brought a lot of humor to the role.

Living Ghost, The (1942)

** (out of 4)

A detective is hired to find out who killed a man but once he's on the scene another victim falls into some sort of zombie-like state. Here's another "old dark house" film that has a rather boring mystery plot and lifeless direction from the usually reliable William Beaudine.

Ghost Walks, The (1934)

** (out of 4)

A screenwriter invites his producer's to an old dark house. He's paid a bunch of actors to act out his play so that the producer will put up the money but soon a real killer starts to stalk them. The premise is rather interesting but like most of these types of films of the era it really never gets too interesting due to the lackluster direction. Perhaps I've just seen way too many of these films but they all appear the same. Just a different cast.

The Living Ghost has James Dunn as a private detective trying to find a missing millionaire who all of a sudden shows up after Dunn as started his investigation. The problem is that Gus Glassmire is in some kind of catatonic state, he's walking around but he can't speak at all. Enough so that he cannot manage his affairs.

Before he's hired Dunn is working some kind of swami act, but he was good in his day. Glassmire's secretary Joan Woodbury seeing him in his swami outfit just doesn't believe in his abilities. She provides just enough needle to keep him on his toes and she's even a bit of help. Dunn and Woodbury do have some decent chemistry.

Dunn hangs around the mansion and pretty soon there's a real murderer among a nice group of suspects, more than a studio like Monogram would normally provide for one of these mysteries. The editing also isn't too bad, another thing that Monogram was not good with.

In the end there are two suspects, one is rather obvious, the other would take a bit of figuring. The Living Ghost is not a bad B picture and for Monogram it's practically The Maltese Falcon.

Nick Tryane is hired by a family to locate the missing patriarch, a rich banker. The banker suddenly turns up but seemingly in a fog with a "paralyzed brain". With the missing man returned the question becomes who did this and whether he's responsible for the murder that happens in the garden.

Enjoyment of this film will depend on whether you like the star James Dunn or not. Dunn who plays Trayne our hero made a lot of B-movies in the in the 30's and 40's. As a second banana or in a supporting role Dunn was always very good. The problem for me was that in a lead role he never amounted to very much. I'm not sure if it was because he wasn't a good lead or because he was working for the Poverty Row studios and so didn't have good enough material.Here he always seems to be waiting for someone to step in and carry on with what ever he's doing. It makes the film less then what it could have been.

The script is interesting and it has some nice twists to it. It has witty exchanges and only really falters when in the second half it becomes a series of interviews between Dunn and the suspects.

Over all its not bad, but its not all that great either. Worth a look if you have a second film on tap for the evening, or if you come across this at 2am on some TV station that still runs old movie all night long.

Have a house full of suspects. Bring in some unconventional detective who acts, at times, like an idiot, to solve the case, and you have this movie. Throw in the pretty sidekick, the tough mouthy female, and that adds another dimension. Saying that, I've already seen it a few times before. It doesn't mean that the byplay isn't fun and the murder isn't a challenge to figure out. After all, there is a guy who walks around with half a brain. Still, it is lacking. The seriousness of the murder is tossed aside and they go on this long escapade. The romance blooms while they search for the killer. I wish that they didn't have to spend so much time in a dark basement during the climax of the movie. I know that part of the suspense is based on the unknown aspects of the dark, but it goes on, and, frankly, I couldn't see anyone. I do like these old black and white mysteries, but, often, if you've seen one, you've seen the rest.