The Ghost and the Guest

Even though listed (when you can find it) in reference books as a "horror/comedy", the shiver quotient is woefully absent. This is essentially a screwball comedy with a highly capable cast, in the typical "scare-the-newlyweds-out-of-the-abandoned-house-to-get-the-treasure" movie mold.

Though dated by today's standards, most of the witty dialog (supplied by Dick Van Dyke's "Buddy Sorrell" Morey Amsterdam)brings a smile, with nary a straight man present. Florence Rice as bride Jackie seems to have a character that prefigures Lucy Ricardo, and husband Webster (James Dunn) attacks the role like Jack Haley. Chauffeur Harmony Jones (played by Sam McDaniel)seems the only sensible one in the bunch, wanting to return to New York where the only people wandering the streets are alive!

The pace is quick, with nary a moment to think of the ludicrous plot machinations (a police chief who has time on duty to write pulp fiction) and illogic (the newlyweds move into the wrong house which is not questioned until the end of the movie). A bit of macabre humor is added with the inclusion of a retired county executioner who constantly wants Harmony to try on a noose for size ("You have the perfect neck for hangin'!"); the racial subtext is not lost on the modern audience.

In all, a harmless and painless way to spend an hour.

As is the way with many Poverty Row films from the time, the title for this one is very misleading. There really isn't any spooky goings on here. However, this film does contain a very specific staple from the time in that it is essentially about an old dark house with a villain hiding in it. I have no idea why these types of films were so popular at the time but there does seem to be a plethora of them. Normally it seemed to be a man in an ape suit hiding in the house but in this case it's an escaped convict. Otherwise, the film features the usual array of nonsense such as a large group of characters in a house, a cowardly comic-relief black character and secret passageways.

To be honest, it's not very good. Despite a short running time it doesn't really move very fast and the humour is only funny on occasion. There is an ongoing thread of 'humour' where a hangman neighbour keeps saying to the black character that he has a good neck for hanging. Yeah, that's right lynching was all a good laugh! I suppose it shows elements of some attitudes of the time. Other than this there are no outrageous moments. It's the usual succession of lame moments. There's no tension or thrills in case you were wondering. It's really a comedy first and foremost. And not a very good one.

Midway through this picture, there's a scene where the two leads (James Dunn and Florence Rice) find themselves momentarily alone in their room. It's their honeymoon, and they've had nary a second to themselves the whole movie, until now. But—before they even have a chance to breathe, people start pouring into their room, one at a time and in groups, until virtually all of the characters in the movie are right there in the same bedroom. –It ought to be funny, in a kind of Marx-Brothers-state-room sort of way….but somehow, it's just kind of flat. This whole picture is that way: full of scenes and gags that seems like they ought to be funny, but just aren't.

The plot: Dunn and Rice inherit a house and decide to move right in, sight unseen. They bring along Sam McDaniel, who is apparently Dunn's valet and chauffeur. Mysterious doings are soon afoot; it seems the house was somehow connected with a recently executed convict and there may be some money around the place.

Various characters turn up at the house to investigate, make trouble, or just hang around —a retired hangman, a police chief who writes detective thrillers, a dumb blonde and a sinister brunette, a couple of gangsters….the usual assortment.

McDaniel, as chauffeur Harmony Jones, is the stereotypical frightened servant but somehow comes across as less dopey than any of the other characters; his wisecracks are occasionally clever. (He also advises Dunn on how to deal with married life: "Now take my wife, for instance. This morning I bawled her out for being so extravagant." What happened? Pause. "I'm giving up cigars.")

Dunn and Rice as the newlyweds bicker and flirt and do their best to generate some energy but are largely defeated by dialog and plot that are woefully short on surprises.

Certainly not the madcap laugh riot that it apparently aims to be, this picture is nevertheless mildly amusing and generally harmless enough. Call it a B picture that never rises above its budget.

Ghost and the Guest, The (1943)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

William Nigh directed "old dark house" flick about a newlywed couple who buys a farm house only to discover someone was recently murdered there and now the body has disappeared. I wasn't expecting too much out of this thing but got a lot less than I was hoping for. At 55-minutes you'd think this thing would at least fly by but it's pretty dry and slow. The horror elements are incredibly weak as is the mystery behind the body. The humor is even worse with some racial jokes about a local hangman who keeps threatening the black servant with hanging jokes. James Dunn takes the lead and is more annoying than anything else.

This was a movie that I discovered when searching for horror movies from 1943. I don't believe it is listed that way on Letterboxd, only on the Internet Movie Database. Having now seen this, I understand why. I'll get into that later. I did see this streaming on Tubi. I watched this blind, just knowing what I did and expecting this to be a haunted house film of sorts.

Synopsis: a newlywed couple winds up spending their honeymoon night in an old, dark, spooky mansion.

We start this off with Webster Frye (James Dunn) trying to get his fiancé on the phone. He's unable to and he is annoyed. The operator even knows his voice and tells him the line is still busy. With him is his chauffeur, Harmony Jones (Sam McDaniel), during this scene. Webster does get the idea to send her an urgent telegram, telling her he is trying to call.

His fiancé is Jacqueline 'Jackie' Delong (Florence Rice). She has friends in her room with her as this is her wedding day. When the telegram arrives, she realizes how long she's been on the phone and hangs up. It rings immediately. Their call sets up the plot. Jackie's father bought them a house in the country. She wants to spend their honeymoon there. Webster is annoyed that she canceled their plane tickets as they're supposed to go to California. He puts his foot down and they still end up at the country house.

They arrive and the place is rundown. It is a 'fixer-upper'. Upon arriving, they see a man tying a noose. We learn that he is a former hangman who just did his last job. His name is Ben Bowron (Robert Dudley). This guy is here for a bit of comedy effect and he plays off Harmony going forward. Apparently, this house belonged to a gangster who was just executed, nicknamed Honey Boy.

Things take a dark turn when a casket is brought to the house, containing the body of the owner. Webster signs for it, believing it is their stuff. This causes issues and they call the police to fix it. Police Chief Bagwell (Jim Toney) fancies himself a crime writer and dictates to Herbie (Eddy Chandler), who is also a cop. They head out to the house to see the body and figure out what to do.

The cops aren't alone. A group of gangsters also show up, looking for something hidden in the house by their associate. They're led by Smoothie Lewis (Robert Bice) and he comes with Ted (Anthony Caruso), Harold (Eddie Foster), Little Sister Mabel (Mabel Todd) and Big Sister Josie (Renee Carson). The body that is in the coffin might not be who they think it is, as we see someone sneak out. Is Honey Boy dead like Ben said? Or did someone hitch a ride in it?

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this is another poverty row film. It has a short runtime, which I can appreciate. It also has elements we've seen in other things. My biggest issue is that this is a comedy first. It feels like they're trying to do an Abbott and Costello or a Laurel and Hardy style comedy with wordplay, but our cast isn't strong enough for it. I've seen Dunn before in The Living Ghost. He did make me chuckle, but this isn't constructed well enough for this to work.

Let me get to positives here though. I like the set up. Not necessarily one that would work today, but this is from the 1940s so I can roll with it. I like that Webster and Jackie are getting married. We see that they love each other, but also get under each other's skin. That felt real. They go to this house and it isn't what they expected. Honey Boy set it up with passages and other hidden things so elements of the 'Old Dark House' film are here. I'm a sucker there. I even like the different players that show up. We have gangsters that know something is here. The police are here so that complicates things. The same for Webster, Jackie, Harmony and Ben. This last one feels out of place, but it doesn't ruin it. I like the basic premise for sure.

While I'm discussing the story, let me then discuss if this is horror or not. I don't think it should necessarily be considered. We do have someone sneak out of the coffin. That is only creepy until we learn who that person is. There are these gangsters that end up holding our characters hostage. That is more of a crime film. 'Old Dark House' films aren't necessarily horror either. I think what I've gone through here put it in the genre only because of the era it was made in.

Since this runs barely an hour, I think that is enough for the story and moving over to the acting. Despite what I said about the cast not being strong enough to carry the comedy, I don't think anyone is bad. Dunn is probably the funniest here. I like his banter with Jackie as that felt real. I should also then that Rice is right there, performance-wise. They work the best as our leads and driving the 'investigation'. Dudley and McDaniel also play well off each other as well. My only issue is that they have the latter playing a racist caricature. It is the time and if they didn't have them this way, he wouldn't be working so I'm not going trash the film beyond that. Todd, Carson, Bice, Anthony Warde, Caruso and Foster are all solid as the gangsters or the dames with them. They can be bumbling at times as well. The same for the two cops, Toney and Chandler. As I said, no one is bad while still not making this work as well as it probably could.

Then all that is left would be filmmaking. This is made well enough. I thought the cinematography was fine. Capturing the atmosphere of the setting as well as the 'old dark house' stuff is the best part. I do have a negative that this ends abruptly. I'm not sure if that was a budget thing or just no one cared to think out the story more. Regardless, it needed just a bit more to fully work. With a runtime of an hour, it wouldn't take much there. I do believe this is a poverty row picture so that explains it. Other than that, the soundtrack was fine without necessarily standing out.

In conclusion, this is a decent film here. I like the 'wrong place, wrong time' narrative where our married couple and their chauffeur show up to a house that belonged to a gangster. Having the police and gangsters converge there build the crux of the story. This being a comedy doesn't necessarily work. I wouldn't even necessarily consider it horror. The cinematography to build the setting's atmosphere was good. I'd say that the acting would be the next best part. The script isn't strong enough though and the rest of the elements are fine. Not one I'd necessarily recommend unless you like this era or these poverty row films. Horror seekers I'd say could skip this for sure.

My Rating: 5 out of 10.