Gildersleeve's Ghost

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.

Looks like the comedic setup here is more suited to an Abbott and Costello romp than to the gentler humor of Gildersleeve. The material is pretty familiar to old movie fans—a fake gorilla, a real gorilla (sort of), and invisible people who come and go. Of course, there's a ready-made bonanza of cheap laughs in schtick like this, so I suspect this series entry was working on a shorter production schedule than the preceding three that required more difficult scripts.

Anyway, familiar material or not, there's still the surreal premise that guarantees obvious laughs as director Douglas keeps things moving expertly. And get a load of blonde bombshell Marion Martin who wiggles in and out as the Marilyn Monroe of the '40's. Still, I was expecting the subtler humor of small town eccentrics that the series was so good at. Unfortunately, this distinctive brand of humor gets lost in the hectic hijinks of the surreal, making this the weakest of the four series entries, maybe not in the number of laughs, but in overall Andy Griffith-type satisfaction.

I wanted to like it, I really did. As an old-time radio buff, I have a soft spot for movies like this one, and The Great Gildersleeve is one of my favorite characters. But there's no saving this turkey. It's a dreadful outing; the plot is a ridiculous farrago about the ghosts of Gildy's ancestors rising from the grave to help him thwart the machinations of a mad scientist with an invisibility potion. The movie starts out with a lame premise and flubs along to keep it afloat, making for very tedious viewing. A certain amount of contrivance is to be expected for any sitcom extended to feature length, but this movie takes it too far to be successful. All that needs to be said about 'Gildersleeve's Ghost' to get the idea of what viewers are in for is that much attempted hilarity is derived from confusion between a gorilla on the loose and various characters disguised in a gorilla costume. Final analysis: Almost unwatchable.

Gildersleeve's Ghost (1944)

*** (out of 4)

Gildersleeve (Harold Peary) is in the middle of a heated election but soon gets caught up with a mad scientist, a mean gorilla and an invisible woman. Here's yet another horror comedy that takes place in a spooky house with a killer gorilla running around. This has been the plot for countless movies but I found this film to be one of the best of the genre with non-stop laughs and some pretty good special effects. I'd call this film better than any of Universal's "Invisible" films of the 40s and it also ranks as one of the better horror comedies of the era. The supporting cast is full of terrific comic actors who really add a lot of laughs to the film. Marion Martin, Richard LeGrand, Emory Parnell and Frank Reicher all do nice work in support of Peary. Black actor Nick Stewart gets a terrific role here and gets to show off his comic talent, which is very rare for a black actor in a Hollywood film from this period.

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.