Ghost Catchers
(1944)
67 or 69 mins | Horror | 16 June 1944
Director:
Edward F. ClineWriter:
Edmund L. HartmannProducer:
Edmund L. HartmannCinematographer:
Charles Van EngerEditor:
Arthur HiltonProduction Designers:
John Goodman, Richard H. RiedelProduction Company:
Universal Pictures Company, Inc.The working title of this film was High Spirits . According to modern sources, Ghost Catchers was based on an unpublished story by director Eddie Cline and writer Milt Gross. Modern sources also report that actress Diana Barrymore was originally cast in the role of "Susanna Marshall," but dismissed the burlesque comedy. Her refusal led to the termination of her contract with Universal. HR news items include Ramsay Ames in the cast, but her appearance in the released film has not been determined. The similarities between this film and Universal's 1941 film Hold That Ghost (See Entry) are acknowledged early in the picture by actors Ole Olson and Chic Johnson, who refer to the Bud Abbott and Lou Costello film as being "a very unbelievable picture," particularly in its use of moving candlesticks. The two vaudevillians are then startled when a candlestick in their bedroom begins to move across a table. Both films feature the same cartoon behind their opening ... More Less
The working title of this film was High Spirits . According to modern sources, Ghost Catchers was based on an unpublished story by director Eddie Cline and writer Milt Gross. Modern sources also report that actress Diana Barrymore was originally cast in the role of "Susanna Marshall," but dismissed the burlesque comedy. Her refusal led to the termination of her contract with Universal. HR news items include Ramsay Ames in the cast, but her appearance in the released film has not been determined. The similarities between this film and Universal's 1941 film Hold That Ghost (See Entry) are acknowledged early in the picture by actors Ole Olson and Chic Johnson, who refer to the Bud Abbott and Lou Costello film as being "a very unbelievable picture," particularly in its use of moving candlesticks. The two vaudevillians are then startled when a candlestick in their bedroom begins to move across a table. Both films feature the same cartoon behind their opening credits. More Less
Colonel Breckinridge Marshall, an indigent posing as a rich Southern gentleman, signs a six-month lease on a large Manhattan brownstone, having moved from Coolwater, Georgia to New York City so that his daughters Melinda and Susanna can pursue musical careers. That night, strange sounds awaken the family and a threatening note is found scrawled on Melinda's bedroom mirror. Susanna rushes next door for help, where she finds a nightclub owned by vaudevillians Ole Olson and Chic Johnson. After being scared half to death by their wild show, Susanna tells off the two, only to be removed from their establishment through a trap door. Finally realizing that the woman may be in real trouble, Ole and Chic go next door to offer their help and agree, against their better judgment, to stay the night. The next day, Susanna goes with Ole and Chic to see Chambers, the lawyer who rented the house to the Marshalls. Chambers refuses to break the lease, arguing that the ghost is only a legend, that drunken millionaire, Wilbur Duffington, who died there during a wild turn-of-the-century New Year's Eve party, does not haunt the place. Believing that Wilbur haunts the brownstone because he failed to enjoy his own party, Ole and Chic put on a mad bash in his honor, at the conclusion of which the ghost pinches Melinda and leaves another threatening message, this time on the dining room wall. Not to be foiled, Ole and Chic decide to drive the ghost out of the house with loud jazz music. They seemingly succeed this time, as the ghost hoists a white flag and walks out. With ... + −
Colonel Breckinridge Marshall, an indigent posing as a rich Southern gentleman, signs a six-month lease on a large Manhattan brownstone, having moved from Coolwater, Georgia to New York City so that his daughters Melinda and Susanna can pursue musical careers. That night, strange sounds awaken the family and a threatening note is found scrawled on Melinda's bedroom mirror. Susanna rushes next door for help, where she finds a nightclub owned by vaudevillians Ole Olson and Chic Johnson. After being scared half to death by their wild show, Susanna tells off the two, only to be removed from their establishment through a trap door. Finally realizing that the woman may be in real trouble, Ole and Chic go next door to offer their help and agree, against their better judgment, to stay the night. The next day, Susanna goes with Ole and Chic to see Chambers, the lawyer who rented the house to the Marshalls. Chambers refuses to break the lease, arguing that the ghost is only a legend, that drunken millionaire, Wilbur Duffington, who died there during a wild turn-of-the-century New Year's Eve party, does not haunt the place. Believing that Wilbur haunts the brownstone because he failed to enjoy his own party, Ole and Chic put on a mad bash in his honor, at the conclusion of which the ghost pinches Melinda and leaves another threatening message, this time on the dining room wall. Not to be foiled, Ole and Chic decide to drive the ghost out of the house with loud jazz music. They seemingly succeed this time, as the ghost hoists a white flag and walks out. With the ghost exorcised, the Marshalls prepare to give a concert at Carnegie Hall. Complications arise when the colonel and Melinda are abducted, and while searching the house for them, Susanna finds the dead body of Diggs, the cleaning man, hanging in a closet. Once again, she goes to Ole and Chic for help, and they sneak into the house to investigate. There, Ole and Chic find that gangsters have been trying to scare the Marshalls out of their home in order to steal some valuable pre-Prohibition liquor hidden in the cellar. The two are quickly captured by the gangsters, who wall them up with the colonel and Melinda. With the help of Wilbur's ghost, the four break through the cellar's brick wall and into the nightclub, but when the gangsters grab Ole and Chic in front of the audience, everyone thinks it is part of the show. At the Marshall home, the gangsters are about to kill Ole and Chic when the police arrive, having been summoned there by Wilbur. With only one ticket sold, the Carneige Hall concert is canceled, so Melinda and Susanna perform their show at Ole and Chic's nightclub instead. Ole and Chic then catch Jerry, their headwaiter, trying to kill Melinda, and Jerry is revealed to be the gangster boss. The Marshalls' show is a big hit, and Susanna is united with band leader Clay Edwards. + −
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