The Ghost Breakers
(1940)
82 mins | Comedy | 21 June 1940
Director:
George MarshallWriter:
Walter DeLeonProducer:
Arthur Hornblow Jr.Cinematographer:
Charles LangEditor:
Ellsworth HoaglandProduction Designers:
Hans Dreier, Robert UsherProduction Company:
Paramount Pictures, Inc.According to news items in HR, Wilkie Mahoney was to have worked on the script, but his participation in the final film has not been confirmed. The film was partially shot on location in Havana, Cuba. Paramount publicity materials contained in the Production Files at the AMPAS Library note that the film introduced the "Sonovox," a machine invented by Gilbert Wright that blended music and the sound of the human voice. The device was used for the disembodied voices in the film. This picture marked Robert Ryan's screen debut. Cinematographer Charles Lang, art director Hans Dreier and stars Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard also worked together in Paramount's 1939 film The Cat and the Canary (see above). Paramount first filmed the Paul Dickey-Charles W. Goddard play in 1914, starring H. B. Warner and Rita Stanwood and directed by Cecil B. DeMille (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1911-20; F1.1541); and in 1922, starring Wallace Reid and Lila Lee and directed by Alfred E. Green (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films 1911-20; F2.2060). Scared Stiff, a 1953 Paramount film starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and directed by George Marshall was also based on the Dickey-Goddard play. ...
According to news items in HR, Wilkie Mahoney was to have worked on the script, but his participation in the final film has not been confirmed. The film was partially shot on location in Havana, Cuba. Paramount publicity materials contained in the Production Files at the AMPAS Library note that the film introduced the "Sonovox," a machine invented by Gilbert Wright that blended music and the sound of the human voice. The device was used for the disembodied voices in the film. This picture marked Robert Ryan's screen debut. Cinematographer Charles Lang, art director Hans Dreier and stars Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard also worked together in Paramount's 1939 film The Cat and the Canary (see above). Paramount first filmed the Paul Dickey-Charles W. Goddard play in 1914, starring H. B. Warner and Rita Stanwood and directed by Cecil B. DeMille (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1911-20; F1.1541); and in 1922, starring Wallace Reid and Lila Lee and directed by Alfred E. Green (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films 1911-20; F2.2060). Scared Stiff, a 1953 Paramount film starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and directed by George Marshall was also based on the Dickey-Goddard play.
On the night before he is to leave on a four-week fishing trip, Larry Lawrence, New York's "Walter Winchell" of crime, receives an order from gangster Frenchy Duval to visit him at his hotel. In the hotel hallway, Larry becomes involved in a shooting and, believing that he has killed Ramon Mederos, hides in the steamer trunk owned by guest Mary Carter, who is leaving that night to take possession of an inherited haunted castle on a small island off the coast of Cuba. Upon emerging from the trunk, Larry finds himself aboard a steamer accompanied by his valet, Alex. When Mary receives a death threat, Larry comes to her aid as a "ghost breaker." Despite warnings from Geoff Montgomery, an old acquaintance, and Parada, her Cuban advisor, Mary and Larry remain undaunted in their determination to visit the castle. The night that the steamer docks, they make their way to the island, where they encounter a ghost, a zombie and disembodied voices before coming upon the dying Parada, who tells of his stabbing and a fortune hidden beneath the castle. In the castle basement, they discover a silver mine and Parada's murderer, Montgomery. After Alex dispatches Montgomery, daylight dawns, and they all leave the island in much brighter ...
On the night before he is to leave on a four-week fishing trip, Larry Lawrence, New York's "Walter Winchell" of crime, receives an order from gangster Frenchy Duval to visit him at his hotel. In the hotel hallway, Larry becomes involved in a shooting and, believing that he has killed Ramon Mederos, hides in the steamer trunk owned by guest Mary Carter, who is leaving that night to take possession of an inherited haunted castle on a small island off the coast of Cuba. Upon emerging from the trunk, Larry finds himself aboard a steamer accompanied by his valet, Alex. When Mary receives a death threat, Larry comes to her aid as a "ghost breaker." Despite warnings from Geoff Montgomery, an old acquaintance, and Parada, her Cuban advisor, Mary and Larry remain undaunted in their determination to visit the castle. The night that the steamer docks, they make their way to the island, where they encounter a ghost, a zombie and disembodied voices before coming upon the dying Parada, who tells of his stabbing and a fortune hidden beneath the castle. In the castle basement, they discover a silver mine and Parada's murderer, Montgomery. After Alex dispatches Montgomery, daylight dawns, and they all leave the island in much brighter spirits.
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