Fri 1 Oct 2010
A Movie Review by David L. Vineyard: HOLD THAT GHOST (1941).
Posted by Steve under Films: Comedy/Musicals , Reviews[3] Comments
HOLD THAT GHOST. Universal Pictures, 1941. Bud Abbott & Lou Costello, Joan Davis, Richard Carlson, Misha Auer, Evelyn Ankers, Russell Hicks, Marc Lawrence, William Davidson, Shemp Howard, Thurston Hall, Nestor Paiva, Don Terry, Ted Lewis and his Orchestra, the Andrews Sisters. Director: Arthur Lubin.
Well, Universal certainly was. Abbott and Costello were a major success, and their films seemed to flow out of the studio, one hit after another. Hold That Ghost is one of their best, with some of their best routines and snappiest lines.
On top of that it has one of the best casts of their film career with Joan Davis equally as funny as the boys as a professional radio screamer, Richard Carlson an eccentric doctor, veteran Universal horror star Evelyn Ankers as the romantic interest, and Marc Lawrence as a gangster playing the boys along.
Joan Davis: What’s a matter, I hit ya didn’t I?
Hood Moose Matson (William Davidson) leaves all his money and property to whomever is with him when he dies, which turns out to be the boys, a pair of gas station attendants who end up in a high speed car chase with him ( “We were very close to him at the time of his surmise.”). The property turns out to be an old roadhouse — replete with a ghost and the loot from one of Matson’s holdups.
When the boys, Ankers, Davis, Carlson, and Lawrence get stranded in a storm in the roadhouse they don’t know there is a killer and a fortune in the house.
When Lawrence goes missing, they go looking and discover the roadhouse used to be a speakeasy. In many ways this is a preview of their best film Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein ( Carlson: “He’s been strangled?” — Lou: “Is that serious?”) with the comic possibilities of being scared given full reign ( “I’d be awfully silly if I was scared wouldn’t I?” — “Yes you would.” — “Boy am I silly.”).
In 1941 when this was made, Abbott and Costello were at the top of their game, and this one could spare the time and effort to cast Misha Auer and Shemp Howard in little more than walk-ons. This one is a class act from the animated titles to the musical numbers that include Lewis’s famous “Me and My Shadow.”
Davis, one of the few female physical comics equal to the manic Lou, is a delight, fast with a quip (when the soup tastes funny: “Just like Mother used to make — It stinks.”) and lethal with her elbows and angles in a comedic dance number with Lou that soon descends into mayhem, thanks to a bucket filled with rain water.
One of the best routines involves a hidden gambling salon that folds back into the walls whenever Lou hangs up his coat and goes back whenever he takes it off the hook ( “Don’t get yourself in a frenzy.” — “I ain’t makin’ frenzies with nobody in here.”).
The old dark house was an ideal set up for the boys and they make the most of it, hitting every cliche with as much zest as if it had never been done before, from Davis tap dance routine on the stairs with a ghost to Lou and the moving candle (“Do you feel a draft?” — “No.” — “If these candles move, you will”).
Bud: Why the ghost is only a rumor.
Lou: I don’t care if he’s the landlord.
“Is everybody happy?” You likely will be too with this bright comedy that never takes time for a breath:
Lou: We had a run away marriage. She wanted to get married, and I ran away.”
It may not always be art, but there is no doubt it’s funny, and at this point in their careers it seemed the quips and invention would never end. Of course it did, but with the exception of a few bad films at the end and some comparative duds they had a remarkable run for their, and our, money.
This is a reminder just how fresh they made some of the old routines feel at the time. This one, Who Done It?, and Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer are all good mixes of mystery and comedy with the boys aided and abetted by some of their best casts, including Boris Karloff in the latter, and in the former, William Bendix (outstanding as a cop even dumber than Lou), Don Porter, Patric Knowles, Thomas Gomez, Mary Wickes, and William Gargan.
October 2nd, 2010 at 3:03 pm
David, you almost have me convinced that I should reconsider my long-standing indifference to Abbott and Costello (with the exception of “A & C Meet Frankenstein”). I saw many of their films on their first release but, for some reason, none of them made much of an impression on me. I’m a Laurel & Hardy fan from way back and A & C just never tickled my funny bone the way they did. For some reason, I found Costello slightly irritating and Abbott, the perfect straight man, I suppose, was too bland for my taste. However, I do love Old House mysteries and I’ll certainly make a point of trying to watch this. You make a strong case for it, and it does have a fine cast.
October 2nd, 2010 at 3:30 pm
David’s review of ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS, which you can find here
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=2130
convinced me to obtain the complete box set of all of the Abbott & Costello movies, as I said I would in the comments that followed.
So I’m one ahead of you, Walter.
On the other hand, I haven’t watched any of them yet, but I might start with this one, when I do.
May I second David’s motion regarding Joan Davis? She was the most physically funny comediennes I can think of, as opposed to saying funny lines or being in funny situations, even more so than Lucille Ball. But I haven’t seen her in HOLD THAT GHOST, or at least not yet (certainly not recently).
— Steve
October 2nd, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Walter
Steve
To paraphrase Joyce I’m not trying to convert you or pervert myself, but I do think the boys at their best did some fast paced funny films that don’t always get the credit they deserve. Maybe they were just to pervasive on television when we were young and we lost track of how good they could be through familiarity.
And there are some surprises (a math teacher friend loves the math routine in HERE COME THE CO-EDS where Lou’s convoluted formula actually works — if you don’t catch the one clever little mistake), and in WHO DONE IT? where the boys investigate a murder at a radio station Lou complains: “They’re not going to do that baseball routine again, because I’m sick and tired of that.” to which Abbott replies “Well, I certainly hope not.”
I don’t really think you can compare them to Laurel and Hardy whose comedy always had a physical grace (and emotional core) that is unsurpassed, or to the surrealism of the Marx Brothers. Lou and Bud were more about snappy patter, fast lines, and a certain frantic inevitability (you knew if Lou ordered clam soup he was going to get a live clam).
Lou was the ultimate little guy born loser, and Bud the ultimate smart guy, who unluckily for him was only really smarter than Lou — and not always that, some of their best routines have Lou outwitting Bud via convoluted logic.
But there are some good films in there worth catching A&C MEET FRANKENSTEIN, this one, WHO DONE IT?, A&C MEET THE KILLER, THE NAUGHTY NINETIES (the definitive version of Who’s on First), A&C MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN (some of their cleverest visual bits), THE WISTFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP, LOST IN A HAREM, BUCK PRIVATES, A&C MEET THE MUMMY, HERE COME THE CO-EDS, RIO RITA, PARDON MY SARONG, THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES, THE NOOSE HANGS HIGH, IN THE NAVY (another good variation of the math routine where 7 X 13 = 28), and ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS (their debut).
What stands out today, despite the familiar routines (and a lot of their routines were standard Burlesque and Vaudeville stuff far from unique to them), was the freshness of the delivery and how modern they were at the time. There is an antic and almost manic quality at times to their work that displays tremendous energy. Lou’s child man and Abbott’s ultimate con-man/straight man were new to audiences then, and it’s notable that most of the comedy teams that followed — even Martin and Lewis — hewed pretty close to the A&C model.
And Walter, it is no betrayal of Laurel and Hardy to enjoy A&C, Leonard Maltin, who may be the greatest Laurel and Hardy fan, is an A&C fan too. You really can’t compare them anymore than trying to compare Chaplin to Keaton or Harold Lloyd to the Keystone Cops.
And I have to admit, anyone who can deliver a line like “I ain’t makin’ frenzies with no one here,” has caught my attention.
I first knew Joan Davis from her television series with Jim Backus (predating Lucy), and in recent years have seen them on television once in a while and they hold up — thanks to her. She was likely the most physical of women comics prior to Lucy. In many ways Lucy’s real innovation was that she was a pretty physical comic.
In this one there is a running gag about Joan being a professional screamer on radio, who can’t scream when she is really scared.
I do think if you give these a chance you will enjoy them for what they are. Like the Hope and Crosby Road pictures they weren’t ambitious or important, but like them they hold up better than many films that were. And the boys were pretty generous with good bits from others in the cast like Joan Davis in this one.
These, the Road pictures, some of Bob Hope’s films from this period, likely are the sharpest written films of the era — so much so you may have to watch them multiple times to catch all the good lines. Like the Warners cartoons of the period they are often playing on two or three levels at once — one aimed strictly at kids, one aimed at slightly older kids, and a third aimed at canny adults able to read between the lines.