Ghost comedies seem to be what's left of our unseen horror fare and last night we found a good one: "Whispering Ghosts"(1942) starring Milton Berle as a crime-solving radio show host who gets challenged to solve a murder. As it opens, a woman named "Elizabeth Woods" (Brenda Joyce) has inherited a boat from her uncle called The Black Joker. The problem is that The Joker is a rotting hulk and her uncle was murdered on board, which is why she inherited it in the first place. The ship itself is worth nothing, but Elizabeth has been told by her lawyer that there may be diamonds hidden aboard, so she's definitely interested in finding them in addition to wanting her uncle's murder solved. For assistance, she and her boyfriend turn to "H.H. Van Buren" (Berle), who solves impossible crimes on his radio show that even the police can't figure out. Van Buren agrees to take her case and heads to the ship with his Man Friday "Euclid Brown" (Willie Best). Right away, spooky stuff starts happening. Ghosts appear, bats and crows fly around, a crazed old wench and pirate board the ship (Renie Riano and John Carradine). There's actually a trained crow actor named Jimmy the Crow!
It turns out that a member of Van Buren's radio staff has hired Carradine and Riano to scare off Van Buren and Euclid, so that he can get the diamonds himself. But Van Buren doesn't frighten easily because he's seen every trick in the book. He knows they're a couple of actors and uncovers their hiding place on the ship, where they're using a projector to create ghosts, and a microphone and speakers for the noises. But then a hoodlum named "Mack Wolf" (Abner Bieberman) shows up. He's a real criminal but Van Buren think he's a hired actor, too. Wolf wants the diamonds and has a gun; he ain't foolin' around. There's a dog collar that everyone seems to think is important, but we don't learn why till the end.
The movie is clearly a vehicle for Berle, and when he and Willie Best are doing their thing, the action zings along. Uncle Miltie was great with one-liners and he's young here and on top of his game. Willie Best was an A+ version of the wide-eyed Negro assistant. The scenes with John Carradine and Renie Riano are eccentric and highly theatrical. The ship makes a great haunted house, with cobwebs in the rafters and voodoo priests peering in the windows. A huge, mounted fish has an eye that follows you everywhere. Poor Euclid is scared out of his wits, in classic Mantan Moreland/Sammy Morrison fashion. Toward the end, the murderer of Elizabeth's uncle appears and starts trying to kill the others. We only see him in shadow until the last minute. Meanwhile, Van Buren and Elizabeth have found clues on the ship, in her Uncle's bible and on the dog collar. There are diamonds aboard, but in a place you'd never expect. This flick is well directed and it moves, which is a good thing because it's 71 minutes long (an eternity by our standards). The fact that it's a 20th Century Fox release might have something to do with the quality. It's Berle's movie but with a very strong supporting cast, especially Willie Best, and the production values are a step up, too. But overall, it's the jokes that give it energy. Berle can sling with the best of 'em. Put it all together and it adds up to ten, even if the mystery is hard to follow amid all the tomfoolery and appearances of different characters every five minutes. I'm tempted to give it Two Huge Thumbs, but let's stick with Two Bigs and a high recommendation. The picture is very good. ////
The previous night we started another chapter serial in lieu of an unseen horror movie. Who knew these serials were so good? This one can pass as Halloween material, because it starts with a Mad Scientist working in a great Mad Scientist lab, with all the buzzing electronic gear and requisite bubbling test tubes. It's called "The Vanishing Shadow"(1934), and the scientist actually seems legit (i.e. not Mad). He's working on robots when he's visited by a younger colleague, "Stanley Stanfield" (Onslow Stevens), who offers him a secret proposal. They discuss it in hushed tones; we aren't told exactly what it is, only that it's an invention of some kind and Stanfield is working the bugs out. Stanfield then drives away and sees a young woman, "Gloria Barnett" (Ada Ince), standing in the street, trying to cross. But there's traffic and she almost gets run down by a hook and ladder truck. Stanfield stops his car and saves her, pulling her from the road.
It turns out they have a connection: the scientist, "Professor Carl van Dorn" (James Durkin). "My father was a business partner of his," she tells Stanfield. He answers by telling her something he thinks she'll find shocking. "I hate to say this, but your father's a bad man. He caused the death of my father by trying to steal his invention." They come to a stoplight and a sinister looking older gent stares her down. OMG! He's her father "Wade Barnett" (Walter Miller), the man they were just talking about. Barnett's an investor who screws inventors in crooked business deals. He's a powerful, dirty player, and needless to say, Stanfield doesn't like him. But then Gloria surprises him by saying she can't stand her Dad either, and wants nothing to do with him. They ignore him at the stoplight and drive away. All of this is to set up an alliance between Stanfield and Gloria Barnett and a probable romance, too. Her father is their common enemy. Later that day, Stanfield goes to visit Barnett, to tell him to lay off and leave the two of them alone, but a henchman takes a gun out and a schtruggle ensues. The gun goes off, the henchman is shot dead, and Stanfield is blamed - then framed - by Barnett, and because Barnett is a big player in the business community and has pawns in the city government, Stanfield is as good as convicted. He has no choice but to flee.
The next day, he surreptitiously visits Professor van Dorn and thrilled to see that van Dorn has incorporated his invention with one of his robots. Now we're gonna find out what it is.
What it is, is an invisibility device, worn around the waist like a belt, that renders the wearer invisible. Voila! Now that van Dorn has perfected it for him, Stanfield won't have to worry about being framed (well sorta, because the cops are now pounding on van Dorn's door looking for him), but when he puts on the belt he disappears, right before the cops bust into the lab.
But there's still one bug to be worked out with the device: though the wearer is invisible, his shadow can still be seen. In this case, it leads the cops to believe he's somewhere in van Dorn's lab, then on the roof, but though they follow his shadow through the building, Stanfield himself can't be seen. The first episode was great (gets Two Bigs), and featured car chases throughout the East Valley. "The Vanishing Shadow" has twelve 20-minute episodes and I see many more chapter serials in our fyoochum. ////
Hey guess what? I did it! I found dvd copies of "The Great Pumpkin" and "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad." I found 'em at the very last minute at the Northridge and West Valley Libes, so the annual Halloween tradition lives! Rarely can you find a copy of Great Pumpkin on October 29, so I really lucked out. Last night I watched the Mr. Toad half of that movie (a theatrical release by Disney in 1949), and tonight I watched the Ichabod half (way too scary!). I'll watch Charlie Brown tomorrow, late on Halloween night, after I go Trick or Treating! I've been keeping this three-show tradition for about fifteen years now. Anyhow, Happy Halloween! My next blog will arrive late on Tuesday night because I will be going to see The Who at the Hollywood Bowl. I know it's really only half of The Who, but it's the songwriting half, the main half, and it'll be the first time I've ever seen 'em. I'm not a gigantic Who fan, but Quadrophenia is one of the greatest albums ever made and belongs in the Louvre of rock music.
And that's all I know. My blogging music is Zeit by T. Dream once again and my late night is "The Flying Dutchman" by Wagner. May your Halloween pillowcase be filled with treats and no rocks. I send you Tons of Love, as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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