512 - Hold That Ghost, United States, 1941. Dir. Arthur Lubin.

Sunday, May 26, 2018

512 - Hold That Ghost, United States, 1941.  Dir. Arthur Lubin.

Chuck Murray and Ferdinand "Ferdie" Jones work at a gas station.

But one night their employment agency sends them on assignment to wait tables at an upscale cocktail lounge.

Ted Lewis is singing.  Mr. Entertainment.  "When My Baby Smiles at Me."  I sigh.  I cry.  Why, it's just a bit of Heaven.  "Me and My Shadow."  His shadow, Eddie Chester, dances along beside him.

Is everybody happy?

The Andrews Sisters join in.  "Sleepy Serenade."  And later, "Aurora."  For their third appearance in Abbott and Costello's third movie.

Shemp Howard also returns.  This time as a Soda Jerk.

Because Murray and Jones are working at the cocktail lounge, they are present when gangster Moose Matson comes in, when Charlie Smith tries to blackmail him, and when Moose makes a getaway with them in the back seat of the car.

There is a high-speed car chase.  A shootout.  And the death of the gangster Moose.  Who keeps "his money in his head."

And because Moose has no friends, he states in his will that his possessions will go to those who are with him at the moment of his death.

Those who are with him are Chuck and Ferdie.  Murray and Jones.  Abbott and Costello.

Of course.

The authorities surmise that Moose is broke, but he does have the old mansion.  So Chuck and Ferdie inherit the mansion.

When they decide to go there, they are offered a ride by none other than Charlie Smith, the blackmailer.

But what they do not know is that Smith is taking them for a ride.

He knows that Moose had money.  Lots of it.  And that it is hidden somewhere in that mansion.  In Moose's head.

When he takes Chuck and Ferdie, he is stuck with four other passengers--Doctor Jackson, Camille Brewster, Gregory, and Norma Lind--and the six innocents spend the night in the haunted mansion.

Ferdie sees things that none of the others see.  He is convinced there is a ghost in the house.

Camille is into Doctor Jackson and wants his attention, but he seems too focused on his experiments to notice her.

Norma cuts up with Ferdie.

But somebody dies.

And somebody disappears.

And something is amiss in this booby-trapped place.

Will they find the money?

Will they make it out alive?

Will anybody ever see what Ferdie sees and finally believe him?

Will Camille get Jackson to notice her?

Or will none of it matter?

After the long, dark night in the abandoned house.

Which might be protected by a ghost.