Hold That Ghost (1941) Reviews

• Host that Gold

  Spondonman2006-08-20

  Another nice early film from A&C, with a good supporting cast and the usual thickly laid on Universal atmosphere included. I've seen it maybe 10 times now over the decades with no loss of pleasure. It has Ted Lewis and the Andrews Sisters as pleasant musical bookends to what has previously been described as a Ghosts & Gangsters tale. Add comedy and murder and that's what this is all about, the lid is firmly kept on the romance between Carlson and Ankers - and may I add, she seldom looked lovelier than in here. Favourite routines: Ferdie's bedrooms changing into gaming rooms behind his back, to Chuck's harsh disbelief; The candles moving to the spluttered "Oh Chuck! What Kept You"; the figure of speech gag finished by the gangsters arrival. Abbott got in more face slapping Costello than in other films, and although it's something that never really appealed to me it's not too bad. Joan Davis has some good lines too but wasn't fully exploited. Not in A&C's Top 5, but still a nice b&w inconsequential entertaining spooky old house comedy. All told, good stuff for A&C fans like me - masochists who already know that they don't like 'em should really try to save themselves the 81 minutes running time + their IMDb commenting time and do the rest of us a favour.

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• Riotous farce, one of the duo's best

  frankfob2003-05-21

  This combination of haunted house scares and A&C slapstick works terrifically, for several reasons--the supporting cast is first-rate, and Joan Davis proved to be the best comic foil Costello ever had, their scenes together sparkle and their chemistry is undeniable; the boys' timing, always a marvel, has seldom been better; and, as in their best film, "A&C Meet Frankenstein," the spooky elements are played exactly that way, and not for laughs, and it works as well as it did in that film. Also, it doesn't have the cheaper, rushed look that many of their later ones had, and director Arthur Lubin--responsible for some of the team's best pictures--keeps things running very smoothly. The boys showcase some of their classic routines, Joan Davis is a joy to watch, the Andrews Sisters' songs don't slow things down ("Aurora" is actually a bright, catchy little number); all combine to make this one of the best Abbott & Costello films. Don't miss it.

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• The boys back to their best, backed by a great cast!

  opsbooks2005-01-20

  I watched 'Hold that Ghost' immediately after 'In the Navy' and noticed improvements in all areas. The boys, given more freedom than before and backed by some wonderful character actors, make this comedy as fresh today as when it was filmed, more than 6 decades ago. Universal, the home of horror, seemed the natural place for ghostly antics, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a dull moment in the movie. Joan Davis was a wonderful actress and seemed to have found her natural partner in Lou. The two had same great moments together with perhaps the 'Blue Danube' sequence being the funniest. Richard Carson, in a part unlike anything he would portray a decade later, was - despite my misgivings - totally convincing as a nerd - well before that word was invented! Olsen and Johnson of 'Hellzapoppin' fame would pay tribute to the hilarious 'Oh Chuck!' skit in their own 'Ghost Catchers' a few years later which used a similar - VERY similar! - title sequence.

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• Beautifully Produced and Sustained Abbot &Costello Comedy Classic

  silverscreen8882005-07-26

  This durable comedy is a favorite of Abbot and Costello fans for many reasons. it is their first non-service comedy, their first involving spooks, monsters or hauntings and their first with a strong supporting cast and "A" production values. The story-line involves Bud and Lou inheriting a haunted house from a gangster named Moose. Since the crook's loot is supposed to be hidden there--it comes complete with ghosts, a bad reputation and cryptic clues--their trip there to take possession of their property proves to be a very lively adventure.Before this portion of the narrative, there is quite a bit of fun in a nightclub, involving the Andrews Sisters, a curious "Me and My Shadow" Number with legendary Ted Lewis and a truly black partner, the Ted lewis orchestra and much more. The other passengers along for the fun ride to the new property include Richard Carlson, very good as a science specialist incredibly oblivious to the admiration and the extreme physical charms of Evelyn Ankers, hilarious Joan Davis as a perfect foil for the lead duo and the others, plus durable bad guy Marc Lawrence, hilarious Mischa Auer, Shemp Howard, Russell Hicks as the gangster's lawyer and William Davidson as Moose Matson the gangster. Look for familiar faces among the gangsters and in the nightclub scenes. The direction of this film by skilled Arthur Lubin and the screenplay by Robert Lees, Fred Rinaldo and John Grant keeps the gags coming and the pace moving. The remarkable aspect of the film is that its musical numbers and sight-gags do not impede the progress of the plot. I had never seen this film until last year; so its freshness and the luminous results of its production team were a major discovery for me. The cinematography was done by Elwood Bredell, art direction by Jack Otterson with the set decoration by the famous Russell A. Gausman, and are all outstanding achievements. The costumes by Vera West are fine and thanks to the nightclub scenes unusually varied. This B/W classic would undoubtedly have been an expensive color production later on; but in any case, the money is found, the mystery is solved, the ghosts are mostly explained, lovers are united and the laughs generated by this delightful entertainment remain in the mind--as I and other viewers of this very funny film have testified-for years to come. Not to be missed.

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• A childhood favorite

  one4now42003-10-27

  Even as a little kid, it always annoyed me when the other kids would always hate this when I showed this to them right from the start solely because it was a black-and-white movie. I liked it a lot more as a little kid, but this is still a fun movie in a lot of respects. The one thing that I don't like about it makes me squirm more than ever today: The Andrews Sisters! But, oh, well, that was some real happening music back then, and there are people young and old today that like that kind of stuff, so I'll leave it alone. As far as the movie goes, it's a fun horror spoof of those "old, dark house" movies. I saw "Ghost Breakers" later on (a film that seemed to be imitating this) and hated it, but this one's still the real deal. I've always had a place in my heart for the works of Abbott and Costello, and they're in great comic form here. In the film, they inherit the house of a dead gangster and find some interesting and freaky surprises inside when they end up spending the night there with a handful of other guests while trapped by rainy weather and flooded-out roads. What amazes me is that "Hold That Ghost" seems to never get reviews in the review books I pick up, as if there's something about it that makes people want to avoid it for review. Maybe it's because some would probably find some political incorrectness about it, but I don't really see a problem here. The movie was made in 1941, so give it some slack! "Hold That Ghost" is still funny and entertaining, and I would recommend it to many looking for a classic horror-comedy to just sit back and enjoy.

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