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The Ghost Breakers (1940)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
21 June 1940 (USA)
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Tagline:
The two stars of "The Cat and the Canary" find love and laughter in a haunted house!
Plot:
A radio broadcaster, his quaking manservant and an heiress investigate the mystery of a haunted castle in Cuba. full summary | add synopsis
User Comments:
Willie Best at his best
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Cast
(Complete credited cast) | Bob Hope | ... | Larry Lawrence |
 | Paulette Goddard | ... | Mary Carter |
 | Richard Carlson | ... | Geoff Montgomery |
| Paul Lukas | ... | Parada |
| Willie Best | ... | Alex |
| Pedro de Cordoba | ... | Havez (as Pedro De Cordoba) |
| Virginia Brissac | ... | Mother Zombie |
| Noble Johnson | ... | The Zombie |
 | Anthony Quinn | ... | Ramon Mederes / Francisco Mederes |
| Tom Dugan | ... | Raspy Kelly |
| Paul Fix | ... | Frenchy Duval |
| Lloyd Corrigan | ... | Martin |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
85 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:
USA:Approved (PCA #6126) |
USA:Passed (National Board of Review) |
USA:TV-G (TV rating) |
UK:PG |
Finland:K-16 |
Sweden:15
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The castle in the story is called "Castillo Maldito". It means "Castle of the Damned", or "Evil Castle".
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Goofs:
Continuity: A ghost is seen walking in the foyer where Lawrence finds his body is entombed. Later, Lawrence "discovers" the same ghost's body in the crypt.
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Quotes:
[first lines]
Mary Carter: Hello, operator? Operator? Operator, the lights in my room. What? The lightning?
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Mary Carter: Hello, operator? Operator? Operator, the lights in my room. What? The lightning?
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Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
Thanks for the Memory
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (44 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Ghost Breakers (1940)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Where did Lloyd Corrigan come from, and go ? | GJValent |
| The Ghostbreakers Movie 1940: | norman-bloom |
| The Script | devilscub |
| Shocked by Bob's Death?! | dmh7 |
Recommendations
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Bob Hope's early movies were rare gems to be watched over and over. Even the Road pictures with Bing are still fun. Too many of today's viewers only remember Bob's turkeys such as "A Global Affair," "I'll Take Sweden," and "Boy, Did I Get A Wrong Number." These viewers would be surprised to see a fresh young comic that could quip with the best of them. Another able funny man Willie Best, who never got his due because of the racial stereotyping rampant in Hollywood at the time, makes a better sparring partner for Bob than anyone else including Bing Crosby, although Crosby and Hope were also a winning combination with plenty of chemistry between them. The inspired teaming of Hope and Best reminds one of the later inspired teaming of Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.
In "The Ghost Breakers" Bob Hope and Willie Best are together through much of the picture. So each is able to strut his stuff. Many of the asides and lines are as fresh and humorous today as in 1940. For example, Geoff Montgomery (Richard Carlson) tells Larry Lawrence (Bob Hope) that A zombie has no will of his own. You see them sometimes walking around blindly with dead eyes, following orders, not knowing what they do, not caring. Hope replies, "You mean like Democrats." Would many Americans find that amusing today? I think so. As for Best and Hope. Hope tells Best that if he sees two ghosts running down the stairs, "Let the first one by because that one will be me." Best retorts, "If you see another one pass you,let him go because that one will be me." And the fun continues at a scatter gun pace.
An added attraction is the wonderful and beautiful Paulette Goddard. She and Hope make a charming couple. Yes, when he was young, Bob was considered a romantic leading man to some extent. Never taking himself too seriously Hope would later use this earlier image as a continual joke.
The story based on a Paul Dickey play is also a good one. Goddard inherits a supposedly haunted plantation in Cuba. Bob, who thinks he committed a murder, accidentally ends up aboard ship with her. Are the ghosts real or is someone trying to scare her away from her inheritance? If so, who? Watch and see. Getting there is a lot of fun, combined with thrills and chills aplenty along the way.