Invisible Ghost (1941)

Director:

Joseph H. Lewis

Writers:

Al Martin (writer)
Helen Martin (writer)

Release Date:

25 April 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror

Tagline:

THE PHANTOM KILLER STRIKES! Only a terrified woman knows the secret of this ghostly murderer...who strikes in the night and leaves no clues---but his victims!

Plot:

The town's leading citizen becomes a homocidal maniac after his wife deserts him. |

Plot Keywords:

Death Of Title Character | Father Daughter Relationship | Police Investigation | Trance | Husband Wife Relationship

Cast

Bela Lugosi	...	Charles Kessler
Polly Ann Young	...	Virginia Kessler
John McGuire	...	Ralph Dickson / Paul Dickson
Clarence Muse	...	Evans the Butler
Terry Walker	...	Cecile Mannix
Betty Compson	...	Mrs. Kessler
Ernie Adams	...	Jules Mason
George Pembroke	...	Police Lieutenant Williams
Ottola Nesmith	...	Mrs. Mason (as Ollola Nesmith)
Fred Kelsey	...	Detective Ryan
Jack Mulhall	...	Detective Tim

Also Known As:

Murder by the Stars (USA) (working title)
Phantom Monster (USA) (working title)
The Phantom Killer (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:PG (DVD rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #7243)

Company:

Banner Productions

Trivia:

This is Polly Ann Young's last film.

Quotes:

Charles Kessler: I must have been sleepwalking.
Paul Dickson: You did better than I, I couldn't get to sleep.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Believe (2000/I)

Lugosi is worth the price of this movie

I must say, I was a bit surprised after viewing "Invisible Ghost." It

could have been because of Bela Lugosi's sympathetic portrayal

of Charles Kessler, a warm and kind-hearted man, deeply

troubled by his wife's absence. Or ... it could have been Clarence

Muse, playing the black butler sans the usual comic relief.

Whichever way you look at it, "Invisible Ghost" is certainly worthy of

note. Too bad one has to rummage through so many bad movies

to locate the few really good ones. Here we have the late, great

Bela Lugosi, looking better than ever. His portrayal of a sympatheic

man under the control of powers beyond his comprehension is

somewhat of a diversion from previous characters. He's not

sucking the blood of beautiful ingenues. Nope. He's on a murder

rampage, suffocating his victims with a ... bedroom robe?

Okay ... a little quirky. What did you expect? Shakespeare?

What's impressive here is Mr. Lugosi's enormous acting talent.

Lugosi could express more emotion through a simple facial

expression than most actors could through an entire monologue.

He's an excellent example of a talented man giving a performance

greater than the movie itself deserves. No make-up effect or

computer generated effect could ever reproduce this. To this, I hold

Mr. Lugosi up next to Vincent Price ... as a man whose talents

barely reached the public surface. If only he were alive today and

making movies. No doubt he would have been treated with a great

deal more respect and admiration.

And so ... "Invisible Ghost" is a very good movie to enjoy. I was

lucky enough to purchase this along with seven other Lugosi films

in AMC's Monsterfest DVD collection. Pick it up if you get a chance.

It includes movies like "The Human Monster" and the amazing

"White Zombie." While some of these films were hits and others

were misses ... all feature the extraordinary presence of Bela

Lugosi ... certainly one of our greatest actors.