Ghosts on the Loose (1943)

Director:

William Beaudine

Writer:

Kenneth Higgins (original screenplay)

Release Date:

30 July 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

You'll yell with glee when these happy-go-lucky hooligans invade the shivery domain of the Man of a Thousand Horrors! It's Chill-arious!

Plot:

The East Side Kids try to fix up a house for newlyweds, but find the place next door "haunted" by mysterious men.

Plot Keywords:

East Side Kids | Haunted House | Honeymoon | Manhattan New York City | Trapdoor

Cast

Leo Gorcey	...	Mugs
Huntz Hall	...	Glimpy
Bobby Jordan	...	Danny
Bela Lugosi	...	Emil
Ava Gardner	...	Betty
Rick Vallin	...	Jack
Ernest Morrison	...	Scruno (as Sammy Morrison)
William 'Billy' Benedict	...	Benny (as Billy Benedict)
Stanley Clements	...	Stash
Bobby Stone	...	Dave
Minerva Urecal	...	Hilda
Wheeler Oakman	...	Tony
Peter Seal	...	Bruno
Frank Moran	...	Monk
Jack Mulhall	...	Lieutenant
Bill Bates	...	Sleepy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry Depp	...	John G. Elwood (uncredited)
Tom Herbert	...	Park Central Plaza Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Robert F. Hill	...	Minister at Wedding (uncredited)
Eddie Laughton	...	Wedding Usher (uncredited)
Kay Marvis	...	Bridesmaid (uncredited)
Ray Miller	...	Police Officer Mulligan (uncredited)
Blanche Payson	...	Mrs. John G. Elwood (uncredited)
'Snub' Pollard	...	Flower Delivery Man (uncredited)

Directed by
William Beaudine

Writing credits
Kenneth Higgins		(original screenplay)

Produced by
Jack Dietz	....	producer
Sam Katzman	....	producer
Barney A. Sarecky	....	associate producer (as Barney Sarecky)

Original Music by
Edward J. Kay		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Mack Stengler		(photography)

Film Editing by
Carl Pierson

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arthur Hammond	....	assistant director

Art Department
Dave Milton	....	set designer

Sound Department
Glen Glenn	....	sound engineer

Music Department
Edward J. Kay	....	musical director (as Edward Kay)

Production Companies

• Monogram Pictures
• Banner Productions

Distributors

• Monogram Pictures (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astor Pictures Corporation (1949) (USA) (theatrical)
• Interglobal Home Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Celebrity Home Entertainment (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Roan Group, The (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Front Row Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• GoodTimes Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Roan Group, The (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Gotham Distribution (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• National Film Museum (2004) (USA) (TV) (as National Film Museum Incorporated)
• OneVu (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Teakwood Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Critics' Choice Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Hollywood Movie Classics (????) (USA) (VHS)
• LS Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Liberty Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• MediaOutlet.com (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Punto Zero (2008) (Italy) (DVD)
• Roan Group, The (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Unknown Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Video Yesteryear (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

67 min (DVD) | 65 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #9178) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

Monogram Pictures

Trivia:

Some enterprising exhibitors billed the recently married Ava Gardner as "Mrs. Mickey Rooney" on the marquee.

Quotes:

Mugs:[reading the card on the wreath of flowers the boys brought in] 'We didn't mean to shoot you Louie, honest'. You stole a dead guy's flowers? Don't you know that sacrelilious? Put them back... hold it, I guess it wouldn't be any more sacrelilious to put them back after the ceremony.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes

After this movie you might forget what 'laughing' is

This movie is also known as "The East Side Kids meet Bela Lugosi". They certainly do, even though Bela in this movie is a Nazi, living next door to a newlywed couple (you might recognize Ava Gardner).

Bela Lugosi and Ava Gardner. How could this go wrong? No idea, but it did. Maybe that's the trouble with comedy. Some jokes just can't take getting older. (Some do, e.g. take The Marx Brothers.) It makes you wonder how films like "There's Something About Mary" will be perceived in the 2020s. Will people still laugh at it, or will they find it as painfully unfunny as I do now? Back to the Ghosts on the Loose: it has all the clichés you can find in those kind of movies. Moving portraits, the police doing a lousy job and so on. And if you don't want me to spoil the last scene, go straight to the next paragraph now. In the end, after the bad guys have been arrested, the East Side Kids are quarantained for getting the German measles. Now how funny is that!? Not at all.

I found it painful to sit out this movie. Beaudine also helmed "Bela Lugosi Meets The Brooklyn Gorilla". I don't even want to think about that one.