Scared Stiff (1953)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

George Marshall

Writers:

Herbert Baker (writer)
Walter DeLeon (writer)

Release Date:

27 April 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Musical | Mystery

Tagline:

They're making a spook-tacle of themselves!

Plot:

Fleeing a murder charge, a singer and a busboy (Martin & Lewis) wind up on a spooky Carribean island inherited by heiress (Scott).

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Island | Gangster | Haunted | Ghost

Cast

Dean Martin	...	Larry Todd
Jerry Lewis	...	Myron Mertz
Lizabeth Scott	...	Mary Carroll
Carmen Miranda	...	Carmelita Castinha
George Dolenz	...	Mr. Cortega
Dorothy Malone	...	Rosie
William Ching	...	Tony Warren
Paul Marion	...	Ramon Cariso / Francisco Cariso
Jack Lambert	...	Zombie
Tony Barr	...	Trigger
Leonard Strong	...	Shorty
Henry Brandon	...	Pierre
Hugh Sanders	...	Cop on Pier

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

3 Channel Stereo (Western Electric Multi-Track Magnetic Stereophonic) | Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (re-rated) | West Germany:16 | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:Btl | USA:Unrated

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Cameo: [Bing Crosby]a skeleton.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Larry and Myron cast multiple shadows in a castle lit only by their candle.

Quotes:

Myron Mertz: I like it! I like it!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981)

Soundtrack:

Enchiladas

Hilarity plus with Frank Fontaine

A re-make of Bob Hope's The Ghost Breakers (1940) (which was also directed by George Marshall), this film is at its best whenever Jerry Lewis is not on the screen. Frank Fontaine is ten times funnier and Lewis is also upstaged not only by co-stars Martin, Miranda, Scott and Malone, but also by minor bit players like Percy Helton and Erno Verebes.

Mind you, there is a mildly diverting Lewis solo in which he plays his alter ego, but otherwise he comes off a distinct second best—particularly in his really hilarious encounter with Frank Fontaine who makes one of the most screamingly funny exits ever encountered in a motion picture.

If you're waiting for the spooks, be warned that the boys take a tremendous amount of time to actually arrive at the haunted castle, being diverted by the love interest between Dean and the simmeringly sexy Lizabeth Scott, as well as the deadly machinations of principal heavy George Dolenz, plus a feast of middling songs and musical numbers. Once our heroes hit the spot, however, our interest in the plot perks up considerably. Alas, their stay is all too brief, but you can't have everything. Production values are pretty high, what with two lovelies in Scott and Malone, a personable Martin in good voice, plus that side-splitting sequence of comic capers with Frank Fontaine.