This odd comedy short starts with character actor Edwin Maxwell walking out of a mental asylum only to turn around and knock on the gate to tell a guard there's been an escape, "Who?" the guard asks to which Maxwell answers, "Me!" In the next scene, Charley Chase meets pretty Joyce Compton when they collide while both trying to use a penny weighing machine. It not only gives their fortune, but a picture of their future spouse! Both are intrigued that, by sheer coincidence, the machine gives them photos of each other. Curmudgeon-faced Clarence Wilson plays a businessman who is Compton's father. There is a gag about wacky inventor Maxwell's fly trap works by that embarrasses its victims to death, but the longest gag involves Charley getting hired as a professional house haunter. Not one of his best, but one of his strangest comedies. Recommended to fans only.
7 Reviews
Charley Chase gets hired as a professional house haunter with mixed results.
larry41onEbay8 December 2004
Warning: Spoilers
Edwin Maxwell is hilarious
F Gwynplaine MacIntyre18 December 2002
Charley Chase is firmly ensconced in the second rank of American film comedians. He tended to play a fastidious man who gets increasingly exasperated as everything goes wrong. He starred in comedy shorts with plotlines which tended to be wildly implausible without actually becoming impossible. His onscreen character reminds me of several of the characters played by John Cleese ... but Chase lacked Cleese's broad physical talents and wide acting range. When I see a Chase film, I'm usually impressed by his professionalism rather than inspired to laugh at his onscreen antics.
'Public Ghost Number One' is a fairly typical Chase performance, enlivened by a remarkable supporting turn by Edwin Maxwell ... one of the truly great supporting actors who laboured in obscurity during the golden age of Hollywood. Maxwell, like Claude Rains, was a short stocky man with a finely-trained voice, who (also like Rains) might have become a star if he had been a few inches taller. Maxwell tended to play minor authority figures at cross-purposes to the hero of the film: he had a remarkable gift for twisting his mouth into scornful little knots of contempt. Maxwell played supporting roles in a lot of great films (he was one of Groucho Marx's cabinet ministers in 'Duck Soup'), but he was very seldom given an opportunity to show the full range of his talent.
In 'Public Ghost Number One', Chase is hired to haunt a house owned by Clarence Wilson and his attractive daughter. Wilson is another of those great and unjustly-neglected supporting actors. With his short build, beaked nose and his unusually-shaped balding head, Wilson gets laughs on the basis of his physical appearance and his grouchy personality.
Far and away, the best and funniest performance in this film is given by Maxwell. He plays a lunatic who has invented an incredibly complicated device for capturing and torturing flies. The fly-trap doesn't actually kill the fly ... but, after the fly goes through this Rube Goldberg device, it crawls away and dies of embarrassment. Maxwell is great in this film, and I regret that he never got a better role than this one. I'll rate this film 5 points out of 10 on the strength of Maxwell's performance.
'Public Ghost Number One' is a fairly typical Chase performance, enlivened by a remarkable supporting turn by Edwin Maxwell ... one of the truly great supporting actors who laboured in obscurity during the golden age of Hollywood. Maxwell, like Claude Rains, was a short stocky man with a finely-trained voice, who (also like Rains) might have become a star if he had been a few inches taller. Maxwell tended to play minor authority figures at cross-purposes to the hero of the film: he had a remarkable gift for twisting his mouth into scornful little knots of contempt. Maxwell played supporting roles in a lot of great films (he was one of Groucho Marx's cabinet ministers in 'Duck Soup'), but he was very seldom given an opportunity to show the full range of his talent.
In 'Public Ghost Number One', Chase is hired to haunt a house owned by Clarence Wilson and his attractive daughter. Wilson is another of those great and unjustly-neglected supporting actors. With his short build, beaked nose and his unusually-shaped balding head, Wilson gets laughs on the basis of his physical appearance and his grouchy personality.
Far and away, the best and funniest performance in this film is given by Maxwell. He plays a lunatic who has invented an incredibly complicated device for capturing and torturing flies. The fly-trap doesn't actually kill the fly ... but, after the fly goes through this Rube Goldberg device, it crawls away and dies of embarrassment. Maxwell is great in this film, and I regret that he never got a better role than this one. I'll rate this film 5 points out of 10 on the strength of Maxwell's performance.
A week short from a great comedian
lmscheck10 May 2003
"Public Ghost No.1" is one of the few week shorts made by Charley Chase which give a false impression of the great, forgotten comedians art. Its too complicated at the beginning and too predictable in the second half. In a good Chase short you never knew what comes next - not in this one.
Haunted House Scenes In The Second Half Were Really Good
ccthemovieman-124 January 2011
Warning: Spoilers
This Charley Chase short was a tale of two halves: the romantic and employment setup where Charley winds up meeting his future wife and employer, and the haunted house scene where Charles - with the hilarious aid of an insane man - gets spooked along with the residents.
The second part would do Three Stooges justice; one of those crazy scenes where everyone is running around being scared. This one features a dog with a skull over it's head and blowing a noisemaker, and a flying frog!! It's hilarious!
Joyce Compton was kind of cute in here. She reminded me of Una Merkel. Edwin Maxwell was fun to watch as the insane guy.
Overall, yeah, it's super corny movie in spots and very dated but good slapstick humor never goes out of style. There were some good laughs to be had here in the second half of this short.
The second part would do Three Stooges justice; one of those crazy scenes where everyone is running around being scared. This one features a dog with a skull over it's head and blowing a noisemaker, and a flying frog!! It's hilarious!
Joyce Compton was kind of cute in here. She reminded me of Una Merkel. Edwin Maxwell was fun to watch as the insane guy.
Overall, yeah, it's super corny movie in spots and very dated but good slapstick humor never goes out of style. There were some good laughs to be had here in the second half of this short.
Maxwell Steals the Show
Michael_Elliott6 February 2011
Public Ghost #1 (1935)
*** (out of 4)
Funny film has Charley Chase meeting a woman and telling her that he's currently unemployed so she tells Chase to visit her father who will put him to work. Chase meets who he thinks is the father but it turns out he's just an impersonator and a tad bit crazy. The wrong man tells Chase he should make money by haunting houses, which he does and his first job just happens to have him in the home of the girl and the real father. LIVE GHOST #1 isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but I found it clever enough to be worth viewing. The film's first half is without a doubt the highlight as Chase pretty much just plays a supporting character and Edwin Maxwell is giving the opportunity to really shine as the crazy man. Maxwell is so brilliant in the part that you can't help but laugh at everything he does as no matter how crazy he's doing something he can make you fall for whatever he's saying. Just take a look at the sequence where he shows Chase his new invention, which just happens to be a fly catcher. Whoever came up with this device deserved an award for creativity. The second half of the film has Chase taking over as he begins to haunt the house not realizing that the woman he loves lives there. There are a few nice jokes during this sequence including a piece where Chase tries to prove himself a man but ends up going after the wrong person. Chase is as enjoyable as always but there's no question the film belongs to Maxwell.
*** (out of 4)
Funny film has Charley Chase meeting a woman and telling her that he's currently unemployed so she tells Chase to visit her father who will put him to work. Chase meets who he thinks is the father but it turns out he's just an impersonator and a tad bit crazy. The wrong man tells Chase he should make money by haunting houses, which he does and his first job just happens to have him in the home of the girl and the real father. LIVE GHOST #1 isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but I found it clever enough to be worth viewing. The film's first half is without a doubt the highlight as Chase pretty much just plays a supporting character and Edwin Maxwell is giving the opportunity to really shine as the crazy man. Maxwell is so brilliant in the part that you can't help but laugh at everything he does as no matter how crazy he's doing something he can make you fall for whatever he's saying. Just take a look at the sequence where he shows Chase his new invention, which just happens to be a fly catcher. Whoever came up with this device deserved an award for creativity. The second half of the film has Chase taking over as he begins to haunt the house not realizing that the woman he loves lives there. There are a few nice jokes during this sequence including a piece where Chase tries to prove himself a man but ends up going after the wrong person. Chase is as enjoyable as always but there's no question the film belongs to Maxwell.
Wow....this just isn't funny.
planktonrules19 January 2011
Warning: Spoilers
It's odd. I have always loved Charley Chase films yet today Turner Classic Movies has played several that just weren't very good. Did they show the best ones first and save the limp ones for now? This limp film tries very hard to be funny and does have one or two decent gags but that's all.
The film begins with Charley meeting a pretty young lady. He's out of work and she tells him to see her father about a job. However, a crazy man is imitating her dad and the nutter tells Charley he'll pay him to make a house seem haunted. However, the house ends up being the lady's and her father (her REAL father). What follows are some haunted house gags--most of which aren't terribly funny. The overall effect is a very forced film that lacks humor.
By the way, like many of Charley's movies, he actually directed this one using his real name, Charles Parrott.
The film begins with Charley meeting a pretty young lady. He's out of work and she tells him to see her father about a job. However, a crazy man is imitating her dad and the nutter tells Charley he'll pay him to make a house seem haunted. However, the house ends up being the lady's and her father (her REAL father). What follows are some haunted house gags--most of which aren't terribly funny. The overall effect is a very forced film that lacks humor.
By the way, like many of Charley's movies, he actually directed this one using his real name, Charles Parrott.
Great Hallowe'en Comedy
boblipton19 August 2021
After a great meet cute with Joyce compton, Charley meets with Edwin Maxwell, who convinces him to go into business as a professional house haunter. The first gig he lands is to haunt the home of Miss Compton and her father, Clarence Wilson.
My, Miss Compton had hideous fathers in her shorts with Chase! I suppose she took after her mother. In any case, it's a fine Hallowe'en comedy, with a lot of the standard gags, but some nice variations and good executions, and how Charley sits so comfortably in an invisible chair is something I can't figure out.
My, Miss Compton had hideous fathers in her shorts with Chase! I suppose she took after her mother. In any case, it's a fine Hallowe'en comedy, with a lot of the standard gags, but some nice variations and good executions, and how Charley sits so comfortably in an invisible chair is something I can't figure out.
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