Okay, let's start at the VERY beginning. Watch the storybook credits begin, and the hand turn the page, or at least tries to. It FUMBLES! Loved that. So begins 'His Brother's Ghost' a not bad actioner with the 'King Of The Cowboys' Buster Crabbe.. Yes, Buster Crabbe and his ever faithful sidekick, Al (Fuzzy) St. John. In this St John is murdered because the Bad Guys wants his land. Luckily, St. John has a twin brother that comes around to spook them out! Remember, Crabbe is the main guy here, so it IS kind of curious that the main plot focuses around St Johns' character. Oh well, Both of them are good, not great. What I always find amusing is that no one can shoot worth a lick except for Crabbe, who can shoot a gun out of someone's hand! Oh yeah, watch out for Crabbe's coughing horse. lol
13 Reviews
Al St. John Shines
FightingWesterner22 September 2009
In His Brother's Ghost, Al St. John takes center stage as both Fuzzy Jones and his twin brother Andy, a rancher besieged by villains trying to take over his spread.
Mortally wounded, he sends for Fuzzy, who then teams up with Billy Carson to battle the bad guys by dressing as his now dead brother and playing ghost to frighten the superstitious baddies into spilling the beans on their mystery employer.
Another typical entry in Producers Releasing Corporation's Billy Carson series, this has some okay action and St. John is great, really getting to show off his acting skills in the scenes where Andy lays dying.
Another great scene has Fuzzy staring through a window and getting a rise from a dim-witted gunman, disappearing into the darkness before the frightened man's companions can notice.
However, His Brother's Ghost hits a low point (for the film and the series) when Fuzzy hides behind a skinny wooden post and pokes out his head and shoulders a' la Looney Tunes. That was just too silly, even for a Saturday morning matinée western!
Mortally wounded, he sends for Fuzzy, who then teams up with Billy Carson to battle the bad guys by dressing as his now dead brother and playing ghost to frighten the superstitious baddies into spilling the beans on their mystery employer.
Another typical entry in Producers Releasing Corporation's Billy Carson series, this has some okay action and St. John is great, really getting to show off his acting skills in the scenes where Andy lays dying.
Another great scene has Fuzzy staring through a window and getting a rise from a dim-witted gunman, disappearing into the darkness before the frightened man's companions can notice.
However, His Brother's Ghost hits a low point (for the film and the series) when Fuzzy hides behind a skinny wooden post and pokes out his head and shoulders a' la Looney Tunes. That was just too silly, even for a Saturday morning matinée western!
"I ain't fightin' ghosts!"
classicsoncall6 February 2010
Warning: Spoilers
You're never sure what you're getting into with these Western ghost stories, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. This one has some of the elements you would expect, with Fuzzy St. John portraying a pair of brothers, one of whom is shot and killed, then replaced by his sibling who comes to the aid of hero Bill Carson (Buster Crabbe). The central plot has bad guy Thorne (Charlie King) night raiding local sharecroppers in order to take over their property. Pretty standard for these horse operas, and it's amazing how many times you found Charlie King in the exact same role as the chief heavy.
Since all of these B Westerns were made to appeal to the matinée youngster, it's no surprise the film makers would try to get some mileage out of the ghost angle every now and then. Fuzzy chimes in with some fade-ins and fade-outs at the cabin window of the bad guys, and even gets to do a white sheet gimmick. Fuzzy probably ad-libbed a lot of his routine, and it's not surprising to see Crabbe cracking up on screen from time to time over his antics.
What I don't get is how the film makers came up with some of their credibility defying stuff, like digging up the grave of Andy Jones to see if he was still in there, and being satisfied, filling it back in again. You think anyone would really do that? I don't know, maybe; but it just seems creepy to me.
And how about that scene near the end when Thorne shoots Bentley (Arch Hall Sr.) through a closed window without shattering it? I mean, Crabbe and Fuzzy were standing right there, couldn't they have figured out that something was wrong with that scenario? This kind of stuff happens all the time in these era pictures and is one of the reasons I get such a kick out of watching them, more so than the actual story as the case may be.
There's one other goofy thing to keep an eye out for - check out the scene when Fuzzy is shooting at the bad guys from behind a fence post. It's a cartoon moment in which his entire body is invisible until he steps out from behind the post. It's a head scratcher I've never seen before in a Forties Western flick, but now I won't be surprised if I ever see it again.
I'm still on the lookout for a Western themed ghost story that flat out goes for the comic element in a big way instead of bits thrown in every now and then as they're done here. Something on the order of the Bowery Boys in "Ghosts on the Loose" or "Spooks Run Wild". For now though, if you like this kind of stuff, check out Fuzzy in another haunted Western flick, 1947's "Ghost Town Renegades". He teams up in that one with Lash LaRue.
Since all of these B Westerns were made to appeal to the matinée youngster, it's no surprise the film makers would try to get some mileage out of the ghost angle every now and then. Fuzzy chimes in with some fade-ins and fade-outs at the cabin window of the bad guys, and even gets to do a white sheet gimmick. Fuzzy probably ad-libbed a lot of his routine, and it's not surprising to see Crabbe cracking up on screen from time to time over his antics.
What I don't get is how the film makers came up with some of their credibility defying stuff, like digging up the grave of Andy Jones to see if he was still in there, and being satisfied, filling it back in again. You think anyone would really do that? I don't know, maybe; but it just seems creepy to me.
And how about that scene near the end when Thorne shoots Bentley (Arch Hall Sr.) through a closed window without shattering it? I mean, Crabbe and Fuzzy were standing right there, couldn't they have figured out that something was wrong with that scenario? This kind of stuff happens all the time in these era pictures and is one of the reasons I get such a kick out of watching them, more so than the actual story as the case may be.
There's one other goofy thing to keep an eye out for - check out the scene when Fuzzy is shooting at the bad guys from behind a fence post. It's a cartoon moment in which his entire body is invisible until he steps out from behind the post. It's a head scratcher I've never seen before in a Forties Western flick, but now I won't be surprised if I ever see it again.
I'm still on the lookout for a Western themed ghost story that flat out goes for the comic element in a big way instead of bits thrown in every now and then as they're done here. Something on the order of the Bowery Boys in "Ghosts on the Loose" or "Spooks Run Wild". For now though, if you like this kind of stuff, check out Fuzzy in another haunted Western flick, 1947's "Ghost Town Renegades". He teams up in that one with Lash LaRue.
About what you'd expect from a B-western from PRC
planktonrules29 April 2010
During the 1930s-1950s, Hollywood made 147283401324 B-westerns--such as those with Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. However, there were many, many more B series westerns as well with the likes of Hopalong Cassidy, Lash LaRue, the Cisco Kid and many, many others.
This film stars Larry "Buster" Crabbe--ex-Olympic swimming champion and low-rent actor who played Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon in serials. While few would know it today, he actually made quite a few low-budget westerns and west definitely NOT among the better movie cowboys--though he was tall and had nice clean clothes. Now considering that "His Brother's Ghost" was made by one of the crappiest of the 'Poverty Row' studios, it's actually surprisingly good--which, really, isn't saying much! After all, most of these series films really didn't have great plots nor were the actors that great either. They were simply churned out by the dozen and undiscerning audiences loved 'em.
In this film, despite Crabbe getting top billing, the star seems to be Al St. John. If you don't know, St. John was one of Fatty Arbuckle's relatives and played his foil in many silent comedies. In the 1930s and 40s, St. John had re-invented himself as a cowboy sidekick and was kept very busy in this capacity.
The film starts with the usual rich baddies trying to run out all the ranchers. One of the most recalcitrant of the ranchers is play by St. John and the other ranchers look to him to lead a fight against the forces of evil. But, when he is killed, the cause for niceness is given a severe blow. Crabbe, though, has an idea--to get St. John's identical twin(!) to pretend to be him! This is very contrived but also a bit funny--injecting a tiny bit of life into this otherwise routine film. While you might balk at my giving it a 3, most of these films deserved 3s as they lacked imagination and depth and were meant mostly for little kids.
This film stars Larry "Buster" Crabbe--ex-Olympic swimming champion and low-rent actor who played Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon in serials. While few would know it today, he actually made quite a few low-budget westerns and west definitely NOT among the better movie cowboys--though he was tall and had nice clean clothes. Now considering that "His Brother's Ghost" was made by one of the crappiest of the 'Poverty Row' studios, it's actually surprisingly good--which, really, isn't saying much! After all, most of these series films really didn't have great plots nor were the actors that great either. They were simply churned out by the dozen and undiscerning audiences loved 'em.
In this film, despite Crabbe getting top billing, the star seems to be Al St. John. If you don't know, St. John was one of Fatty Arbuckle's relatives and played his foil in many silent comedies. In the 1930s and 40s, St. John had re-invented himself as a cowboy sidekick and was kept very busy in this capacity.
The film starts with the usual rich baddies trying to run out all the ranchers. One of the most recalcitrant of the ranchers is play by St. John and the other ranchers look to him to lead a fight against the forces of evil. But, when he is killed, the cause for niceness is given a severe blow. Crabbe, though, has an idea--to get St. John's identical twin(!) to pretend to be him! This is very contrived but also a bit funny--injecting a tiny bit of life into this otherwise routine film. While you might balk at my giving it a 3, most of these films deserved 3s as they lacked imagination and depth and were meant mostly for little kids.
This is Fuzzy's movie
Paularoc19 April 2012
After not watching westerns for two or three decades, in a fit of nostalgia I decided to watch them again. Internet Archives has quite a few of them and I selected this one – mostly because of Al St. John. Although Fuzzy having an identical twin brother is kinda a nice twist, the movie is all in all a rather pedestrian oater. However, the scene of Crabbe (Billy Carson) galloping on his horse with his arms tied was a corker. As has been pointed out previously, the business of Fuzzy peeking around the pole was unnecessary and unfunny. Although I liked Crabbe as Flash Gordon, I never did (even as a kid) warm up to him as a cowboy. My favorites were Buck Jones, Lash LaRue, Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers and Annie Oakley, all of who had a certain charisma, which, to me, Crabbe did not have. Still like Fuzzy though. At less than an hour, watching this movie is pleasant enough diversion.
Pallid attempt at mixing comedy with the Western genre
rsoonsa6 February 2001
This film is one of a series starring Buster Crabbe as Billy Carson, a rancher who spends a good portion of his time attempting to better the lives of sharecroppers and others who run afoul of varying murderous plotters; in this instance, a friend of Carson is killed and replaced by his twin brother, causing consternation amidst the villains who are convinced that the twin is a vengeful ghost. Most of this short (54 min.) work consists of two small groups of extraordinarily confident horsemen who canter about, chasing and shooting at each other, in essentially non-stop fashion; one's attention becomes drawn to spotting the interchangeability of the good and bad guys......nothing else here warrants a viewer's concentration.
Oh! Home On The Range!
strong-122-4788856 February 2014
Released in 1945 - His Brother's Ghost is just one of many, many Hollywood B-Westerns that turned me, as a youngster, into a devoted Cowboy-Junkie as I sat for hours in front of the TV set completely fascinated and entertained by these low-budget, rip-roarin' tales of the Old West.
With its simple, straight-forward story that pitted the good guys against the bad guys, His Brother's Ghost also contained elements of comedy which certainly helped to move this gun-happy tale along at a light-hearted pace.
Starring ex-Flash Gordon dude, Buster Crabbe (as good guy, Billy Carson), His Brother's Ghost tells the story of a crooked gang of ruthless marauders who are terrorizing the region by systematically murdering landowners and then taking possession of their ranches and farms.
When these cut-throat bandits kill Andy Jones (Fuzzy's brother), Billy Carson decides to enlist Fuzzy as the ghost of his brother in order to frighten these easily-scared bad guys off.
With this plan set into motion, Billy hopes to expose the gang-leader's identity, and thus bring peace to the valley and restore the stolen property to the rightful owners.
Filmed in b&w, His Brother's Ghost had a very brief running time of only 52 minutes.
This poverty-row picture was directed by Sam Newfield who, throughout the 1930s & 40s, literally turned out hundreds of similar, fast-paced B-Westerns with such titles as Stagecoach Outlaws, Prairie Badmen and Thundering Gunslingers.
With its simple, straight-forward story that pitted the good guys against the bad guys, His Brother's Ghost also contained elements of comedy which certainly helped to move this gun-happy tale along at a light-hearted pace.
Starring ex-Flash Gordon dude, Buster Crabbe (as good guy, Billy Carson), His Brother's Ghost tells the story of a crooked gang of ruthless marauders who are terrorizing the region by systematically murdering landowners and then taking possession of their ranches and farms.
When these cut-throat bandits kill Andy Jones (Fuzzy's brother), Billy Carson decides to enlist Fuzzy as the ghost of his brother in order to frighten these easily-scared bad guys off.
With this plan set into motion, Billy hopes to expose the gang-leader's identity, and thus bring peace to the valley and restore the stolen property to the rightful owners.
Filmed in b&w, His Brother's Ghost had a very brief running time of only 52 minutes.
This poverty-row picture was directed by Sam Newfield who, throughout the 1930s & 40s, literally turned out hundreds of similar, fast-paced B-Westerns with such titles as Stagecoach Outlaws, Prairie Badmen and Thundering Gunslingers.
Make that 5.5!
JohnHowardReid11 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Producer: Sigmund Neufeld. Copyright 3 March 1945 by P.R.C. Pictures, Inc. No New York opening. U.S. release: 3 February 1945. Not theatrically released in Australia. 6 reels. 54 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A crooked sheriff and the local doctor employ a gang of outlaws to run homesteaders out of the valley.
COMMENT: Not a single female in sight, so I think we can safely assume that this entry was wholly and exclusively intended for the moppet audiences of Saturday matinees. That's a pity, because the basic premise of the story holds more promise than the usual Billy "B", but it's largely worked out in a thoroughly bland and conventional fashion.
True, Newfield's direction, complete with a few running inserts, is competent enough and it's always nice to see heavies like Charles King and Karl Hackett run through their familiar paces. And for once, St John gets a chance to shine, — in a dual role.
OTHER VIEWS: Not a few directors and photographers would have grasped the opportunities presented by this entry for some atmospheric effects in the horror vein. But Newfield seems determined to play potential thrills not only as blandly as possible, but mainly to garner laughs from an easily titivated moppet audience. - JHR writing as "George Addison".
SYNOPSIS: A crooked sheriff and the local doctor employ a gang of outlaws to run homesteaders out of the valley.
COMMENT: Not a single female in sight, so I think we can safely assume that this entry was wholly and exclusively intended for the moppet audiences of Saturday matinees. That's a pity, because the basic premise of the story holds more promise than the usual Billy "B", but it's largely worked out in a thoroughly bland and conventional fashion.
True, Newfield's direction, complete with a few running inserts, is competent enough and it's always nice to see heavies like Charles King and Karl Hackett run through their familiar paces. And for once, St John gets a chance to shine, — in a dual role.
OTHER VIEWS: Not a few directors and photographers would have grasped the opportunities presented by this entry for some atmospheric effects in the horror vein. But Newfield seems determined to play potential thrills not only as blandly as possible, but mainly to garner laughs from an easily titivated moppet audience. - JHR writing as "George Addison".
What would Roy Rogers and Gabby Hayes have done?
joebridge29 October 2006
I really like this fairly short little movie. There's always something interesting about old comic "haunted" Westerns (even more-so when it isn't a "real" haunting). Al St. John effortlessly steals the show from Buster Crabbe and the absurdity of supposed twins (living away from each other) having identical beards doesn't really spoil it either.
I also really like the titles and credits; the hand turning the pages (as in "Cat Ballou") of a big, interesting book, and that quick fumble of the title page. (I guess they could only do one take, heh, but it looks like they still practiced for a while.)
The plot basically involves Al St. John in two roles, playing both Andy Jones and his twin brother who comes in to take over after Andy is shot, who plays the vengeful ghost angle rather amusingly against Thorn and his men, who are killing the sharecroppers. Fully enjoyable, even though much of the spoken line continuity makes little sense. For example, the brother having to be told that he is to play Andy's ghost after he already scares off two of Thorn's men by merely walking into the room and saying "boo", and an odd line about convincing them that Andy is "still alive" (contrary to the ghost angle) and the idea of the somewhat bumbling Andy having more ability to organize than many men working together (which is actually why Andy called Billy in in the first place).
Some chair and wardrobe busting up during a fight in the final third. It wouldn't be Western without that.
The music is pretty good as well and fits just right, and there's a better than average (and highly amusing) feel-good ending.
Funny lines (what it SOUNDS like to me, anyway):
Doc (seeming to partially forget his lines): "We didn't expect - all these...mer-ders...Thorn."
Thorn: "Well what DID you expect? You hired me to get rid of the sharecroppers and I'm doing it."
Doc: "Aw, I goes it's all-what (all-right?)..."
There's one part near the end that almost made me fall out of my chair laughing; somehow a couple people "see" that it isn't really Andy Jones, even though it is the SAME actor, looking exactly the same. Heh.
"You better talk or that mug of yours is going to look like a spoiled custard pie..." Hahaha.
8/10
I also really like the titles and credits; the hand turning the pages (as in "Cat Ballou") of a big, interesting book, and that quick fumble of the title page. (I guess they could only do one take, heh, but it looks like they still practiced for a while.)
The plot basically involves Al St. John in two roles, playing both Andy Jones and his twin brother who comes in to take over after Andy is shot, who plays the vengeful ghost angle rather amusingly against Thorn and his men, who are killing the sharecroppers. Fully enjoyable, even though much of the spoken line continuity makes little sense. For example, the brother having to be told that he is to play Andy's ghost after he already scares off two of Thorn's men by merely walking into the room and saying "boo", and an odd line about convincing them that Andy is "still alive" (contrary to the ghost angle) and the idea of the somewhat bumbling Andy having more ability to organize than many men working together (which is actually why Andy called Billy in in the first place).
Some chair and wardrobe busting up during a fight in the final third. It wouldn't be Western without that.
The music is pretty good as well and fits just right, and there's a better than average (and highly amusing) feel-good ending.
Funny lines (what it SOUNDS like to me, anyway):
Doc (seeming to partially forget his lines): "We didn't expect - all these...mer-ders...Thorn."
Thorn: "Well what DID you expect? You hired me to get rid of the sharecroppers and I'm doing it."
Doc: "Aw, I goes it's all-what (all-right?)..."
There's one part near the end that almost made me fall out of my chair laughing; somehow a couple people "see" that it isn't really Andy Jones, even though it is the SAME actor, looking exactly the same. Heh.
"You better talk or that mug of yours is going to look like a spoiled custard pie..." Hahaha.
8/10
Fuzzy Haunts the west
bkoganbing16 June 2012
Only an incredibly stupid piece of script that allows Buster Crabbe to walk into an outlaw trap, though he does break away prevents this from being one of the best of PRC series. His Brother's Ghost has Al St. John playing Fuzzy Q. Jones and his brother Andy. Andy dies though he takes his time doing it, expiring from a gunshot wound. But not before he sets up a plan to trap the outlaws. I haven't seen this long running a death since the serial Tim Tyler's Luck where Al Shean takes two chapters to take the big trip.
Andy Jones maybe with the angels, but nobody's quite sure of that as Fuzzy starts being seen around and scaring the pants off the members of a gang trying to drive homesteaders out of the valley. Veteran western villain Charles King heads the gang which has some local so called respectable community members as part of their plot. Of course Buster Crabbe takes care of them all in the end with his usual alacrity and dispatch.
If you're a fan of Al St. John's slap saddle humor than this is the film for you.
Andy Jones maybe with the angels, but nobody's quite sure of that as Fuzzy starts being seen around and scaring the pants off the members of a gang trying to drive homesteaders out of the valley. Veteran western villain Charles King heads the gang which has some local so called respectable community members as part of their plot. Of course Buster Crabbe takes care of them all in the end with his usual alacrity and dispatch.
If you're a fan of Al St. John's slap saddle humor than this is the film for you.
Andy's Ghost
StrictlyConfidential16 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
"His Brother's Ghost" was originally released back in 1945.
Anyway - As the story goes - A gang of marauders has been terrorizing the land by killing landowners and taking their ranches and farms. When the crooks kill Fuzzy's brother Andy, Billy decides to enlist Fuzzy as the ghost of his brother in order to frighten the bandits off.
Anyway - As the story goes - A gang of marauders has been terrorizing the land by killing landowners and taking their ranches and farms. When the crooks kill Fuzzy's brother Andy, Billy decides to enlist Fuzzy as the ghost of his brother in order to frighten the bandits off.
Charlie King was Great
whpratt17 April 2007
This is a Classic of all Classic early Westerns with great stars as Buster Crabbe, (Billy Carson), Al St. John,(Fuzzy Jones) and the bad bad guy who always wore a big black hat, Charles King,(Thorne) In this film Thorne is a bandit, con-man who wants to take over all the ranchers property and decides to either scare them off their land or just plain murder them all. Thorne has the doctor, sheriff and other officials in the Western town all wrapped around his little finger and is going to take Fuzzy Jones property, when Billy Carson comes to the aid of his old friend and decides to put an end to this murdering and stealing peoples ranches. There are no cowgirls in this picture at all and no singing cowboys. Charlie King made over two-hundred (200) Western Films and did a great job of standing up to Buster Crabbe. When television was appearing in most households in the 1950's all these Classic Western's could be seen on a daily basis until people got sick and tired of them. Enjoy
Far better than usual PRC B Western
morrisonhimself17 December 2019
With more characterization, and more of the minor characters getting more dialogue, director Sam Newfield brings George Milton's script to very active life.
According to IMDb, despite the different names as writers, they all were actually George Milton. And he deserves the credit.
Al "Fuzzy" St. John out-does himself this time, yes, still being his acrobatically funny self, but being an introspective self, too.
Bad guy Charles King out-does himself, too, and his look of glee at some particularly dastardly deed shows just what a good actor he really was.
Buster Crabbe doesn't stretch himself, but he looks good and, of course, handles his action well.
Behind them are some of the best Western players Hollywood ever had, and PRC once again rises well above its reputation.
I highly recommend "His Brother's Ghost" and there's a good print at YouTube.
According to IMDb, despite the different names as writers, they all were actually George Milton. And he deserves the credit.
Al "Fuzzy" St. John out-does himself this time, yes, still being his acrobatically funny self, but being an introspective self, too.
Bad guy Charles King out-does himself, too, and his look of glee at some particularly dastardly deed shows just what a good actor he really was.
Buster Crabbe doesn't stretch himself, but he looks good and, of course, handles his action well.
Behind them are some of the best Western players Hollywood ever had, and PRC once again rises well above its reputation.
I highly recommend "His Brother's Ghost" and there's a good print at YouTube.
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