Grab the Ghost (1920) User Reviews

Not exactly deep or sophisticated, but it is FUN

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 3 May 2007]

Snub marries a pretty lady but her ex-boyfriend vows revenge. So he cooks up a scheme to convince Snub that his new home is haunted. Using a hidden parrot that yells "murder" and a few other tricks, soon Snub and his bride are running about the house in fear. Eventually, the cops get involved and everyone blames Snub--until the truth is revealed in the end.

While this pales in comparison with better Snub Pollard comedy shorts (such as IT'S A GIFT) and the plot is awfully derivative, it still is a lot of fun and holds up reasonably well over the years. In many ways, this film is very similar to Harold Lloyd's, HAUNTED SPOOKS, though Lloyd's film is definitely the better of the two.

Another Funny (if Dated) Pollard Comedy on "YOU TUBE"

[theowinthrop · 7/10 · 11 August 2007]

While not as funny as IT'S A GIFT, this Snub Pollard comedy has a build-up to a chase based on fears of ghosts. It just works - hurt only by some 1920 racist humor at the expense of African-Americans (as servants).

Snub is getting married and a rival decides to ruin the marriage on the wedding night in revenge. First he arranges to drive off with the bride in the wedding limousine (Snub chases it, and when he catches it he has to ride holding onto the spare tire in the car's back). Next he arranges for a parrot that yells "Murder!" and "Help!" gets strategically placed under the happy couple's dining room table. Finally he tells Snub that there have been several tragedies in the house - at least one of a suicide and another of a bearded old geezer strangling and stabbing his wife. Snub is made nervous by this. But soon he starts seeing such an old geezer around the house. So do several of the servants, and finally Snub's bride (Marie Mosquini - the future Mrs. Lee de Forrest). Soon figures under blankets show up as well - are they the ghost or various people (including Snub) hiding? There are nice touches when a squadron of Policemen start racing around the house - one of them, a very fat one, keeps staying in the rear, sitting down in chairs and napping (he always rejoins his buddies when they come back down stairs without missing a beat). But the bad bits are with the Black house servants - frequently panicking outlandishly (even if Snub and Marie are too) by the so-called ghost with the beard. The best one of them is Marie's maid, who is large like Louis Beavers or Hattie MacDaniel. She too hides, and chases Snub out of the bed she's hiding in when he jumps in. But that moment of independent action is rare compared to the rest of the house servant staff.

The end result is very amusing, but the racism sticks in one's craw, so that the film can only get a "7" out of "10" from me. However, the conclusion (dealing with a piece of the wedding cake) is quite good - bringing back that fat cop and the youngest Black servant (a little boy) as well, and tastefully.