Episode 127 - The Ghost Breakers

Welcome to our first Patreon podcast post! “The Ghost Breakers” takes us on a horror-comedy ride from New York City to an ocean liner on to Cuba then to a seemingly deserted island mansion. Bob Hope as crime reporter Larry Lawrence leads the way through a collection of sometimes dangerous and sometimes funny situations. At his side is the trusty partner/valet Alex portrayed by William Best. As the film unfolds Larry and Alex encounter underworld thugs, beautiful Mary Carter played by Paulette Goddard, shadowy people with secrets, a zombie, as well as several ghosts. Director George Marshall does a yeoman’s job of holding all this together sprinkled throughout with classic Bob Hope one liners. Paul Lukas is believable as the concerned Mr. Parada, Richard Carlson as the suave man with his secret plan, Anthony Quinn appears as twin brothers Ramon and Francisco Mederos. Paul Fix is the lead gangster and Lloyd Corrigan as Martin keeps appearing as we wonder what is his game. Watching the film we both thought that William Best’s role could have been reshaped to more fully reflect his talent. Unfortunately in 1940 this just didn’t happen. The special effects and cinematography were first rate and added to the moody foreboding of the island and mansion. For a comparison with a later version of horror-comedy check out 1948’s “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” that we reviewed in Episode 19. Here's the IMDB page for "The Ghost Breakers" Up next we're headed on a "Journey to the Center of the Earth"! Be sure to leave a comment to join in the discussion. We will reply usually within a few hours. We'd love to hear from you!