Ominous October: Whispering Ghosts (1942)

RODNEY BOWCOCK: Brenda Joyce stars as Elizabeth Woods, the niece of a murdered pirate. The pirate has left her a decrepit ship in his will and she is determined to discover how and why he was murdered. Meanwhile, Milton Berle has his own reasons for solving the murder.

SAMANTHA GLASSER: Berle has a true-crime radio program that delves into the stories of unsolved murders and attempts to reveal the truth. The case he is currently unraveling is also of interest to the police who attempt to arrest him for obstruction of justice if he doesn’t cooperate with them. He reveals the suspect, only they already know the name. It is the murder victim’s alter ego.

RB: Yeah, so that kind of kicks the plot into motion, as Berle and his valet, Willie Best converge onto the ship to solve the murder. Meanwhile, John Carradine and Renie Riano have also planted themselves on the ship, hoping to get Berle’s attention for some radio parts. There’s also a book salesman (Grady Sutton) and his doctor friend.

SG: This is a murder that happened 10 years before, but the chalk outline is still visible

and the boat is only now being passed down to the heir. Wouldn’t it be disintegrating at

this point from lack of upkeep?

RB: Yes, but it’s for the best not to put too much thought into any plot hole in a film like

this, you know? I’m not sure why it’s even there.

SG: I can’t say I cared all that much about the outcome of the case. This movie is really just a showcase for the comedy. It seems to give up on the attempt to tell a fully formed story when at the end, Berle doesn’t recount the proceedings to his radio audience.

RB: This was yet another attempt to cash in on the Bob Hope scare comedies which were so popular. Sometimes, like with the case of Hold That Ghost, it works and transcends the tropes and cliches. This is not one of those times. It’s a comedy, but I really didn’t come close to laughing at any of Berle’s zingers. Grady Sutton made me crack a smile a couple of times.

SG: Berle pops off one-liners like firecrackers. It forces you to pay attention, but he

doesn’t seem especially warm. He kept the feeling going in a column in Variety where

he said, “Started work on my new picture, Whispering Ghosts, and, after the first scene,

Darryl Zanuck said, 'Berle, I’m going to make you a star.' And he did, out of an old

newspaper with a pair of scissors.” He continued, “Whispering Ghosts is full of excitement. All through it you see haunted and empty houses — like the kind I worked in vaudeville.”

RB: Lots and lots and lots of jokes, but they nearly all fall flat with a thud. While this was Berle’s first starring role and many actors had been drafted, he just doesn’t have it here.

SG: Willie Best’s character teeters on the edge of humor and tastelessness.

RB: Best received unusual billing in many of his films based on the fact that he WAS billed. Even the (in my opinion) much, much funnier Mantan Moreland often had uncredited roles. This was the same year that Best would be arrested for marijuana possession, a dastardly crime that would derail the career of more than one actor in the golden age. Best survived that, but didn’t fare so well with a 1951 arrest for possession of heroin.

SG: The use of ominous music for the stabbing attack on deck works well to create an

eerie atmosphere, rather than grunts and punch smacks.

RB: With four people credited with music, it’s hard to say who is to credit with that, but I

agree that it’s quite atmospheric and provides one of the highlights of the film.

SG: Lou Breslow had a knack for combining serious topics like murder with comedy. He also wrote films like Murder, He Says and You Never Can Tell.

RB: Those are good examples, but Breslow also wrote some of the Laurel and Hardy Fox films and he clearly didn’t understand those characters. Berle had no character to speak of, so Breslow’s script which would’ve worked with a million other comedians is just fine here.

SG: According to Hollywood magazine, in one scene, Brenda Joyce said, "Why, that

ghost is a man — he has underwear on"; Berle shushed her and said, “Of course he

has — do you want the Hays office after us?" The Hayes office made them cut the lines.

RB: That’s a better joke than much of what made it to the screen, and would’ve been fun.

SG: This was John Shelton’s first film under contract to 20 th Century Fox.

RB: He also starred in A-Haunting We Will Go, a dismal 1942 Laurel and Hardy film

also with a script by Breslow.

SG: The New York Herald Tribune said, “Altogether too many comedians assigned to

the vehicle. Cast strives earnestly though somewhat vainly to make it a really funny

film.” 

The New York World Telegram’s reviewer wrote, “All the tested ingredients of mystery

farce. Stretched rather thin because little or no imagination or invention has gone into

the proceedings. Old-hat stuff".

Motion Picture Herald preferred Berle’s later film Over My Dead Body.

RB: The neighborhood theaters felt similarly. “Poor picture and poor business. Did not

hear a favorable comment” lamented SL George of the Mountain Home Theatre in

Mountain Home ID.

“Not so good as a picture or at the box office. Berle has no attraction here” opined

Arthur E Pfifield over at the Park Theatre in South Merwick ME.

Personally, I liked the movie, even though it wasn’t funny. The atmosphere was good.

Brenda Joyce was more than capable and while, as you noted, Willie Best borders on

offensive, that’s the way it was. Two and a half stars.

SG:

I wanted to like it more than I did because it started so strong, but it relied too heavily on

predictable gags and twists to be thrilling. 2.5 stars.