Watch The Living Ghost For Free

Better Late Then Never

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Nick Trayne (James Dunn) is a former detective for the D.A.s' office who's now earning a living as a professional "listener". (Meaning he listens to customers voice their problems in life.) He's convinced to return to his old line of work to help solve a baffling case. A prominent financier, Walter Craig (Gus Glassmire), has gone missing. Although his family fears the worst, he later turns up alive, albeit in a zombie like condition. With the lovely young Billie Hilton (Joan Woodbury) at his side, he pursues all leads in a determined fashion.While the plot is routine stuff (with a classic, age old motivation for our mysterious antagonist), "The Living Ghost" garners most of its entertainment value through its healthy comedy quotient. Quips come flying at a rapid pace. Nick is the kind of guy with a wise ass comment for almost every occasion, but unlike Leonard Maltin, I found a lot of his dialogue quite priceless. Dunn - who later won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" - is ideal in the role of this goofy hero. He has good chemistry with many of his co- stars and there is some hilarious banter. The exchanges between him and deadpan butler Norman Willis are standouts.Don't let the title fool you into thinking this is a horror film. "The Living Ghost" barely qualifies for that genre, although there is some wonderfully spooky and atmospheric stuff that takes place in an old run down house. Director William Beaudine does a fine job with the pacing; this zippy movie only runs about one hour long. And just in case we didn't "get it", Trayne explains it all for us in the concluding minutes, just like many a mystery story through the years.And Dunn, Woodbury, and Beaudine do send us away with an amused smile on our faces.Six out of 10.

Living Ghost, The (1942) ** (out of 4) A detective is hired to find out who killed a man but once he's on the scene another victim falls into some sort of zombie-like state. Here's another "old dark house" film that has a rather boring mystery plot and lifeless direction from the usually reliable William Beaudine.Ghost Walks, The (1934) ** (out of 4) A screenwriter invites his producer's to an old dark house. He's paid a bunch of actors to act out his play so that the producer will put up the money but soon a real killer starts to stalk them. The premise is rather interesting but like most of these types of films of the era it really never gets too interesting due to the lackluster direction. Perhaps I've just seen way too many of these films but they all appear the same. Just a different cast.

Have a house full of suspects. Bring in some unconventional detective who acts, at times, like an idiot, to solve the case, and you have this movie. Throw in the pretty sidekick, the tough mouthy female, and that adds another dimension. Saying that, I've already seen it a few times before. It doesn't mean that the byplay isn't fun and the murder isn't a challenge to figure out. After all, there is a guy who walks around with half a brain. Still, it is lacking. The seriousness of the murder is tossed aside and they go on this long escapade. The romance blooms while they search for the killer. I wish that they didn't have to spend so much time in a dark basement during the climax of the movie. I know that part of the suspense is based on the unknown aspects of the dark, but it goes on, and, frankly, I couldn't see anyone. I do like these old black and white mysteries, but, often, if you've seen one, you've seen the rest.

This is a very interesting, off-beat mystery, concerning a man who disappears from his home, and is found later with a paralyzed brain. But....is he a killer?This film is notable because it is probably Joan Woobury's biggest role. Despite what L. Matlin says, "Nick Trayne" is QUITE amusing, and adds a lot of "zest" to the film.