The Living Ghost (1942)

Best movie of this year hands down!

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

So much average

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This humorous mystery is directed by William Beaudine and has a former private detective Nick Trayne (James Dunn) coming out of retirement to find a missing wealthy banker Walter Craig (Gus Glassmire). Before the Craig family can get used to Traynes oddball antics, Walter reappears, but in a zombie-like state. When a member of the family is stabbed to death, suspicion falls on the catatonic banker. Nick is sure this is not true and there is a whole lot more to this situation. The wise-cracking Nick finds time to fall in love with Miss Billie Hilton (Joan Woodbury), a member of the family, that seems to be sticking to him like glue. Their quip trading is comic relief. Atmospheric and a fun watch for sure.Rounding out the cast: Jan Wiley, Paul McVey, Norman Willis, J. Ferrell MacDonald and Howard Banks.

When a wealthy man is kidnapped, former private investigator James Dunn steps in to investigate. But he is no ordinary P.I. He is first seen in a swami get-up apparently reading into people's minds and giving them answers to their problems. Huh? He accompanies the kidnapped man's secretary (Joan Woodbury) to the mansion where he meets the man's creepy family which includes the eccentric Aunt Delia (a wasted Minerva Urecal in a very showy cameo) who is into the occult. All of a sudden, the kidnapped millionaire reappears in a trance-like state and all sorts of strange occurrences begin to happen. This leads Woodbury and Dunn to an abandoned house where they find another zombie like human, and to an obvious inclusion that any grade schooler could figure out. Monogram did dozens of these kinds of films in the 30's and 40's, and only the actors and character names changed. Some of them are a bit more entertaining than the others thanks to humorous scripts, but this one is silly and dull. It should be mentioned that the kidnapped man's name is Walter Craig, the name of the husband in George Kelly's play and 1936 movie "Craig's Wife" and its 1950 remake "Harriet Craig".

James Dunn had been Fox's breezy leading man in the early 1930s but by the late 30s he was drinking heavily and could not find much work. This is one of the films he made before he showed people what a fine and sensitive actor he was in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1945).Directed by workhorse William Beaudine it is a "quickie" Monogram production that starts out dealing with psychics and zombies but fizzles out half way through. When a banker, Mr. Craig, turns up missing, the family decide to call in Nick Trane (James Dunn), an eccentric private detective who is earning a living as a psychic. He meets all the assorted relatives, including pretty Billie Hilton (Joan Woodbury) and wacky Aunt Delia (Minerva Urecal) who believes she has psychic powers. Suddenly Mr. Craig turns up in a trance like state. Nick and Billie join forces to find the culprit. He organises to meet Mr. Phillips in the garden but then Phillips turns up dead. Mr. Craig then starts to walk around in a zombie like state - he has a knife and tries to kill Nick. There is also an odd butler, who suffers from insomnia, as well as hijinks at a haunted house. There is even a title, in my DVD that says - "Please wait one moment - while we change reels"!!!!James Dunn shows the same likability that he had early in his career. Minerva Urecal found a home at "Mother's" in the Peter Gunn TV series of the 50s.

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.