Ghost Chasers (1951)

Really Surprised!

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

"Ghost Chasers" surprised me, as it's a very enjoyable Bowery Boys film...something I just didn't expect...especially when I learned that the picture was shot in just 6 days!!!The story involves some phony psychics who are bilking customers out of their money with promises they can talk to their dead loved ones. Oddly, the only one who doesn't fall for any of this is Slip...and he's an idiot! Well, the story gets very strange when Edgar, a 300 year-old ghost shows up because he, too, is mad about the phony psychics and offers to help Sach uncover the gang's dirty tricks. However, no one else seems to be able to see Edgar and you can only assume he appears to REALLY dumb folks! Overall, this is actually a rather cute installment of the series. Edgar is a very likable character and I loved when he stopped to talk to the audience early in the story! In addition, the film offers some nice twists and kept my interest. Is it brilliant entertainment? Certainly not but it is a very watchable B-movie--and better than you'd expect.

Considering all the stories the East Side Kids/Bowery Boys did that hinted at ghosts in the title, none actually ever showed up, at least not of the white sheet variety. Besides this one, there was "Spooks Run Wild" (1941), "Ghosts on the Loose" (1943), and "Spook Busters" (1946). Trying to pick a 'best' out of this mix is a moot exercise, you haven't a ghost of a chance.The first surprise I got here was during a roll of the opening credits. Topping the list it was unusual to see the name of Bernard Gorcey, a regular in these stories as Louie Dumbrowsky, but his name usually wound up on the second screen of supporting players. It was also unusual to see the amount of quality time that Billy Benedict got in the story, especially in the early going teamed up with Sach (Huntz Hall). The term 'quality' here is used as a pejorative, there wasn't much quality to these pictures, but if you enjoy the goofy antics of the Bowery Boys, it doesn't much matter.You know, if you follow the money trail here, you might wonder why Slip (Leo Gorcey) never got into the investment business. After he snookered Louie out of the hundred bucks during the séance routine to help out Mrs. Parelli (Argentina Brunetti), he wound up collecting two hundred dollars from Madame Zola (Belle Mitchell). Check it out, if you watch that scene again, you'll see that he got his own hundred bucks back for Louie, and Mrs. Parelli got her hundred dollars too! Maybe these guys weren't as dumb as I thought.Well, hold that thought a minute. There was that later scene when Professor Krantz (Marshall Bradford) failed to hypnotize Sach. Even his amazing hypnotic power wasn't strong enough to affect a moron or an idiot. I guess Sach was both.With an able assist from Lloyd Corrigan as a three hundred year old 'ghost', this is a fast paced Bowery Boys flick that wreaks havoc on the spirit racket and leaves the con men (and women) with the short end of the stick. The only problem with the story was that Louie never did get his money back from dead Uncle Jake, but at least he had the best analysis of things when he observed at one point - "It's a long and ridiculous story".

The boys get mixed up with a gang of phony spiritualists, at the same time Sach gets some special help.What a hoot when Slip gives elocution lessons "how now brown cow" to coarse-talking Cynthia (Kayne). That's like Attila the Hun giving nice-nice lessons to Ghengis Khan. The pace really picks up once the boys invade Margo the phony Medium's house. Along the way, Sach picks up an impish ghost Edgar (Corrigan) that only he can see. It's a funny schtick since Edgar does all kinds of magic that confounds the disbelieving gang. Then too, catch that fractured Shakespeare Sach starts speaking after listening to the high-brow Edgar. Corrigan and Hall really work well together and Hall is livelier than in many of the other entries.In fact, there are several centers of comedy, including Slip and the gang, and pint-sized Louie (B. Gorcey) doing his midget brand. And I hope they paid the boys extra for holding those frozen poses as well as they did, especially when they get lifted up. Also, I like the way Edgar "breaks character" and talks to the audience. Here, it's a rather charming touch. Of course, no one expects high-brow humor from these grade school drop-outs, but this entry is more imaginative and livelier than most.

Ghost Chasers (1951) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Funny entry in the never-ending series has Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the other boys trying to bring down a medium who is charging people large sums of money for her fake spiritual advice. These victims include Slip's neighbor who recently lost her son in the war and is now trying to get in contact with him. At just 68-minutes this movie has a few too many slow spots but overall this is one of the better entries in the series and it's certainly one of their best when it comes to mixing comedy and the darker horror elements. I think some of the funniest moments happen early on when a few of the boys are in the back of Louie's shop doing a fake séance and Louie himself walks in and gets scared out of his wits. Bernard Gorcey is again back as Louie and he has some really funny moments as the screenplay makes the right decision to include him in on some of the action and the viewer gets rewarded with some nice laughs. Lloyd Corrigan gets a rather large part of a ghost who helps Sach get out of the various bad situations he gets himself into. I thought some of the stuff between the Hall and Corrigan was funny but after a while it started to get somewhat boring. With that said, Hall certainly steals the show with his idiot character constantly doing one dumb thing after another. He gets some pretty big laughs especially during the scenes where he gets scared for the various things going on. The scene where he first sees the ghost is priceless and he certainly helps keep things moving. Leo is in fine form as well, although he's part isn't nearly as big as usual. Lela Bliss isn't too bad as the medium but it's Bernard Gorcey that really nails everything home. Fans of the series will certainly want to check this one out but I think this one is good enough to the point where even non-fans will probably find themselves laughing.