‘It’s scarewy!’
Whispering Ghosts is a 1942 American comedy horror film about a group of people who try to solve a murder on a ship. It was obviously inspired by the spate of successful haunted house comedies of the previous few years, especially The Cat and the Canary (1939) The Ghost Breakers (1940) both starring Bob Hope, Hold That Ghost (1941), with Abbott and Costello, and Whistling in the Dark (1941) with Red Skelton.
The movie was directed by Alfred L. Werker (A-Haunting We Will Go) from a screenplay by Lou Breslow based on a story by Philip MacDonald with additional material for Milton Berle by Joseph Erens and Ray Singer.
The 20th Century Fox production stars Milton Berle, Brenda Joyce, John Shelton, John Carradine, Willie Best, Edmund MacDonald, Arthur Hohl, Grady Sutton and Milton Parsons.
Plot [includes spoilers]:
It is established that Captain Eli Wetherby was mysteriously murdered a decade prior inside his unusual home— a real sea vessel hauled up onto dry land. His niece, Elizabeth “Betty” Woods (Brenda Joyce), has finally officially inherited the ship, which is also rumoured to contain a massive fortune in hidden diamonds.
Meanwhile, H.H. Van Buren (Milton Berle) is a popular radio personality who portrays a brilliant detective on the airwaves. After mistakenly boasting on-air that he has solved the decade-old Wetherby murder, Van Buren realises he is actually wrong. With a self-imposed one-week deadline before his next live broadcast broadcast, he and his timid chauffeur/valet Euclid Brown (Willie Best) head out to the derelict ship to find the real killer.
To make matters more chaotic, a rival performer plays a practical joke on Van Buren by hiring actors —including a theatrical character named Long Jack (John Carradine) — to masquerade as ghosts and scare him away. Because of this trick, Van Buren initially refuses to take anything seriously, dismissing genuine danger as part of the gag.
However, after a real crew member is stabbed, a heavy storm rolls in and traps everyone on board. Clues start unraveling via an inscribed dog collar and a captain’s log. Van Buren and Euclid eventually use a large globe to map out a historical sailing course from September 23, 1929, which functions as a combination code to unlock a secret wall compartment. They find the hidden diamonds — which are ironically revealed to be almost worthless Mexican rock crystals — and unmask the real killer, Inspector Norris (Manuel Dazetta), before hauling him off to jail.
Choice dialogue:
Van: “Don’t be so nervous!”
Euclid: “I’m not nervous!”
Van: “Then stop biting my nails!”
Norbert (Long Jack) [John Carradine]: “Now, there’s no use getting excited old boy.”
H.H. Van Buren [Milton Berle]: “What are you doing? Now why don’t you just go and play in the subway.”
H.H. Van Buren [Milton Berle]: “C’mon lamebrain, I’ll show that lamebrain whose a lamebrain.”
H.H. Van Buren [Milton Berle]: “Whose the character with the mink bib?”
H.H. Van Buren [Milton Berle]: “Now look whose here, hit-and-run Harry.”
Production notes:
The working titles of this film were Whispering Wires and Whispering in the Dark.
According to information in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records, Milton Sperling wrote an original story entitled Whispering Wires, but his work was not used for the final film. Ralph Spence, Jack Jungmeyer, Jr. and Maurice Rapf also wrote treatments for the picture, but the extent of their contribution to the completed film has not been confirmed.
Notes:
Although Willie Best’s character is listed as “Euclid White” in the end credits, in the film he is called “Euclid Brown.”
Release date:
May 17, 1942
Cast and characters:
Milton Berle as H.H. Van Buren
Brenda Joyce as Elizabeth Woods
John Shelton as David Courtland
John Carradine as Norbert (Long Jack)
Willie Best as Euclid White
Edmund MacDonald as Gilpin
Arthur Hohl as Inspector Norris
Grady Sutton as Jonathan Flack
Milton Parsons as Doctor Bascomb
Abner Biberman as Mack Wolf
Renie Riano as Meg [as Rene Riano]
Charles Halton as Gruber
Harry Hayden as Conroy
Filming locations:
20th Century Fox Studios – 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California
Tech specs:
1h 15m (75 min)
Black and white
Aspect ratio: 1.37: 1
Free online on YouTube [be wary of 1940s racist dialogue]:
Image credits:
Micro-brewed Reviews
Zombo’s Closet
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