Wednesday, July 29, 2009

1940 - THE GHOST BREAKERS, Bob Hope's Night of the Living Dead

Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard's follow up to their hit film The Cat and the Canary. This is another comedy/thriller. The very Caucasian Goddard improbably plays the heiress to a spooky mansion near Cuba called Black Island. There are strange rumors of voodoo and a zombie is running around on the island to complicate things a little more. Hope goes along to protect her and solve the mystery. 
 
 
Bob Hope gets to toss off the one liners and Paulette Goddard does a decent job not playing her part as a whimpering frightened female. Probably the only uncomfortable part of the movie is the African American actor Willie Best as Hope's manservant. He's funny and saves the day but the racial stereotyping is tough to sit through.
 
  
 Coming in under 90 minutes the movie is entertaining if undemanding. 
 
 
Written by Walter DeLeon and Hope's uncredited gag writers, the running time is 83 minutes.
 

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