Shemp Howard Month: Ghost Crazy (1944) Review
As you may have noticed, all of the previously covered films this month have only featured Shemp in supporting roles. The reason for this is that Shemp only found himself in the lead whenever he was working in short subjects at Vitaphone and later Columbia. When it came to features, though, studios really didn’t know what to do with him, so they gave him small parts in features that very rarely left an impression, either because of how small his part was or because the film itself was not particularly popular. No studio was willing to put Shemp into the spotlight...
Except for one. In 1944, Monogram Pictures teamed up Shemp with Billy Gilbert and Maxie Rosenbloom for a trio of films in which they received top-billing. Gilbert was a character actor who appeared with many of the top comedians of the day, including Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, and even the Three Stooges. Probably his greatest legacy was as the voice of two characters for Walt Disney Productions: he was Willie the Giant in Fun and Fancy Free and Sneezy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This was not the first time he was paired with Shemp; the two had previously appeared together in Universal’s Arabian Nights. Rosenbloom was a boxer-turned-actor who also sometimes appeared in comedies, notably Kelly the Second and Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Cops. Under Producer Sam Katzman, these three starred in 3 of a Kind, Crazy Knights, and Trouble Chasers.
These three films are not easily available, most likely due to low sales potential since these three actors are not widely recognized names, outside of maybe Shemp. The most easily available title is Ghost Crazy, the reissue title for Crazy Knights, which received a couple home video releases. Therefore, this is the film we will be discussing today.
In Ghost Crazy, Billy, Shemp, and Dave Hammon (Bernard Sell) are part of a traveling carnival show. While on their way to their next performance, they come across Mr. Gardner (John Hamilton), his niece Joan (Jayne Hazard), his secretary Ralph (Tay Dunn), and their driver Maxie, who are having car trouble. Dave is instantly smitten with Joan and offers to give them a lift, but they all eventually find themselves in a haunted house and in the middle of a murder case.
So let’s start by addressing Billy, Shemp, and Maxie. Despite being promoted as a trio, they really aren’t much of one for the majority of the film. Instead, Billy and Shemp work mainly as a comedy duo while Maxie sort of disappears until the last third of the film. Supposedly, a similar problem occurs in 3 of a Kind. I actually had an opportunity to see Trouble Chasers a while back and if I recall correctly, the problem seemed to be strangely reversed: Shemp and Maxie seemed to be working more off each other while Billy was more involved in the main plot.
The film plays mainly as a scare comedy, obviously trying to capitalize off the success of Abbott and Costello’s Hold That Ghost. Obviously this film pales in comparison to Ghost, since Lou Costello was the master of being comically scared. Honestly, though, I actually do think they pull this off pretty well. I always felt Shemp was pretty good at doing scared reactions, probably more than his brothers or Larry Fine. Even though he and the others aren’t Costello, their more controlled reactions work well in their own way and the results are actually better than most other comedians who tried to do this kind of comedy, including Laurel and Hardy and the Three Stooges.
Speaking of the Stooges, they clearly had an influence on this as well. Billy does quite a bit of slapping towards Shemp and occasionally you’ll see a Three Stooges gag in there (notably the “I had my eyes shut” exchange). Despite the clear Stooges influence, though, Billy and Shemp actually do make a pretty good team. One of Billy’s strengths in his acting was his ability to show off comic frustration; this made him the perfect fit for the music professor in Laurel and Hardy’s The Music Box and makes him a good fit for the leader of the two throughout Ghost Crazy. Shemp gets plenty of opportunities to do some fast talking and Billy keeps up with him quite well. There’s a particularly funny scene where they’re both stuck in a room with a painting of a man that keeps changing his facial features; there’s a lot of comic confusion involved and their reactions to the situation are priceless.
Maxie gets a few comedic moments on his own that never really take off, but when he returns for the final third he actually keeps up pretty well with Shemp and Billy. He and Shemp set up a couple funny verbal exchanges in response to Billy’s requests that aren’t particularly long, but which I still found pretty effective. The comic highlight of the film is one scene in particular where a detective is trying to question the three, only to find himself in the hot seat while they question him instead. There’s just so much going on in this scene: lots of fast talking, Shemp accidentally pointing a light in his face, Maxie blowing smoke in the detective’s face, Billy putting himself into the chair. The comic timing in this scene is perfect and really showed that these three did have potential as a trio had their characters actually been written that way.
The rest of the cast is a bit of a mixed bag. The romantic leads as well as Tay Dunn are pretty dull, though John Hamilton, Tim Ryan (who also wrote the story and screenplay), and Minerva Urecal all do pretty well in their roles. The plot isn’t anything particularly special, though I will give it credit in that I actually didn’t see the ending coming. It is interesting that this was able to tell a mystery much better than the higher budgeted and more serious The Strange Case of Dr. Rx. Again, nothing special, and it does occasionally drag a bit, but a lot of this is made up for by the comedic leads.
Ghost Crazy is a fun little B film that benefits from great comedic talent. It’s not one of the most riveting films out there, but for someone like me who very much appreciates Shemp’s skills, this is one of the best uses of him in a feature. If you get a chance, check it out for yourself and enjoy the craziness.
8 out of 10
Except for one. In 1944, Monogram Pictures teamed up Shemp with Billy Gilbert and Maxie Rosenbloom for a trio of films in which they received top-billing. Gilbert was a character actor who appeared with many of the top comedians of the day, including Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, and even the Three Stooges. Probably his greatest legacy was as the voice of two characters for Walt Disney Productions: he was Willie the Giant in Fun and Fancy Free and Sneezy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This was not the first time he was paired with Shemp; the two had previously appeared together in Universal’s Arabian Nights. Rosenbloom was a boxer-turned-actor who also sometimes appeared in comedies, notably Kelly the Second and Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Cops. Under Producer Sam Katzman, these three starred in 3 of a Kind, Crazy Knights, and Trouble Chasers.
These three films are not easily available, most likely due to low sales potential since these three actors are not widely recognized names, outside of maybe Shemp. The most easily available title is Ghost Crazy, the reissue title for Crazy Knights, which received a couple home video releases. Therefore, this is the film we will be discussing today.
In Ghost Crazy, Billy, Shemp, and Dave Hammon (Bernard Sell) are part of a traveling carnival show. While on their way to their next performance, they come across Mr. Gardner (John Hamilton), his niece Joan (Jayne Hazard), his secretary Ralph (Tay Dunn), and their driver Maxie, who are having car trouble. Dave is instantly smitten with Joan and offers to give them a lift, but they all eventually find themselves in a haunted house and in the middle of a murder case.
So let’s start by addressing Billy, Shemp, and Maxie. Despite being promoted as a trio, they really aren’t much of one for the majority of the film. Instead, Billy and Shemp work mainly as a comedy duo while Maxie sort of disappears until the last third of the film. Supposedly, a similar problem occurs in 3 of a Kind. I actually had an opportunity to see Trouble Chasers a while back and if I recall correctly, the problem seemed to be strangely reversed: Shemp and Maxie seemed to be working more off each other while Billy was more involved in the main plot.
The film plays mainly as a scare comedy, obviously trying to capitalize off the success of Abbott and Costello’s Hold That Ghost. Obviously this film pales in comparison to Ghost, since Lou Costello was the master of being comically scared. Honestly, though, I actually do think they pull this off pretty well. I always felt Shemp was pretty good at doing scared reactions, probably more than his brothers or Larry Fine. Even though he and the others aren’t Costello, their more controlled reactions work well in their own way and the results are actually better than most other comedians who tried to do this kind of comedy, including Laurel and Hardy and the Three Stooges.
Speaking of the Stooges, they clearly had an influence on this as well. Billy does quite a bit of slapping towards Shemp and occasionally you’ll see a Three Stooges gag in there (notably the “I had my eyes shut” exchange). Despite the clear Stooges influence, though, Billy and Shemp actually do make a pretty good team. One of Billy’s strengths in his acting was his ability to show off comic frustration; this made him the perfect fit for the music professor in Laurel and Hardy’s The Music Box and makes him a good fit for the leader of the two throughout Ghost Crazy. Shemp gets plenty of opportunities to do some fast talking and Billy keeps up with him quite well. There’s a particularly funny scene where they’re both stuck in a room with a painting of a man that keeps changing his facial features; there’s a lot of comic confusion involved and their reactions to the situation are priceless.
Maxie gets a few comedic moments on his own that never really take off, but when he returns for the final third he actually keeps up pretty well with Shemp and Billy. He and Shemp set up a couple funny verbal exchanges in response to Billy’s requests that aren’t particularly long, but which I still found pretty effective. The comic highlight of the film is one scene in particular where a detective is trying to question the three, only to find himself in the hot seat while they question him instead. There’s just so much going on in this scene: lots of fast talking, Shemp accidentally pointing a light in his face, Maxie blowing smoke in the detective’s face, Billy putting himself into the chair. The comic timing in this scene is perfect and really showed that these three did have potential as a trio had their characters actually been written that way.
The rest of the cast is a bit of a mixed bag. The romantic leads as well as Tay Dunn are pretty dull, though John Hamilton, Tim Ryan (who also wrote the story and screenplay), and Minerva Urecal all do pretty well in their roles. The plot isn’t anything particularly special, though I will give it credit in that I actually didn’t see the ending coming. It is interesting that this was able to tell a mystery much better than the higher budgeted and more serious The Strange Case of Dr. Rx. Again, nothing special, and it does occasionally drag a bit, but a lot of this is made up for by the comedic leads.
Ghost Crazy is a fun little B film that benefits from great comedic talent. It’s not one of the most riveting films out there, but for someone like me who very much appreciates Shemp’s skills, this is one of the best uses of him in a feature. If you get a chance, check it out for yourself and enjoy the craziness.
8 out of 10
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