STUFF YOU GOTTA WATCH - Hold That Ghost

HOLD THAT GHOST

(1941)
With Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Richard Carlson, Joan Davis, Mischa Auer, Shemp Howard, Ted Lewis and His Orchestra, The Andrews Sisters
Directed by Arthur Lubin
Black and White
Reviewed by JB

HOLD THAT GHOST is one of Abbott and Costello's best films, a thoroughly entertaining picture featuring just about everything but a barrel of monkeys - the antics of Bud and Lou, a haunted house, gangsters, Ted Lewis, The Andrews Sisters, secondary laugh-getters in Joan Davis and Shemp Howard, and a pair of romantic leads that for once are likable rather than dismissable. The film relies less on tried and true burlesque routines and more on Lou Costello's ability to get laughs while being frightened to death. As always, Bud is blissfully unaware of any strange goings-on, an always reliable premise for this pair which was later ressurected for ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN. The best scenes are the routine "Oh, Chic!", in which mysterious moving candles work Lou into a frenzy, and a comic dance routine between Lou and Joan Davis. ½ - JB