It's funny, as famous as Bob Hope is, I never actually saw one of his movies until now. THE GHOST BREAKERS is a charming little comedy set against the backdrop of a haunted house. Bob Hope stars as the star of a gossip radio show who goes on the lam when he runs afoul of some gangsters and ends up accidentally stowing away aboard a ship bound for Cuba in a trunk belonging to Paulette Godard, who has recently inherited a castle and is on her way to check it out.
Godard's plagued with warnings of how dangerous and haunted the castle is, and receives ominous threats in the form of voodoo trinkets, but with the help of Hope, she soldiers on to check out her new property.
Hope takes it upon himself to check out the supposedly haunted castle -- mostly to impress Godard, but also because he simply refuses to buy the local legends. He brings along his reluctant servant, played by Willie Best, to find out if the ghosts are real or an elaborate scam to keep Godard away from the castle.
The plot is pretty simple and most of the movie deals with the mishaps that lead to Hope making it onto the boat to Cuba. It's about an hour before our heroes actually get to the haunted castle, so most of the ghost hijinks work as the finale of the movie as opposed to the bulk of it. Aside from ghosts, there are also a couple supposed zombies -- the caretaker of the castle (Virginia Brissac) and her son (hey, it's Noble Johnson again!).
Anthony Quinn is on hand in a mysterious dual role, along with Richard Carlson as a little bit of romantic competition for Hope and Paul Lukas as a solicitor who tries to dissuade Godard from taking over the haunted property.
For a fairly light hearted comedy, THE GHOST BREAKERS has some great, creepy atmosphere. While it is never outright scary, the castle and its surroundings are beautifully built and lit sets, and even scenes in the hotel at the beginning of the film and on the decks of the ship to Cuba are shot as if this is a big budget special effects picture instead of a humble comedy. I also like that the plot has Hope investigating the hauntings as a skeptic who dismisses the existence of ghosts out of hand.
The thing I liked most about this movie is also the thing that challenged me most, and that is the performance of African American actor Willie Best as Hope's cowardly servant. Best gets all the choicest lines and has great comic timing, both verbally and physically. He makes the perfect sidekick for Hope and the two are an engaging team. He's the highlight of the flick. Unfortunately, he's in one of those roles that's a little cringe inducing these days -- a bumbling black servant to a superior white guy. If you have even a teeny little bit of social conscience, you'll probably find yourself wondering if you're "allowed" to laugh at this material or not.
I finally settled on not being too uptight. The fact of the matter is, Best is hilarious. He basically steals the movie. Regardless of the historical context or the broader meaning of his role, the way it was written and conceived, and what that might say about society at large, he's still funny. It sucks that certain truths about racism made me have to think twice about an otherwise brilliant performance, especially a comedic one, especially when so few black actors had a chance to shine in this period.
Best got into this movie both because of and in spite of racism, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to give his performance its due.
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