LET’S GET PHYSICAL: GHOSTS ON THE LOOSE (1943) ***

FORMAT:  DVD (REWATCH)

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

(As posted on January 27th, 2010)

Muggs (Leo Gorcey), Glimpy (Huntz Hall), and rest of the East Side Kids try to spruce up an old house as a wedding gift to Glimpy’s sister (played by a before-she-was famous Ava Gardner).  The Kids accidentally go into the wrong house and are shocked to learn that it’s supposedly haunted.  Of course, we’ve seen enough Fake Ghosts in a Haunted House Movies to know otherwise.  As it turns out, a couple of no good spies (led by Bela Lugosi) are using the house as a hideout and churn out Nazi propaganda on a printing press in the basement.  The Kids try to put a stop to them and the usual hijinks and shenanigans ensue.

 

The first act of Ghosts on the Loose is heavily padded with lots of wedding preparation scenes.  There still is some good stuff sprinkled in there to keep you watching until the Kids get to the house though.  From then on, we get a stream of mostly funny (and sometimes stupid) one-liners and malapropisms to make any East Side Kids/Bowery Boys/Dead End Kids fan happy.

 

Ghosts on the Loose will never be mistaken for a comedy classic but director William “One-Shot” Beaudine keeps the gags coming at a steady clip.  Gorcey and Hall once again make for a good team and many of the lower tier Kids get a fair amount of screen time too.  I particularly liked the final gag in the movie when Hall comes down with a case of “German Measles”, which are essentially just little swastikas painted all over his face.

 

Naturally, if you’re an Old School Horror fan like me, you’re probably watching this flick just to see Bela Lugosi.  Even though he isn’t given a whole lot to do, Lugosi still is able to make the most of his screen time.  He also manages to be kinda funny too during the scene where he poses inside of a frame and pretends to be a painting.

 

Best exchange:  

Muggs:  What color are your eyes?

 

Dave:  Blue.

 

Muggs:  Well, if you don’t want them to be black, keep ‘em open!

 

Ghosts on the Loose is on The Video Vacuum Top Ten Films of the Year 1943 at the Number 5 spot; which places it below Hit the Ice and above Batman:  The 1943 Serial.

 

AKA:  Ghosts in the Night.  AKA:  The East Side Kids Meet Bela Lugosi.