Ghost Chasers (1951)

Absolutely the worst movie.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The boys get mixed up with a gang of phony spiritualists, at the same time Sach gets some special help.What a hoot when Slip gives elocution lessons "how now brown cow" to coarse-talking Cynthia (Kayne). That's like Attila the Hun giving nice-nice lessons to Ghengis Khan. The pace really picks up once the boys invade Margo the phony Medium's house. Along the way, Sach picks up an impish ghost Edgar (Corrigan) that only he can see. It's a funny schtick since Edgar does all kinds of magic that confounds the disbelieving gang. Then too, catch that fractured Shakespeare Sach starts speaking after listening to the high-brow Edgar. Corrigan and Hall really work well together and Hall is livelier than in many of the other entries.In fact, there are several centers of comedy, including Slip and the gang, and pint-sized Louie (B. Gorcey) doing his midget brand. And I hope they paid the boys extra for holding those frozen poses as well as they did, especially when they get lifted up. Also, I like the way Edgar "breaks character" and talks to the audience. Here, it's a rather charming touch. Of course, no one expects high-brow humor from these grade school drop-outs, but this entry is more imaginative and livelier than most.

***SPOILERS*** The "Bowery Boys" get the unexpected help from 300 year old ghost Edger in them busting a major spirit & medium racket in the New York City area. This spirit racket has been taking people to the cleaners in claiming to be able to contact their dead friends and loved ones. And in the case of sweet shop owner Louie Dumbrowsky,in his long dead Uncle Jake, those who owed them money but kicked off or died before they had a chance to pay them back.It was Slip who got on the case of exposing this phony medium Madam Zola who tired to gyp his neighbor Mrs. Parnelli out of $100.00 in claiming that she can contact the spirit of her dead son Frankie who was killed in the Korean War. Slip in threatening to turn over Madan Zola to the police bunko squad has her spill the beans on the spirit racket that she's a member of by fingering the big boss Dr.Grandville and his partner in crime phony medium Madam Margo.Going to Dr.Grandville's place where Madam Margo conducts séances,at a hefty price for anyone who's interested, Slip's friend Sach is contacted by a real life not fake ghost Edger who, because of Sach's prominent looking nose,took a liking to him. Edger is more then willing to help expose the fake spirit and medium racket in it using fake ghosts to cheat unsuspecting people out of their hard earned cash. It also gives a bad name to real ghosts like himself who only want to help people in need not enrich themselves off their suffering. It's Sach who by being a moron and low IQ idiot, which keeps his subconscious mind open to being contacted by ghosts & spirits, who can both see an hear Edger which helps him as well as the "Bowery Boys" get the jump on Dr.Grandville and his henchmen.***SPOILERS*** One of the best of the "Bowery Boys" films in that it has far more meat, or story-line, to it then the usual "Bowery Boys" movies your used to watching. In fact it was Edger the 300 year old friendly ghost who not only saved the boys from drowning in a tank that Dr.Grandville had them dump into as well as had Dr.Grandville Margo & Co. busted by the police but got those of us watching to believe that there is really such a thing as ghosts! Friendly or otherwise!

While loquacious Leo Gorcey (as Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney) tries to teach a girlfriend English diction ("How, now, brown, cow…"), simple-minded Huntz Hall (as Horace De Bussy "Sach" Jones) joins "Bowery Boys" William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), Buddy Gorman (as Butch), and David Gorcey (as Chuck) in a séance. The spirit world isn't really contacted, but Mr. Benedict remains a believer; he invites Mr. Hall to join his ghost-contacting group, which intends to contact a dead magician named "Leonardi".The group turns out to be a racket, as Mr. Gorcey suspects. Gorcey decides to expose the group by persuading fatherly "Sweet Shop" owner Bernard Gorcey (as Louis "Louie" Dumbrowsky) to contact his debtor uncle "Jake" through "Margo the Medium" (Lela Bliss). Hall, meanwhile, befriends 300-year-old pilgrim Lloyd Corrigan (as Edgar Alden Franklin Smith), who steals the show. Edward J. Kay's finely-tuned musical direction, and Mr. Corrigan's spirited mission, help make "Ghost Chasers" an above average series entry.***** Ghost Chasers (4/29/51) William Beaudine ~ Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Lloyd Corrigan

GHOST CHASERS turns out to be a well-paced comedy, and a little better than usual. It involves Slip, Sach and the gang trying to expose a phony clairvoyant (or"clairvoyage," to quote the ever-prolific Leo Gorcey). Good fun all around, with some humorous assistance added courtesy of Bernard Gorcey (Leo's dad) as Louie Dumbrowski.This is my favorite period for The Bowery Boys films (1946-1956), which was the point where they became all-out comedies. Unfortunately, as of this writing, there are no DVDs planned. Hopefully, Warner Bros. will put them out very soon.**1/2 / ****