Troy and I poke our heads into a Universal Studio haunted
house, spot vaudeville act Olsen & Johnson and run away. Well – not really.
But our first viewing of this nearly forgotten comedy horror film is not the
fun we might have hoped. Did we enjoy it at all? Give the show a listen and we’ll
point out the highs and lows.
GHOST CATCHERS (1944) stars a number of very talented actors
and singers but it also stars Olsen & Johnson – or, as I will eternally
think of them, Faster & Louder. Nearly none of their supposed gift for
humor translates effectively from the stage if this film is any indicator. The movie’s
silly plot is actually two different story ideas welded together with four
songs and a lot of flat jokes. For both of us the film squandered what little goodwill
we may have had for it in a certain horsey scene, but we’ll let you discover
that along the way. We were surprised that a couple of the songs were pretty
great but when a horror comedy’s highlight points out that it is more
successful as a musical than anything else, there is a problem. But funny is in the
eye of the beholder so you may actually enjoy this odd Universal effort. And did
we mention Lon Chaney’s very small role?
If you have any comments about this film or vaudeville more broadly
thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place
to write. Thank you for listening.
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