5/10
James Dunn is lots of fun
4 July 2020
James Dunn stars as Nick Trayne in "The Living Ghost" from 1942. Dunn's fortunes were on the downward swing and doing B pictures after being a major star at 20th Century Fox. His performance in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" a few years after this won him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Nevertheless, his movie career continued to decline. It was on the stage and television that he found steady work.

The film also stars a Queen of the Bs, Joan Woodbury, and Paul McVey. It was directed by William "One Take" Beaudine for Monogram.

Dunn plays a smart-alecky former detective, Nick Trayne, who is called in by a friend when a wealthy man disappears. Was he kidnapped? What happened?

Craig shows up, but his brain is atrophied, something to do with the cerebral cortex cells. It's up to Trayne and Billie (Woodbury) to find out whodunit. Unfortunately for them, the whole group is crazy.

Nothing special, but I liked Dunn - he was fast talking and brought a lot of humor to the role.
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