The Living Ghost (1942) User Reviews

Okay mystery

[dbborroughs · 5/10 · 5 December 2006]

Nick Tryane is hired by a family to locate the missing patriarch, a rich banker. The banker suddenly turns up but seemingly in a fog with a "paralyzed brain". With the missing man returned the question becomes who did this and whether he's responsible for the murder that happens in the garden.

Enjoyment of this film will depend on whether you like the star James Dunn or not. Dunn who plays Trayne our hero made a lot of B-movies in the in the 30's and 40's. As a second banana or in a supporting role Dunn was always very good. The problem for me was that in a lead role he never amounted to very much. I'm not sure if it was because he wasn't a good lead or because he was working for the Poverty Row studios and so didn't have good enough material.Here he always seems to be waiting for someone to step in and carry on with what ever he's doing. It makes the film less then what it could have been.

The script is interesting and it has some nice twists to it. It has witty exchanges and only really falters when in the second half it becomes a series of interviews between Dunn and the suspects.

Over all its not bad, but its not all that great either. Worth a look if you have a second film on tap for the evening, or if you come across this at 2am on some TV station that still runs old movie all night long.

Dunn is the whole show

[kidboots · 5/10 · 22 February 2009]

James Dunn had been Fox's breezy leading man in the early 1930s but by the late 30s he was drinking heavily and could not find much work. This is one of the films he made before he showed people what a fine and sensitive actor he was in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1945).

Directed by workhorse William Beaudine it is a "quickie" Monogram production that starts out dealing with psychics and zombies but fizzles out half way through. When a banker, Mr. Craig, turns up missing, the family decide to call in Nick Trane (James Dunn), an eccentric private detective who is earning a living as a psychic. He meets all the assorted relatives, including pretty Billie Hilton (Joan Woodbury) and wacky Aunt Delia (Minerva Urecal) who believes she has psychic powers.

Suddenly Mr. Craig turns up in a trance like state. Nick and Billie join forces to find the culprit. He organises to meet Mr. Phillips in the garden but then Phillips turns up dead. Mr. Craig then starts to walk around in a zombie like state - he has a knife and tries to kill Nick. There is also an odd butler, who suffers from insomnia, as well as hijinks at a haunted house. There is even a title, in my DVD that says - "Please wait one moment - while we change reels"!!!!

James Dunn shows the same likability that he had early in his career. Minerva Urecal found a home at "Mother's" in the Peter Gunn TV series of the 50s.

A pretty good B-detective film thanks to Dunn

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 2 January 2008]

An ex-detective is called out of retirement to investigate a recent kidnapping. However, once on the job, one of the suspects becomes a zombie-like being and no one knows exactly how this occurred nor where the missing man is. And, to top it off, murder (or at least attempted murder) is in the air!

This is a modest little film produced by poverty row studio, Monogram. B-Detective films like this were a dime a dozen during the 30s and 40s, so there isn't much to distinguish this from the thousands of somewhat similar films. Since it was such an inexpensive film, the film was directed by William Beaudine (a man well known for NEVER shooting re-takes), the actors were all second-tier talent and it starred James Dunn. While not a household name, Dunn had bounced around for years and he did have a lovely role in the great film A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. Here he has a nice, witty personality and plenty of excellent one-liners. In fact, this was the best thing about the film--whereas the mystery itself was purely secondary...at best. Due exclusively to Dunn's easy-going personality, he makes this simple little film quite watchable.

Great Fun

[debcoins · 4 November 2006]

The Living Ghost stars James Dunn as Nick Trayne, a retired detective hired to look into the mysterious disappearance of banker Walter Craig. Working with Craig's pert secretary Billie Hilton (Joan Woodbury), Nick is questioning Craig's alarmingly suspicious friends and relatives when the missing banker (Gus Glassmire) suddenly turns up in a strange, zombie-like state. Soon a dead body is discovered, and the trail leads Nick and Billie to a nearby shack where strange experiments have recently been conducted and, in time, to the real culprit.

During the entire case Billie has been both helpful as well as a royal pain-in-the-neck to Nick, and of course the two fall in love. In the final scene after kissing Billie, who is now his future bride, Nick suddenly remembers what a hard time she has given him throughout the case. He then chases her out the front door (where even though the door closes and we do not get to follow them outside) we can clearly hear Nick giving Billie something he had promised her early on in the case: a good old-fashioned spanking!

The Living Ghost is a much overlooked and underrated crime melodrama with horror and comedy touches.

Dark and Darker!

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 2 February 2007]

Have a house full of suspects. Bring in some unconventional detective who acts, at times, like an idiot, to solve the case, and you have this movie. Throw in the pretty sidekick, the tough mouthy female, and that adds another dimension. Saying that, I've already seen it a few times before. It doesn't mean that the byplay isn't fun and the murder isn't a challenge to figure out. After all, there is a guy who walks around with half a brain. Still, it is lacking. The seriousness of the murder is tossed aside and they go on this long escapade. The romance blooms while they search for the killer. I wish that they didn't have to spend so much time in a dark basement during the climax of the movie. I know that part of the suspense is based on the unknown aspects of the dark, but it goes on, and, frankly, I couldn't see anyone. I do like these old black and white mysteries, but, often, if you've seen one, you've seen the rest.

Cheesy, cheeky, flimsy, and still fun in its own way. With some real (?) zombies, too!

[secondtake · 6/10 · 26 July 2013]

The Living Ghost (1942)

If you want to be sure to see every early zombie movie (because you are obsessed, or a completist), you'll have to watch this one. Yes, this fairly low budget comedy with dramatic lighting and a murder, too. It's a common, lighthearted style from the 1930s and 40s, taking serious themes but putting a cheeky, clever lead in the middle of the situation to give it comic relief.

It's not a terrific formula without some great acting and writing, and this one is a strain. The detective (played by James Dunn) is called into lair of a rich family with some mysterious doings. He's a decent comic type, always in charge and casual and a bit goofy. He's looking for a real criminal or two, however, and so there is a backdrop nights in the garden and thunderstorms in strange houses. It's really rather fun and well done in many cinematic ways.

But it's too often silly and deflating, too. Lighthearted and lightheaded.

The zombie part? That's for real, and if this main zombie is so normal you'll get disappointed, he's still the real thing, and could be an archetype for a shadowy kind of zombie that infiltrates normal society. He's the opposite of the "World War Z" type of superman zombie, and it's a more interesting direction. As the movie progresses the detective (and the tag-along your woman who he's in love with) encounter another zombie, and it gets creepier even as the light comedy persists.

Anyway, watch if you just want a breezy fun time with lots of night and dark filming (which is rather nice overall). And a couple of zombies, more or less.

A Walking Nightmare

[wes-connors · 4/10 · 8 February 2009]

"When a banker turns up missing, former detective Nick Trayne is brought in on the case to find him. When the banker turns up but appears to be in a trance, Trayne must now try to find out what happened to the banker. A household full of suspects makes for a tough case that our crack detective must solve and bring the culprit to justice," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

This variation of the "old dark house" plot is more tired than true.

"The Living Ghost" angle turns out to be a good idea, but zombie Gus Glassmire (as Walter Craig) doesn't get enough screen time to really frighten. Writers Howard Dimsdale and Joseph Hoffman do well, considering. Detective James Dunn (as Trayne) and adorable Joan Woodbury (as Billie Hilton) are a delightful couple of sleuths. The supporting roles are performed admirably - right down to Harry Depp (as Homer Hawkins). If only the production were kicked up a notch, or two…

**** The Living Ghost (11/27/42) William Beaudine ~ James Dunn, Joan Woodbury, Paul McVey

"Why must there be a butler in every murder mystery?"

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 29 July 2017]

Nick Trayne (James Dunn) is a former detective for the D.A.s' office who's now earning a living as a professional "listener". (Meaning he listens to customers voice their problems in life.) He's convinced to return to his old line of work to help solve a baffling case. A prominent financier, Walter Craig (Gus Glassmire), has gone missing. Although his family fears the worst, he later turns up alive, albeit in a zombie like condition. With the lovely young Billie Hilton (Joan Woodbury) at his side, he pursues all leads in a determined fashion.

While the plot is routine stuff (with a classic, age old motivation for our mysterious antagonist), "The Living Ghost" garners most of its entertainment value through its healthy comedy quotient. Quips come flying at a rapid pace. Nick is the kind of guy with a wise ass comment for almost every occasion, but unlike Leonard Maltin, I found a lot of his dialogue quite priceless. Dunn - who later won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" - is ideal in the role of this goofy hero. He has good chemistry with many of his co- stars and there is some hilarious banter. The exchanges between him and deadpan butler Norman Willis are standouts.

Don't let the title fool you into thinking this is a horror film. "The Living Ghost" barely qualifies for that genre, although there is some wonderfully spooky and atmospheric stuff that takes place in an old run down house. Director William Beaudine does a fine job with the pacing; this zippy movie only runs about one hour long. And just in case we didn't "get it", Trayne explains it all for us in the concluding minutes, just like many a mystery story through the years.

And Dunn, Woodbury, and Beaudine do send us away with an amused smile on our faces.

Six out of 10.

Catatonic

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 2 February 2015]

The Living Ghost has James Dunn as a private detective trying to find a missing millionaire who all of a sudden shows up after Dunn as started his investigation. The problem is that Gus Glassmire is in some kind of catatonic state, he's walking around but he can't speak at all. Enough so that he cannot manage his affairs.

Before he's hired Dunn is working some kind of swami act, but he was good in his day. Glassmire's secretary Joan Woodbury seeing him in his swami outfit just doesn't believe in his abilities. She provides just enough needle to keep him on his toes and she's even a bit of help. Dunn and Woodbury do have some decent chemistry.

Dunn hangs around the mansion and pretty soon there's a real murderer among a nice group of suspects, more than a studio like Monogram would normally provide for one of these mysteries. The editing also isn't too bad, another thing that Monogram was not good with.

In the end there are two suspects, one is rather obvious, the other would take a bit of figuring. The Living Ghost is not a bad B picture and for Monogram it's practically The Maltese Falcon.

Good Elements but Lacking To Fully Come Together

[Reviews_of_the_Dead · 7/10 · 10 January 2023]

This is another horror movie that I discovered form Letterboxd from 1942. What I'll give credit here is that it has a cool title. I was concerned though that it was going to be one that built around that without necessarily making sense. Outside of that, I didn't know much about this one other than that.

Synopsis: a retired detective, Nick Trayne (James Dunn), is hired to look for a missing banker. During the investigation, the banker returns in a zombie-like state. Trayne must rack down the madman responsible.

The information about the banker being missing is what kicks this off as it is on a newspaper headline. We are then at his house where his family is concerned with his well-being. The banker is Walter Craig (Gus Glassmire) There is his wife of Helen (Edna Johnson). She doesn't get along with his daughter, Tina (Jan Wiley). Helen isn't the mother as Walter was a widow before marrying her. Also at the house is his best friend Tony Weldon (George Eldredge), his lawyer Ed Moline (Paul McVey), his sister Lapidus (Vera Gordon) and Delia Philips (Minerva Urecal). Tina's fiancé is also there, Arthur Wallace (Howard Banks), as well as Cedric (Norman Willis) who is the butler. The last person to mention is Billie Hilton (Joan Woodbury), who if memory serves is Walter's secretary.

Tony, Ed and Billie come up with a plan to find Walter which involves pulling the best private detective out of retirement. This is Nick. He is working as a 'professional listener' when Ed and Billie arrive. He comes up with a plan knowing that Nick doesn't like to be goaded. Billie is great at it. It causes Nick to a take a liking to her and eventually, taking on the case.

When he arrives at the house, he rubs the family the wrong way. He treats everyone as a suspect and they don't care for it. They're 'well to do' so that is part of it. He also learns quite a bit about the family. The more he gets to know them, the more they warm to him and the more he pulls out. Just as the synopsis says, this takes an odd turn when one night, Walter is back. He cannot speak or acknowledge anyone, but he's alive. We see this when he gets up one night and tries to attack Nick. They can't figure out why and they must get to the bottom of it before it is too late.

That is where I'll leave my recap as well as introduction to the characters. What is interesting is that we get large cast of characters, but not a long runtime. Surprisingly though, I think the characters are fleshed out to enough with personality for me to differentiate most of them. What is shocking as well is that this didn't start as a novel or a stage play. It could be easily adapted to be one if I'm honest. We spend most of the time at the estate. That makes it feel like an Agatha Christie murder mystery that was popular in this era. There is even a bit of the 'old dark house' with secret passages here as well.

With those opening ideas out there, where I want to start is with the mystery we get. This movie feels like others I've seen in the era. The only difference here is that we don't start with a murder. Instead, we have the disappearance of Walter. This feels like a precursor to film noir if I'm going to be honest. The crux of the mystery is trying to find him. Once that happens, it then is what happened to him. The synopsis gives away that he is in a form of suspended animation and tries to attack Nick. The explanation here could be any of the guests in the house. Our red herrings aren't murderers yet, but it does seem to go back to one of the most popular reasons to commit this crime. I'll leave that there. The mystery we get here is good. My only gripe is that I don't know if we get enough information to make an educated guess as to who is behind it. The runtime of around one hour is partially to blame there. It comes up slightly short in fleshing things out as this just moves through the events in my opening.

Now I know it seems like I disliked the story, which isn't the case. The reason for what I said is that this feels more like it wanted to make Nick be the focal along with Billie. Nick comes off as a comedian. He is supposed to be a great PI, which we see he is. He comes off slightly bumbling though. I do think that works in the framework to disarm people and keep them from suspecting that he's on to them. I think Dunn does well in this performance. Personally, I could have used a bit more backstory on others or more information so I can piece things together, but I digress.

Since there isn't a lot to the story, this is carried more by the acting. I'd already said that Dunn was solid as Nick. It allows him to carry more of this with his comedy which is fine. I did want to give credit to Woodbury. His banter wouldn't work if she couldn't dish it back. They work well together. McVey is solid to help get this rolling. I'd say that Gordon, Willis, Urecal, Eldredge, Wiley, Johnson and Banks are all solid as 'red herrings' here. They all seem to have a motive which helps. The only other person I wanted to give credit is Glassmire. He does well in playing this catatonic man who moves like a 'zombie'. That helps move this along for sure. There isn't a bad performance which is good. If anything, they are playing a bit of caricatures, but that was the era as well.

The last things to go into are with the filmmaking. This is well-made. The cinematography is fine without necessarily doing anything out of the ordinary, even for the era. I did like the setting of this house. It does set up that there are secret passageways, but it doesn't lean into that. I'm a sucker for it so if they would have, I enjoy it. It doesn't necessarily need it though. We don't get a lot in the way of effects. It is also not that type of movie. This relies more on the mystery. Other than that, the soundtrack was fine without standing out.

In conclusion, this is a solid enough movie that I enjoyed my time with. We get a decent set up with Walter disappearing and doing what I needs to get Nick out of retirement. From there, we get reveals to things with the performances carrying it. Dunn and Woodbury are the best of the bunch as they play well off each other. This isn't a great film by any stretch, but for what it is trying to do, it works. The low run time does help and I'd even say might hurt a bit since it doesn't flesh things out completely either.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

James Dunn is lots of fun

[blanche-2 · 5/10 · 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.

An interesting mystery!

[Norm-30 · 9/10 · 28 May 1999]

This is a very interesting, off-beat mystery, concerning a man who disappears from his home, and is found later with a paralyzed brain. But....is he a killer?

This film is notable because it is probably Joan Woobury's biggest role. Despite what L. Matlin says, "Nick Trayne" is QUITE amusing, and adds a lot of "zest" to the film.

Good mystery movie with good mix of dark humour

[atinder · 6/10 · 28 September 2013]

Day 7 The Living Ghost (1942)

This movie also know as Lend Me Your Ear (1942), it sound Like something I would really enjoy.

I saw this late last nigh, it was not long movie at all, this movie was more of Mystery then horror movie.

The whole movie was about find out who the killer and attack was, there no really creepy or intense moment in this movie.

I did like it, when one people who have been attacked, start to act like Zombie at times , really enjoyed those scenes.

With any really scary or creepy, you think I will not like but, I did as love those Mystery stories, if any show dose, who done it! , I would watch it even If I have never seen show before or been a few years since the last time I seen the show.

Back to the movie, I had no idea who the killer was, I was little surprised who the killer, I didn't expect it.

The were some very funny moment in this movie that will make laugh a few times, which are intended, it fitted it really well with rest of the movie.

6 out of 10

As for Mr. Craig the cells of the cortex of his brain have been neutralized!

[kapelusznik18 · 5/10 · 16 December 2013]

***SPOILERS*** It's after banker Walter Craig, Gus Glassmire, disappeared from his house his family through his private secretary Billie Hilton, Joan Woodbury, sought out retired ace detective Nick Trayne, James Dunn, to track him down. It wasn't long that at the Craig Mansion Craig showed up in a what looked like a zobified state with no memory at all. What had happened which was explained to Trayne by neurologist Dr. Bruhling, Lawrence Grant, is that someone had through the use of powerful drugs frozen a portion of Craig's brain leaving him totally helpless to think for himself! The person who in fact did that was doing the thinking for him which had Mr. Craig attempt to murder, with little success, those he was directed to murder by the person controlling his brain. As it later turned out Craig was unable to do any of the killing attributed to him. It was in fact those who put him in that vegetated state of mind who did the killings and had him, a totally brainless and helpless person, blamed for it!

It was Trayne and Billie Hilton who found out that a Dr. Carson was responsible for Craig's condition but as it later turned out Dr. Carson was just an alias for the person who was really carrying out these killings. And it was now up to them to find expose and have arrested the person responsible for the murder of George Phillips, J. Arthur Young, the only person who can identify him. The late Mr. Phillips almost by accident came upon his soon to be murderer and was murdered by him for finding him out.

***SPOILERS*** With only the killer's voice being able to expose him Trayne plans to trick, if you can call it that, him to speak into a 1940's vintage disk recorder and have the person whom he talked to on the phone, to rent this dilapidated house to use as his private sanitarium, who's the only one who can identify him. Feeling he has to murder Trayne to save himself this all backfires on the killer in Trayne having already figured out who he is. He, the killer, should have tried to murder the person who rented him the sanitarium not Trayne who was the only person who could identify his voice! Or in his, the killers, obviously confused state of mind never for once thought of doing it!

Okay, let's all be mean to William Beaudine.

[horn-5 · 21 December 2006]

Compared to what wins awards at made-up film festivals, attended by only five people not related to the film-makers, in tank towns around the world, this is a jewel.

At least, William Beaudine's ghost isn't hanging around here asking..." wha-happen-to-MY FILM dude?"

What happens in this film is millionaire Walter Craig (Gus Glassmire) disappears from his home, and special investigator Nick Trayne (James Dunn)is called upon to solve the mystery. This takes no time at all as Nick and his secretary Betty Hilton (Joan Woodbury) discover Craig in the library of his home a couple of nights later...minus his mental faculties. (Glassmire got to play a zombie again in 1943 in Columbia's "The Batman" serial.) Dr. Taggart (Forrest Taylor)and Dr. Bruhning (Lawrence Grant) opine that while half of Craig's brain is missing, he will definitely live on indefinitely. Tony Weldon (George Eldridge), friend of the family (and more friend to one member than others, as it turns out)lives on Craig's estate in a small cottage away from the big house, and assists in caring for Craig. George Phillips (J. Arthur Young), another friend of the family, is killed and Nick discovers the body with Craig standing over it.

Nick and Betty do some fast Monogram sleuthing and find that a man named Carson has purchased the chemicals and rented a house in which Craig was subjected to the treatment that destroyed part of his brain. The real estate agent, however, knows the man to whom he rented the house only by his voice---don't ask---so Nick summons all the relatives and freeloaders and household help in order that he can make recordings of their voices. That night Tony Weldon attempts to kill Nick, but Nick overpowers him and it is revealed that Weldon is the man who masqueraded as Carson and, good friend that he was, performed the operation on Craig. Turns out that he and Helen Craig (Edna Johnson), Craig's second wife and second wives are always tramps in Monogram films, especially if the husband has a kid by the first wife, are really real-good-friends and much smitten with each other...and weren't too pleased when they learned that Craig's will leaves his entire fortune to his daughter Tina (Jan Wiley), and have kept him alive in the hope they might induce the half-wit to change the will in favor of Helen.

Poor old William Beaudine. HIS FILM only played in about one-third of the 18,744 movie theaters operating in 1942 in the 48 states, plus Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia, and 1271 in Canada, with total seating capacity far in excess of nine million paying patrons times five shows a day times three days bookings.Based on today's ticket prices, Beaudine's films grossed about half a billion. No telling what he could have done if he had won an award at the Cackalacky Film Festival.

Horrible...this is the kind of programmer that gave Poverty Row a bad rap...

[Doylenf · 4/10 · 2 January 2008]

How anyone can lavish even the faintest praise on this junk is baffling to me, since THE LIVING GHOST is a cliché ridden mystery with some vain attempts at humor. Furthermore, it's ineptly performed by the entire cast and appears to have been filmed on a quickie basis with no close-ups introducing the chief suspects.

JAMES DUNN makes an abysmal attempt at playing detective and JOAN WOODBURY is no more successful as the lame-brained secretary of the lobotomized man at the center of the mystery. Question is: Which one in the wealthy man's household tried to do him in? None of the suspects have enough time on screen to become viable characters and it's never quite clear why Dunn takes such an immediate dislike to the poor butler whom he treats with utter contempt, even when he's being helpful.

Juvenile at best, it's the kind of film the Monogram factory churned out on a weekly basis in the '40s, barely deserving a spot at the bottom end of a double feature bill.

A ridiculous tax on anyone's reason or patience--mercifully, it runs only one hour.

It offers something different

[greenbudgie · 6/10 · 15 February 2021]

I was pleased to see this one at last after hearing encouraging comments about this by 1940s B-mystery fans. It has been popularized on TCM in recent years and has made it as an entry in some of the genre books.

A banker named Walter Craig goes missing and an ex-detective is brought in to try and find him. The investigator in question is Nick Trayne who has to be persuaded in a provocative fashion by the impertinent secretary from the Craig household. Nick and the secretary named Billie team together on the case. Craig turns up at his home again but is only a walking zombie. Nick and Billie have to try and discover who brought him back in such a state but a murder takes place in order to stop them finding out.

Further development of the plot takes Nicky and Billie to a dilapidated old house during a thunderstorm. They have to find out what's going on there and the identity of the person who has taken a lease on the place to run as a sanitarium.

I can understand why this Monogram mystery has gained popularity as it does have a number of different strands going for it. The leads James Dunn and Miss Monogram Mystery herself Joan Woodbury work off each other very well at alternating insults with affection for each other. Minerva Urecal plays the really wacky character of the film with her psychic air which Trayne mimics and that in turn seems to please her. Then there is the snoopy and sinister butler named Cedric. As I say it does offer something different and is bound to be irresistible to genre fans.

0 to annoying in less than 5 minutes

[keithomusic · 2/10 · 6 October 2023]

I have no idea what this movie is supposed to be about. In the first few minutes it managed to annoy me with its ridiculous attempts at humour. James Dunn is supposed to be a great detective, but I never saw how, as all he did was make assumptions. And his attempts at humour were lame and annoying, the dialogue itself was also annoying, it just didn't do what it was meant to do. Joan Woodbury is fine as the 'romantic' interest, she's a fine actor, but she in in the wrong movie here. And the 'romance is awful and unnatural as with most Hollywood movies, there is no rapport between her and Dunn and the age difference is quite obvious. This movie has more plot convenience than you can shake a stick at, and the plot seems to be all over the place. I think it's supposed to be a comedy/whodunnit but it doesn't make it as either one. The lead man is annoying, doesn't fit the role, the dialogue is annoying and the plot, what there is of it, is annoying, the movie is just annoying. Don't bother.

Not Bad and a Little Different

[ldeangelis-75708 · 6/10 · 31 January 2023]

This was a pretty good movie, part mystery, part suspense, part supernatural and the rest was just fun!

It's a different kind of whodunit, with the suspected murderer being in a zombie like state, but how did he get like that, or more to the point, who's responsible? That's what James Dunn and Joan Woodbury aim to find out. These two have good chemistry as both a sleuthing team and romantic couple. The rest of the cast is pretty good, as well. It's clever, the way they combine mystery and horror, without overdoing either one. There are also some comic overtones to keep the story from getting maudlin or taking itself too seriously.

It's worth checking out.

Silly tale of zombies in an old dark house.

[mark.waltz · 2/10 · 24 July 2010]

When a wealthy man is kidnapped, former private investigator James Dunn steps in to investigate. But he is no ordinary P.I. He is first seen in a swami get-up apparently reading into people's minds and giving them answers to their problems. Huh? He accompanies the kidnapped man's secretary (Joan Woodbury) to the mansion where he meets the man's creepy family which includes the eccentric Aunt Delia (a wasted Minerva Urecal in a very showy cameo) who is into the occult. All of a sudden, the kidnapped millionaire reappears in a trance-like state and all sorts of strange occurrences begin to happen. This leads Woodbury and Dunn to an abandoned house where they find another zombie like human, and to an obvious inclusion that any grade schooler could figure out. Monogram did dozens of these kinds of films in the 30's and 40's, and only the actors and character names changed. Some of them are a bit more entertaining than the others thanks to humorous scripts, but this one is silly and dull. It should be mentioned that the kidnapped man's name is Walter Craig, the name of the husband in George Kelly's play and 1936 movie "Craig's Wife" and its 1950 remake "Harriet Craig".

Okay timewaster

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 14 May 2021]

THE LIVING GHOST is a non-supernatural detective mystery from Monogram Pictures, directed by the notorious quota quickie expert William "One Shot" Beaudine. This one's not too bad actually, featuring an interesting story in which a guy is left as a brain-damaged zombie. A retired detective is called into investigate and find out what happened to him, and James Dunn's eccentric portrayal of this flamboyant character adds to the entertainment value. It's nothing remarkable, but as a timewaster it's okay.

Who did the "who done it"?

[michaelRokeefe · 8/10 · 30 January 2018]

This humorous mystery is directed by William Beaudine and has a former private detective Nick Trayne (James Dunn) coming out of retirement to find a missing wealthy banker Walter Craig (Gus Glassmire). Before the Craig family can get used to Traynes oddball antics, Walter reappears, but in a zombie-like state. When a member of the family is stabbed to death, suspicion falls on the catatonic banker. Nick is sure this is not true and there is a whole lot more to this situation. The wise-cracking Nick finds time to fall in love with Miss Billie Hilton (Joan Woodbury), a member of the family, that seems to be sticking to him like glue. Their quip trading is comic relief. Atmospheric and a fun watch for sure.

Rounding out the cast: Jan Wiley, Paul McVey, Norman Willis, J. Ferrell MacDonald and Howard Banks.

Just dreadful & annoying

[youngsteve · 1/10 · 3 March 2024]

Sometimes poverty row movies can be good, even in a bad way, but this is just an awful attempt with no redeeming features at all. Supposed to be a mystery of sorts, but from the off you realise this is just bad, particularly the so called leading actor who is shocking & awful throughout. The leading lady is probably the best of a bad bunch of actors, but has zero chemistry with the main clown, who looks way older than her. The film is only around an hour long but seems far far longer, & kept looking at my watch to see how much of this travesty was left, until finally put out of my misery as it ended. One of the worst films I have seen in a long time, & I have seen plenty of bad ones.

DVD Double Feature

[Michael_Elliott · 12 March 2008]

Living Ghost, The (1942)

** (out of 4)

A detective is hired to find out who killed a man but once he's on the scene another victim falls into some sort of zombie-like state. Here's another "old dark house" film that has a rather boring mystery plot and lifeless direction from the usually reliable William Beaudine.

Ghost Walks, The (1934)

** (out of 4)

A screenwriter invites his producer's to an old dark house. He's paid a bunch of actors to act out his play so that the producer will put up the money but soon a real killer starts to stalk them. The premise is rather interesting but like most of these types of films of the era it really never gets too interesting due to the lackluster direction. Perhaps I've just seen way too many of these films but they all appear the same. Just a different cast.

A '40s Romp

[jimdex · 8/10 · 31 July 2021]

This is one of those B movies that makes you stay in the theater, it's got everything including a one-hour runtime. You'll never guess WhoDunIt. Better hours of your time are hard to find.