Ghosts on the Loose (1943) User Reviews

better than a rainy day

[agamemnon3 · 6/10 · 1 June 2006]

Slapstick meets Bela Lugosi in this all-but-forgotten 1943 comedy. Just think about that statement... Comedy, Bela Lugosi. And that right there is why I allowed myself to splurge 2 bucks for a used VHS copy, because the very concept made me crack a smile.

But although Lugosi's performance can't be argued with, the plot underpinning his role certainly doesn't help to elevate this film to award-winning, or even memorable, status. There isn't any "bad" acting from anyone on the cast. It would be more accurate to say that each part was played with about as much talent and gusto as it required. While Lugosi can just walk on screen and be effective by looking like himself, the other parts are a little trickier. There is a doofus, a few cronies, a guy getting married, or a very flat Ava Gardner, so take your pick. There isn't much depth behind those parts that a halfhack drama student couldn't pull off with a hangover, so they are adequately acted.

But all criticisms of writing and the very nature of crackerjack comedy aside, the whole thing was pretty good. There are plenty of gags and stupid lines to keep anyone with at least half a heart interested. Paintings with moving eyes, secret passages, etc. The gags get old from the start but some of the lines just snap off like popcorn and I appreciate that type of writing. It's an older, fast-talking style that Hollywood tends to ignore nowadays, if people are even writing like that any longer, but I doubt it; there's too much interest in color film, sex and violence to make dialogue important.

This film has no blood, no senseless violence, no gratuitous sex, and no crass language. Don't get me wrong, there is an upside (heh). So I'm not going to pretend that I'm too cool to say this wasn't any good, because it's funny, simple, and downright ridiculous. All I mean to say is that when those factors are combined in a script today, they doubtlessly create a tasteless, fluffy PG sleeper not worth the price of the ticket. This movie is different, however, just don't expect a cinematic masterpiece. Expect it to be what the title suggests, a simple and stupid comedy starring Bela Lugosi as a secret Nazi, and you've got to love that.

As an historical piece of cinematic history, it's priceless.

[ChuckStraub · 5/10 · 3 April 2005]

The main problem with "Ghosts on the Loose" is that it's outdated. Today's audience doesn't know the norms of 1943 society so we can't fully appreciate when the East Side Kids break these rules with their comical lines and antics. The characters use a lot of slang and terms that are over 60 years old. We can't get the full impact of these lines. Things really weren't the same back then. We can still get quite a bit of humor out of this movie but unless we were alive during that time, I don't think we can possibly catch everything. I still found this to be an entertaining movie and still funny. What I liked the most was seeing this film in a historical perspective. I'd like to get a few "East Side Kids" films under my belt and see the comedy of the 40s. It's always interesting to see anything with Bela Lugosi in it and he does have a staring role in this. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that this is one of Ava Gardner's early movies. As entertainment I would have to say that "Ghosts on the Loose" is an OK movie. It lost a lot of its appeal over the years but is still good for a few laughs. As an historical piece of cinematic history, it's priceless.

Who'd a thunk it, Ava Gardner and Huntz Hall, Brother and Sister

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 18 August 2006]

It's the American dream for Ava Gardner and Rick Vallin as newlyweds. They get married and Vallin has a plan to leave the Lower East Side for that dream house in the suburbs. But right next to it is an old Gothic mansion of a house, something along the lines of Manderley in Rebecca.

Her brother Huntz Hall with Leo Gorcey and the rest of the East Side gang come up to investigate. They find Bela Lugosi there, haunting it to the best of his ability. But Lugosi is no ghost, he's got a more earthly reason for wanting solitude. Remember this was 1943 and you know what was going on.

Ava Gardner made this film a few years before she was any kind of a film name. But her beauty and talent are unmistakable. She has the distinction of being the biggest movie name ever to appear in an East Side Kids/Bowery Boys film, a dubious honor at best. This was Louis B. Mayer's way of testing her. She had done a whole lot of bit roles in films, this was her first real role of any substance.

Three years later Monogram Pictures didn't have enough money in their whole budget to acquire Ava's services. Even if they threw in all the Bowery Boys.

Ghosts on the Loose is a Leo Gorcey/Huntz Hall B film without any great pretensions. But see it if you want to see the birthing of a real star.

But there ain't no amount of acting going to convince anyone that Ava Gardner and Huntz Hall could be related.

Who said you could sleep?

[dukemantee · 21 December 2000]

The East Side Kids decide to do some redecorating for a pal on his honeymoon. He's marrying Ava Gardner and the gang wants to give him a token of friendship. However, Bela Lugosi appears talking about being surrounded by imbeciles. No spooks, but some WWII spies. An early version of the Bowery Boys, this film is silly entertainment. Gorcey, Hall, Jordan, and Billy Benedict are more youthful, which adds to the escapades. 2 out of 4 stars

Nazi screwball

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 23 April 2022]

The boys attend their friend's wedding. They mistakenly renovate the wrong house. It's next door which is supposedly haunted. They find a Nazi printing press.

The two houses confused me as much as it confused the boys. The story should be simpler. Quite frankly, the boys try to hide the Nazi stuff when they thought it was their friend. I don't know if that's a good message during the war years. I understand the back and forth is supposed to be funny but there is something fundamentally unfunny about this one.

"Who say who dat when I say who dat?"

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 26 January 2006]

"Ghosts On The Loose" has one of the more interesting casts in film, with members of the East Side Kids top billed with Bela Lugosi and aspiring newcomer Ava Gardner. However as strong as the lineup looks on paper, the movie itself is a rather hum drum affair, with a few funny gags and one liners thrown in as Leo Gorcey leads the way.

Those who tune in due to Lugosi's presence may be disappointed. His on screen time is actually very minimal, and is mostly spent disparaging his band of Nazi agents. A characteristic line - "Why do I have such idiots around me?"

Gardner's role is that of Glimpy's (Huntz Hall) sister, planning her wedding to Jack Gibson (Rick Vallin). Similar to Lugosi, her role is almost a throw away with not much to do. As a newlywed, she doesn't seem too upset by an interrupted honeymoon, while husband Jack is even less believable chasing down the printing press responsible for Nazi propaganda.

The best bits are reserved for the East Siders. Glimpy's wedding tux was borrowed from a mortuary, due back the next day for the funeral of a mobster. Sunshine Sammy Morrison as Scruno is a welcome addition to the gang's antics, while Mugs delivers his share of fractured one liners. One of my favorites - "Well can you picture that, I must be havin' optical delusions".

"Ghosts On The Loose" helps reinforce for me that the East Side/Dead End Kids/Bowery Boys did their best work in support of a major star, case in point - "Angels With Dirty Faces". The film is worth a one time viewing though for it's eclectic casting, and it's closing scene with a closeup of Huntz Hall's face displaying a case of German measles, complete with swastika rashes.

After this movie you might forget what 'laughing' is

[KuRt-33 · 2/10 · 6 April 2001]

This movie is also known as "The East Side Kids meet Bela Lugosi". They certainly do, even though Bela in this movie is a Nazi, living next door to a newlywed couple (you might recognize Ava Gardner).

Bela Lugosi and Ava Gardner. How could this go wrong? No idea, but it did. Maybe that's the trouble with comedy. Some jokes just can't take getting older. (Some do, e.g. take The Marx Brothers.) It makes you wonder how films like "There's Something About Mary" will be perceived in the 2020s. Will people still laugh at it, or will they find it as painfully unfunny as I do now? Back to the Ghosts on the Loose: it has all the clichés you can find in those kind of movies. Moving portraits, the police doing a lousy job and so on. And if you don't want me to spoil the last scene, go straight to the next paragraph now. In the end, after the bad guys have been arrested, the East Side Kids are quarantained for getting the German measles. Now how funny is that!? Not at all.

I found it painful to sit out this movie. Beaudine also helmed "Bela Lugosi Meets The Brooklyn Gorilla". I don't even want to think about that one.

Pretty Good

[crrowax · 7/10 · 19 August 2006]

This isn't the best East Side Kids Movie ever made, but it is a decent film. If your gonna buy this movie for Bela Lugosi being in it, then don't. It gives him a minor role as being in charge of a Nazi spy group. If your looking for a film that has The East Side Kids in it and Lugosi then buy Spooks Run Wild.

The movie spends about 30 min on a wedding for Glimpy's sister, then it goes to the little bit of haunting in the movie. Still the movie is good.

If your looking for a creepy Lugosi film don't buy this. But if your looking for a film to add to your East Side Kids collection then check this one out.

Awfully dull

[dbborroughs · 2/10 · 26 January 2006]

This is the easiest to get of the Bowery Boys movies for two reasons its in the Public Domain and it has Bela Lugosi in it as a Nazi spy. Regrettably its a painful viewing experience and probably has turned more people off the the films of the Bowery Boys than any other.

The plot has the boys fixing up a house for the sister of Glimpy and her new husband. However next door is a living a nest of Nazi spies who want any and all neighbors driven out so they can carry out their plans unobserved. The film is the usual collection of haunted house clichés played for "laughs".

Its a dreadful thing. The pacing is snail like, the first half of the film is the wedding and its preparation with only a fleeting appearance of Lugosi. The second half is the boys trying to decorate the house and deal with the Nazi spies. Its a scatter shot affair of a badly written script being undone by a cast that seems to be sleep walking through their performances. Worse much of the film seems to have been shot not during an actual take but during a less serious rehearsal. Blame it on legendary director "One Shot" William Beaudine who made 300 films mostly by only shooting one take for each shot. This film will bore you to sleep.

Unless you have insomnia or a need to see ever Lugosi film ever made avoid this film.

The First Film To Contain A Real Bad Expletive Word.

[james362001 · 7/10 · 4 October 2001]

The Director, William Beaudine, also known as, "One-Take Beaudine, believed in filming one take of one scene. Get it right the first time. Bela Lugosi, as a gag, said a bad four-letter word in the first take of one specific scene. Bela Lugosi standing still as a portrait, while sneeezing expelled the expletive. Director William Beaudine kept the take in the film. This may be the first time a very bad expletive word had ever been heard and used in a film, with the exception of Gone With The Wind (1939), in which Clark Gable said in his memorable last line, used the word "damn", Bela Lugosi used the word "shit" uncalled for and not in the script. Ghosts On The Loose was released in 1943.

Ghosts On The Loose

[MarcoAntonio1 · 5/10 · 23 August 2005]

I've tried to like this film, but at best it's merely tolerable. I thought that there would be more to it. There are basically two parts to the film: 1)Ava Gardner and Rick Vallin's wedding 2) At the two country houses. The first half of "Ghosts on the Loose" is a total gyp. It's got nothing to do with ghosts (neither does the second half) and is frankly quite boring. The only pluses in this half of the film are the moments with young Ava and her fiancé/husband Rick. The second half of the film is a let-down. The East Side Kids arrive in the country and spend many dull moments redecorating what they think is the honeymoon couples house. They move furniture around while the most awful, dreary canned background music is played (the same awful music that was used in "The Ape Man" and other Monogram films). By the time a printing press starts getting moved around from house to house this film almost becomes a sleep inducing bore. What a shame! If Monogram had used better background music I would have added a star to my rating. Lugosi has very little time on screen here. Like others have said "Spooks Run Wild" is the better of the two Lugosi-East Side Kids outings...much better!

Ghosts on the Loose was another funny enough East Side Kids flick

[tavm · 8/10 · 5 July 2015]

This was another East Side Kids movie that was pretty funny from beginning to end, largely due to the antics of Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall as well as Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison. This was Bela Lugosi's second appearance (after Spooks Run Wild) in a film with this gang though he rarely has any scenes with any of them. This was also one of Ava Gardner's early roles in the movies and she's not in it much, either. As the title implies, this takes place in a supposed haunted house with strange things happening. So on that note, I recommend Ghosts on the Loose. P.S. It's amusing that New Orleans native Morrison says "Who Dat!" at one point since that's now the rallying cry for that Crescent City's NFL football team, the Saints. Also loved it when Glimpy asks "Who?" before Muggs says, "Who is on first."

hysterical dams and prankster mastermind

[Cristi_Ciopron · 7/10 · 7 December 2015]

This is the installment with the wedding, the haunted house (a Nazi hideout) and the printing press, there are some funny moments, like the cooked rice brought by one of the kids, much slapstick, and obsolete bonding habits (the quieter kid is kicked often, perhaps this is meant to show the toughness and to boost the realism), Huntz had a nice family in this movie, and his sister was unbelievably charming; one of Lugosi's henchmen was creepy and resembled the German leader. Monogram was good at providing this sort of unpretentious fun. I enjoyed the slapstick and the word-plays (the hysterical dams), if one can term them that. I liked most H. H.'s home.

A hideout of conspirators is uncovered and they are unmasked, and even punched with a broom, as a result of the kids' attempt at housecleaning. But the cops get at the haunted house because the elderly lady phoned them.

The haunted house is also a symbol for the newlyweds' fears and concerns about their future home, etc., especially his, the groom's fears and hesitation and uncertainty and cowardice; when approached, the things he so fears can be defeated, it's all proved to be mostly propaganda, provided you make the right moves (e.g., once the groom talks to the old lady, he leaves the hotel at once, no matter how quirky the wedding evening, and goes to their house). So, the right action is required. But, if most of it is propaganda, it doesn't follow you don't have to smash the gossips with a broom, like the kids, the friends of the bride's brother, do. The fear of sexuality looms large: the machine for multiplication lies downstairs, etc.. It's also a question of inferiority, of feeling the threat of others' presence, in a story with very few women (the mother, the bride, a few broads at the wedding, the Nazi _henchwoman). The elderly couple symbolizes the parents who first cheated him, perhaps (e.g., by giving him life, or by suggesting hopes about how all will be eventually …), but later might also prove of some help; the groom blames them subconsciously, but he also needs them. The police means feeling unaided by institutions, customs, etc.; the groom knows he can't rely on external authority, somehow like with the joke at the hotel, the bath one has to take it himself. The repression wins: the groom won't take the underbelly of the new situation (the machine for multiplication is placed in 'the house next door', which, in the dreamlike logic of his fantasy, at the same time is, and is not, his own house, the one he acquired, 'passed from old', the marriage; and he hands the machine for multiplication to the police, which means not that he renounces it, but that he'll play it safe, according to the received order). (Now these printing presses were very much a WW 2 item: used for Communist propaganda in my country, from where I hail the Americas, and for Nazi propaganda in the U. S. A.; be it as it may, the maneuvering sly-boots badly needed them, so I am eager of printing presses espionage stories.) An East Side Kids movie from '43, with Lugosi and Ava Gardner, she's Huntz Hall's sister, and the comedy begins with a musical moment, the E. S. Kids singing and Huntz's mother enjoying the tune. It's a craftily paced movie, and some haunted house tropes are exciting, more suggestive and better handled than in straight chillers.

I liked the clarity of the storyline, with its subplots (the elderly couple, the cops); less obvious has been how did the elderly couple know that the newlyweds will get at the hotel (but one can only explain so much in a little more than an hour …).

Is It Over?

[BaronBl00d · 1/10 · 1 July 2004]

William "One-Take" Beaudine strikes out again with this real sleeper, in the most literal sense possible. The Bowery Boys throw a wedding for a friend, Tom, and then decide to decorate the guy's house on his wedding night. Naturally, they pick the wrong house, and a series of unfunny proceedings take place. Sure, you are not expecting high art with the Boys, but this film is particularly dull. Why? I don't know. Bela Lugosi and an attractive Ava Gardner are in the film. Lugosi has virtually nothing to do and really gets no opportunity to act. His one scene as a portrait is his only shining moment. Gardner has nothing to do. As for Gorcey and Hall and company, well, they have a few almost bright spots. Hall and Scruno(Ernest Morrison) have a neat bit with some changing pictures, but beyond that this film has tired, lame jokes. Gorcey mixes up word after word and bosses around the other boys endlessly. Frankly, it was very tiring. What about Beaudine? Looks like it was all shot in one take!

Bela Lugosi, Ava Garnder and the East Side Kids Are a Film Classic

[whpratt1 · 28 January 2003]

It is wrong to critize this film, it was a funny and enjoyable movie in the 1940's and it will remain a classic film in our libraries for many generations to come.

Bela Lugosi played a straight role as a Nazi, which he was proud of performing instead of his Horror roles. Ava Garnder received her first film credit and looked slim and trim and gave a great performance, the East Side Kids gave this film class all by itself, they are a talent to be long remembered.

The Spirit Is Unwilling

[writers_reign · 2/10 · 19 November 2018]

The only remotely possible reason to watch this car crash is Ava Gardner marking her sixteenth appearance before the cameras and her very first screen credit - and even then she would make more Uncredited appearances. In 1943 'haunted house' movies were thick on the ground and the producers at Poverty Row clearly decided they could afford to lavish a stick of gum on the budget - it's just as well they didn't sign Gale Sondergaard as her ubiquitous 'sinister' housekeeper or they'd have been in the rad before the cameras started turning. If you ARE thinking of checking it out for a glimpse of Gardner don't bother because a glimpse is all you'll get and as for Bela Lugosi ...

Alll this is good for is tossing in a landfill.

Lugosi "Swears" and Ava gets her first substantial role in this creaky "East Side Kids" comedy

[docontheweb-1 · 4/10 · 3 November 2010]

I first heard about "Ghosts on the Loose" while reading Lee Servers biography, "Ava Gardner: "Love is Nothing". Server described the film (which was Ava's first credited substantial role) as a rushed mess of a production. He continued to state that the picture garnered cult popularity in the 1940s because "teenage doofuses" would catch repeat viewings under the belief that Bela Lugosi blurted out the "s-word" while he sneezed during a scene. This, of course, was at a time when the Hay's code was in full effect and such transgressions were unheard of in the movie industry. So, in a gesture that would make any "teenage doofus" proud, I rushed to find the film and see the the shoddy swear-laced piece of cinema for myself (Having now seen the film, I agree with Server in believing that Lugosi, a man of Hungarian descent, simply said the Hungarian word for "Achoo!").

Bela Lugosi, in an odd comedic turn, plays a Nazi sympathizer who hides his fascist propaganda in the cellar of a house that a group of bonehead teenagers (East Side Kids) were cleaning up for two newlyweds (Gardner and Vallin). Yes, that is the entire summary of the plot in a single sentence.

The movie was a continuation of the "East Side Kids" series of films. They were a group of young adults who behaved like a lame blend between The Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello. This is not to say that I did not find them somewhat amusing. Although much of their comedy has aged worse than expired milk, I did chuckle at a few gags, and was kept mildly engaged and entertained throughout. Granted, a healthy portion of my amusement generated from the film's inferior quality.

The picture was certainly the harried mess Server claimed it was. Director William Beaudine (known famously as "One-Take" Beaudine) blew through the filming process at break-neck speed, completing it in just six days. The quality of this method of shooting is painfully apparent. He overuses the fade in a vain attempt to disguise is squalid style. In an early scene Leo Gorcey, the Moe-like stooge in the East Side Kids, dropped a piece of sheet music. As the camera cuts from and then back to him, he is seen with the sheet music magically back in hand. Blunders like this along with "One-Take's" choppy unimaginative filming can be seen throughout the film.

The only advantage to Beaudine's hasty shooting was that it didn't give Ava Gardner time to reflect on her nervousness ans self-consciousness. At this stage in her career, she was still a bit uncomfortable around the camera. Coming from the tobacco fields of North Carolina, she never really did much acting or performing until she signed with MGM. Unfortunately for Ava, her lack of experience sticks out like a black eye. Her performance, as on of the East Side Kid's soon-to-be-wed sister, was about as bland and stiff as a stack of plywood. In her defense the role was anything but ideal. Outside of fawn-eyed gazing at her leading man (Rick Vallin), she hardly had anything to do.

Fans of the East Side Kids may enjoy this cinematic blunder, but there is little for anyone else to like. But if you have a desire to see C-Movie filming quality, a very young (and undernoursihed) Ava Gardner sleep-walking through a role, Bela Lugosi sneezing a word that vaguely sounds like swearing, or the antics of the East Side Kids, then this film is for you!

Just doesn't stand the test of time

[Bowserb46 · 4/10 · 16 May 2013]

American Baby Boomers are known to be more nostalgic than other modern era generations. I guess that's because of being post Great Depression and post WWII, so our childhood memories are purely kids' experiences. When I was a kid the Bowery Boys (previously Dead End Kids, Eastside Kids, but all known to us as the Bowery Boys) were must see when on our one TV station or free Saturday morning theater movies. Now with grandchildren 4 and 7 years old, I thought they might enjoy the same simple movies I did. So confident was I that I bought a collection of 12 of them on DVD from Warner Archives.

I thought I'd watch them first, to be sure there wouldn't be too much that I had to explain or regret, so I started going through the DVDs. Well, like this one, they are seriously disappointing. The humor doesn't hold up. The stories are weak, even for kids' movies. The characters are not very likable. In short, I'm almost hesitant to admit I ever found them entertaining. Except for this one, I've not yet been able to watch a whole movie, in spite of their best attribute--they're generally only an hour or so running time.

So if you remember the Bowery Boys from your childhood, and you remember liking the movies, take my advice and just stick with your memories. The real thing will disappoint.

A Cute Little Film

[Rainey-Dawn · 6/10 · 9 November 2015]

Maybe you will have to be a fan of old school comedies, Bela Lugosi and/or The East Side Kids in order to get a kick out of this film. While it's not the greatest comedy of the time period (1940s), it's not the worst comedy either. It's a cute comedy film that can entertain some audiences.

The first part of the film does drag a little bit, but it will pick up into a non-nonsensical humor film that the whole family can enjoy. This film can be a good family Halloween classic if given a chance.

If you liked Spooks Run Wild (1941) then it's a good chance you will like Ghosts on the Loose (1943). Both comedy films star Bela Lugosi and the East Side Kids. The films make a great double feature and would be ideal for Halloween family films and/or an afternoon film.

My ONLY complaint is - not enough Bela Lugosi. ;)

6.5/10

Ghosts? What ghosts?

[JohnHowardReid · 4/10 · 1 December 2015]

A waste of two great stars (Ava Gardner and Bela Lugosi), this East Side Kids comedy entry has little to recommend it unless you are a rabid fan of Leo Gorcey and/or Huntz Hall. Admittedly, the players try hard to bring the threadbare script to life, but they are defeated at every turn not only by the poverty of the script itself but by the unrelentingly uninspired direction by Bill Beaudine whose policy seems to have been to shoot it fast and shoot it extra dull. As might be expected, production values are pretty woeful too. Fortunately, the super-lively Ava Gardner, in her sixteenth movie (but first credited role) gives a good performance and will not disappoint her fans. But she is the only reason anyone would want to view this cheapo knockabout comedy spoof which is neither funny nor thrilling, but, aside from the lovely Miss Gardner, just a plain waste of time. Available on an Acme DVD as a double feature with Spooks Run Wild.

Silly but fun

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 27 March 2017]

This film is centred on a group of young men known, one of whose sister is about to get married. After the service the happy couple hope to move into their new house but there is one problem; they got the house cheap because the neighbouring property is reportedly haunted. Then on the day of the wedding the groom is approached by a man offering to buy the house for twice what was paid for it. He decides they should go to a hotel, explaining that the house needs some work doing before they move in. The gang decide they will help with the decorating so drive out to the property but mistakenly go to the 'haunted house'. They don't realise that the house has hidden doors and secret passages as well as resident German spies who don't want to be exposed.

This is hardly a classic but if you don't expect too much there are plenty of laughs. These are mainly due to the slapstick nature of the action. The gags come fairly thick and fast so if one doesn't amuse you it is likely something will make you laugh… assuming you like this style of comedy. The gang, played by the 'East Side Kids' are amusing although they are a bit old to be called 'kids'. One also has to suspend ones disbelief more than a little to believe that Ava Gardner could be the sister of one of this bunch of ne'er-do-wells. Overall I'd recommend this to anybody wanting some good silly fun… just don't expect realism or any ghosts for that matter!

How could so many people have given THIS movie a 10? Something is screwy here!

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 2 September 2006]

I've got to assume that many people have scored this movie a 10 simply because it's one of those movies that is SO bad it's fun to watch, though I really don't think it ever approaches the PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE level of rottenness that it is a 'must see' for bad movie aficionados. Or, maybe the die-hard Bela Lugosi fans are at work here, pumping up the ratings in an effort to immortalized their hero. All I know is that the Bowery Boys (also known as "the Dead End Kids") were an annoying and grade-C level group that NEVER could come close to even approaching mediocrity. So why the 10? Who knows--maybe it's all a big joke. It must be because this movie at best deserves a score of 4--and that's being mighty generous.

Huntz Hall's sister, Ava Gardner (she MUST have been adopted--there was no way she could have been related to this Neanderthal) is getting married. She and her husband are moving to a new home--unaware that a group of Nazis are using the basement of the house next door to produce anti-American propaganda!! Well, the boys come to the wrong house (the Nazi one) and get tangled up with the baddies.

While I am a fan of Bela Lugosi, he was largely wasted in the film--having very few lines and being hardly convincing as the leader of a group of Nazis. It's really a shame--as he could be pretty funny in supporting roles. As for Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey and the rest, they are the usual lovable idiots--nothing more. As far as I am concerned, after you've seen a couple of their post-Warner Brothers films, you've seen them all.

By the way, there were no ghosts--sorry to say.

Greatly hysterical for its time; still good now.

[wetwilly6 · 8/10 · 9 August 2011]

I have some bias with regards to this classic slapstick comedy because I watched it several times at a young age, but I must admit it's still VERY funny in what is at least 15 years later. Sure, the characters and acting are all extremely dated, but that's the beauty of it! The Bowery Boy gang's line of films can be compared to the comedic stylings of the Thee Stooges and other similar old Hollywood comedies. I found myself grinning through much of the duration of this film. It's good, fun comedy. The kind of humor that you can really enjoy at any age. If you go into this film (and all the others like it) without cynicism, then you'll undoubtedly enjoy it.

Who plays 'Rocky'??

[afed-69231 · 6/10 · 12 March 2018]

Muggs asks Danny and Rocky to go out and get Glimpy a tuxedo. I don't see anyone in the cast listed as Rocky. Anyone know who this is? I have to admit I enjoyed this movie, especially the part where Scruno is dusting the portrait and Lugosi sneezes. Not a bad way to ride out a snowstorm.

You'se Got To Put It In Perplexsion

[florida87 · 5/10 · 30 October 2005]

I grew up watching the "Bowery Boys" on the weekends and even at a young age I could tell this was low rent stuff as the name implies. Still it was fun to watch Satch (Hall) get the better of Muggs (Gorcey) after Muggs would beat the crap out him. The East Side Kids stuff were never shown on TV even though it was public domain stuff and probably cheap to run, it was just to low a standard for kids to tune in even though we only had like 5 channels to watch. Enter the year 2005 and I am repossesin about my childhood. I can't find any Bowery Boys on DVD but I found The East Side Kids on disc and also on a public domain website. Leonard Maltin said in his mini bio that this flick is one of the better ones, so you can just imagine the rest. To get specific concerning "Ghost on the Loose", it is to me must watch for Bowery Boys Fans because this is where the formula starts to gel. Mugg's is the bossy one leading the gang and he is using his vernacular in this one to good effect. Hall's character starts to get some real good bits (I actually laughed out loud when he sweeps the dust under a cobweb and he gets "German Measles that are sores in the form of swastika's). Sunshine Sammy Morrison "Scruggs" has a good amount of material but isn't listed in the top billing while Bobby Jordan is, such a shame but hey thats the way it was. The bottom line is usually a comedy team starts out strong in their career and tapers off, these muggs blew chucks early on (pre this flick) then slowly picked it up (probably around when this flick was made) until Hall's antics dominated than they were at their best. Still 2nd tier stuff way below the 3 Stooges, who they imitate; amusing for those who grew up with them. As far as Lugosi who I love to watch, he has a bit part similar to one I saw him in I think called My Mother The Vampire, pretty low and I'm losing more and more respect for the guy the more of these roles I see him in. Ava Gardner is barely recognizable because she weighs like 20 pounds less then her 50's figure that I am used to and you hardly ever see her whole face, the guy who played her husband probably died a lonely death sittin at the bar telling his fellow bums how he planted one on Ava's lips and look where I am now, lol. Oh the irony of life.