The Ghost Breakers (1940)

The Ghost Breakers

1940 | 85 minutes | 6.5 ★ (75)

Comedy Horror Mystery

Overview
After intrepid working girl Mary Carter becomes the new owner of a reputedly haunted mansion located off the Cuban coast, a stranger phones warning her to stay away from the castle. Undaunted, Mary sets sail for Cuba with a stowaway in her trunk—wise-cracking Larry Lawrence, a radio announcer who helps Mary get to the bottom of the voodoo magic, zombies and ghosts that supposedly curse the spooky estate.
Release Date
21 June 1940
DirectingGeorge Marshall
Budget
$0.00
Revenue
$0.00
Stars
Bob Hope Paulette Goddard Richard Carlson

Videos

User Reviews

John Chard

16 May 2024

You still there zomb? The Ghost Breakers is a sort of sequel to Paramount's 1939 hit "The Cat and the Canary", also starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. Directed by George Marshall (who would direct the Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis 1958 remake, "Scared Stiff", as well) it's adapted by Walter DeLeon from the play "The Ghost Breaker" by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard. The premise is simple, after mistakenly thinking he has shot a hoodlum type, Larry Lawrence (Hope) flees into another hotel room, that of Mary Carter (Goddard), who is packing for a trip to Cuba. Befriending her, it's not before long that Larry is on his way to Cuba as well, but Mary is under threat from shifty characters and to make matters worse, their destination castle is rumoured to be haunted and tales of zombies seem to carry some weight. Hope and Goddard really do have a rich chemistry here and the results are excellent to say the least. They would work again for a third time a year later in "Nothing But the Truth". But really it's with the writing that most credit is due here. Hope of course was an excellent deliverer of a line, but first you have to have quality lines to work from, and here with DeLeon's screenplay we get some delightful stuff for Hope to work with. From Basil Rathbone to sly political leg pulling, the gags come quick and fast and compliment the visual fun as Hope, Goddard and Willie Best are all aboard the fun creeper express. Charles Lang is on photography duties and captures the eerie atmosphere of the island perfectly, while a nod of approval should go to Edith Head for her costumes. Ultimately it's fun we want and fun we get, with a cowardly hero and a sexy leggy lady as our protagonists, one can only hope that the zombies don't get in the way too much. As either a stand alone movie or as a double bill with "The Cat And The Canary", "The Ghost Breakers" showcases a fine double act from a fine time in cinema history. Enjoy 7.5/10

More Like This

Dead Meat

A couple's vacation to Ireland transforms into a nightmare as a virus spreads from slaughtered animals to humans, causing the dead to rise and...

Encounters of the Spooky Kind

"Big Guts" Cheung, a man well known in his local village for his lack of fear, is put to the test after being tricked into spending the night in a...

Night of the Creeps

In 1959, an alien experiment crashes to earth and infects a fraternity member. They freeze the body, but in the modern day, two geeks pledging a...

Zombie! vs. Mardi Gras

When young MacGuffin is left wheelchair bound by a horde of drunken Mardi Gras revelers, he devotes his remaining years to one final act of twisted...

Changing Life - Der Fluch Der Zombies

A few years ago there was a strange incident in a wooded area near Braunschweig. A teacher disappeared with his class during a night hike without a...

Escaping the Dead

Inspired by the face eating incident in Florida a few years back, the film has its starting point in a typical day for the lead character, David...

The Ring

Rachel Keller is a journalist investigating a videotape that may have killed four teenagers. There is an urban legend about this tape: the viewer...

Ghostbusters

After losing their academic posts at a prestigious university, a team of parapsychologists goes into business as proton-pack-toting "ghostbusters"...

Viral

To commemorate her win in an augmented reality game, a young girl plays the VR game in an abandoned building and takes a photo, only to realise...

Beverly Hills Cop

Fast-talking, quick-thinking Detroit street cop Axel Foley has bent more than a few rules and regs in his time, but when his best friend is...

Weekend at Bernie's

Two young insurance corporation employees try to pretend that their murdered employer is alive by puppeteering his dead body, leading a hitman to...

Haunted Theater

Yukiko, a member of a movie study group, follows the rumor of a ghost that inhabits an abandoned movie theater with two of her study group cohorts,...

Day of the Dead

A small group of scientists and soldiers take refuge in an underground missile silo where they struggle to control the flesh-eating dead that walks...

Virus of the Dead

What happens when an uncontrollable virus turns the living into the living dead?

On the Brain

A small-town Sheriff discovers there is something wrong with the sleepy town of Golden Torch, and he quickly realizes he may not get out alive.

Poltergeist

A family's suburban home is invaded by angry spirits. When the terrifying apparitions escalate their attacks and take the youngest daughter, the...

Crying Fiddle

After her father forbids her from seeing her boyfriend, Pring commits suicide and comes back as a very annoying ghost.

Necro-Mancing Dennis

A cemetery worker hides his disfigurement under the cloak of a sinister hood. But it doesn't hide his twisted attempt to recapture the one he loves...

Scary Movie 2

While the original parodied slasher flicks like Scream, Keenen Ivory Wayans's sequel to Scary Movie takes comedic aim at haunted house movies. A...

Scary Movie 4

Cindy finds out the house she lives in is haunted by a little boy and goes on a quest to find out who killed him and why. Also, Alien "Tr-iPods"...

Cast

Crew