Ghost Catchers (1944) User Reviews (16)

Olsen and Johnson...sort of like Abbott and Costello and the early Marx Brothers put together.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 26 July 2021]

Olsen and Johnson never achieved widespread success in films...they were definitely niche comics. When I've seen their films recently, I was surprised by this as I think some of their films are every bit as good as the best comedies of the era...especially "Helzapoppin". In many ways, they were a bit like Abbott and Costello combined with the zaniness of the very early Marx Brothers films (before they came to MGM and were given MUCH tamer material). Is "Ghost Catchers" among the team's better films?

Early in the film I noticed some good things and some bad. On the good side, Olsen and Johnson are given good support with the likes of Walter Catlett, Lon Chaney Jr., Leo Carillo and Andy Devine. Also, the film is weird....something you want in their films. But on the negative, the comics are stuck with lots of unnecessary and comedy-killing musical numbers. This wasn't uncommon in this era.... Abbott and Costello's early films had singing from the Andrews Sisters and the Marx Brothers always provided their own musical number. But the numbers in "Ghost Catchers" really were pretty dull and really derailed the comics' momentum...plus there was just too much singing. For this reason alone, I much prefer "Hellzapoppin".

As for the plot, a woman and her father have rented a place that ends up being haunted. The rental agent won't budge when they refuse to stay...demanding they honor the lease. So Olsen and Johnson arrive with some friends to try to drive away the ghosts...and there really DO seem to be some ghosts!

The film has laughs...but just too many musical numbers for my taste. Still, it is funny and has the weird sense of humor fans of the team enjoy....well worth your time.

Moments of inspired craziness and meta-humor, but way too much singing

[gridoon2024 · 5/10 · 17 May 2022]

Olsen and Johnson are as wild as the Marx Brothers here, but too often they play second fiddles in their own movie; there is far, far too much singing which will turn off approximately 19 out of 20 viewers today (keep the FF button handy). There appear to be no decent-quality copies of this film in circulation, so that's another thing that restricts viewing and sounding pleasure. But don't miss the scene where O & J openly discuss Abbott and Costello's "Hold That Ghost"! This whole movie could be a fever dream. ** out of 4.

A frenetic, ghostly time was had by all...

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 5 March 2013]

A spooky mansion conveniently located next door to a night club is the setting for some creepy goings on, surrounding a Southern colonel and his two daughters. Two zany comics (Olsen and Johnson) get involved in the mystery, which seemingly involves a ghostly presence but is obviously so much more. Olsen and Johnson are obviously aware of the plot's shortcomings, making references to Abbott and Costello's similar "Hold That Ghost", made three years before. Still, there's a few truly funny gags and some memorable music to hold your attention, as well as such talented character performers like Andy Devine and Walter Catlett, plus the pretty Gloria Jean and Martha O'Driscoll as well. A truly funny sequence has Olsen and Johnson's clothes being suddenly ripped off them as if being stripped by some invisible spirits as they comment on their disbelief in such goings on.

These Guys Were Good!

[essers · 7 October 2005]

I'd like to be added to the yea chorus.

I was about eleven when I saw it as part of a "kiddy" show. The haunted house stuff that brought me there, in the first place, was not disappointing. However, what really impressed me was the music. The musical production numbers ranked high on my eleven-year-old rating system. This is very interesting because, at that time, I cared more about the exploits of John Wayne and Roy Rogers than any musical number.

Thinking back, I am still impressed.

Put this one to that list of – I sure would like to see it again!

Olsen & Johnson's Ghost Catchers is only amusing in spots and has too much musical numbers to boot

[tavm · 4/10 · 31 October 2012]

In honor of today which is Halloween, I decided to watch various comedy teams' movies which has some scary stuff. This is the first of the Ole Olsen & Chic Johnson movies that I've seen and are now on YouTube. They play themselves as entertainers whose nightclub is next to a haunted house. That's all I feel I have to explain since the plot is pretty much ripped to shreds not only by their act but also by some singers like Gloria Jean, Morton Downey Sr., and Ella Mae Morse of which the last one provides some swingin' Big Band entertainment while the other two are more romantic ballad-like. I think I like Ms. Morse's numbers better than the other two though, really, there's too much of them. And while there are some funny punchlines and amusing visual bits, as well as an early thrill at the beginning, the whole thing was just too silly for my tastes. I did like the appearance of both Andy Devine and Lon Chaney Jr. as a horse and bear, respectively. So on that note, Ghost Catchers is worth a look at least once. P.S. Yes, this Morton Downey Sr. was the father of the late notorious talk show host, Morton Downey Jr.

Hold That Ghost Catcher

[rstef1 · 2/10 · 19 August 2021]

While some of the reviews here are raves for this film, I am firmly in the opposite camp. I find comedy duos like Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello very funny even today, but Olsen and Johnson are not. Their shtick may have played better in the 40s, however, I don't think it works in this movie at all. Part of the problem is that the paper thin plot seems to take a back seat to far too many musical and comedy interludes. The songs aren't memorable and neither are the slapstick bits. I found the duo's antics insufferable and I didn't care who the killer was by the end.

As a Universal genre completist, I'm glad I finally got to view this little seen film, but I would never put myself through watching it again. Stick with the far better Hold That Ghost from Abbott and Costello, or Ghost Breakers with Bob Hope. 2 1/2 stars.

A total waste for Lon Chaney fans

[kevinolzak · 4/10 · 31 October 2012]

1944's "Ghost Catchers" remains a seldom seen musicomedy from Universal's busy wartime era, the third of four titles made there by the almost forgotten team of Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson. As near as I can figure, the pair were so similar in appearance that you can only tell them apart by the fact that Olsen was taller, with Johnson most often howling at his own antics. While I truly enjoyed their previous feature, 1943's "Crazy House," I was frankly bored with this one, way too much music taking up screen time for the first half of a brief 67 minute film that seemed much longer. They had only one interesting moment, a little dig at Abbott and Costello (done before in "Crazy House"), who had a huge success with 1941's "Hold That Ghost," one of their finest films (the same running figures used during the opening credits for both features). Here, we have a Southern Colonel (Walter Catlett) and his two singing daughters (Gloria Jean and Martha O'Driscoll), who rent a house haunted by a tap dancing ghost, played in his one sequence by perennial drunk Jack Norton. While the invisible spectre is not malevolent, there are others trying to scare away our protagonists, even murdering the caretaker (Alec Craig); gangsters hoping to make off with their hootch. The two most noticeable crooks are Lon Chaney (in a bear costume) and Andy Devine (in a horse's head), while cult favorite Tor Johnson can be spotted among the rest (among the musical guests are Morton Downey and drummer Mel Torme). While Devine gets to indulge a little, poor Chaney is completely wasted, enjoying better roles in his forthcoming Abbott and Costello movies. A better ounce of trivia involves the criminal mastermind wearing one of Chaney's Mummy masks (looking most like the one from the still forthcoming "The Mummy's Curse"). The adorable Gloria Jean does get to show off why she was Deanna Durbin's main competition at Universal, and lovely Martha O'Driscoll would see more of Lon Chaney the following year, in "Here Come the Co-eds" (with Abbott and Costello), "The Daltons Ride Again," and her most famous credit, "House of Dracula." Olsen and Johnson would do one more feature in 1945, "See My Lawyer," before returning to the stage, where they continued performing for the rest of their days (Bela Lugosi appeared in one of their early talkie films, 1931's "50 Million Frenchmen," shot in two strip Technicolor).

Catch up on some sleep instead

[AAdaSC · 3/10 · 4 October 2016]

Colonel Walter Catlett (Marshall) rents a house for himself and his daughters – singer Gloria Jean (Melinda) and Martha O'Driscoll (Susanna). There is a much better singer next door – Ella Mae Morse (Virginia) – at the nightclub where Olsen and Johnson do their schtick. Anyway, there is a red herring of an actual ghost as the plot involves a murder plot that doesn't really make any sense.

Whether you like this film will depend on whether you like Olsen and Johnson. If you've never seen them as I hadn't, then I'll tell you that they are rubbish. There are musical interludes throughout the film that seem to belong in a completely different film. And they are all rubbish as well apart from 2 or 3 songs that Ella Mae Morse is involved in. You'll know the ones. They are the only memorable part of the film which is boring and drags.

The Best Olsen & Johnson film

[Norm-30 · 10/10 · 8 June 1999]

Without a doubt, this film is O & J's best film! A Colonel (with 2 daughters) move from Ga to NYC for the girl's Carnegie Hall debut.

The house they choose is haunted....by gangsters AND a REAL ghost!

Great O & J slapstick comedy, Swing dancing, and music ("Blue Candlelight" is the showstopper).

Plus, the ghosts (real & fake) are CREEPY!

"Last the best of all the game"!

Spooktacularly bad.

[BA_Harrison · 2/10 · 27 August 2022]

Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson play a couple of night-club comedians who help out their new neighbours - a Southern colonel and his beautiful daughters Melinda (Gloria Jean) and Susanna (Martha O'Driscoll) - after they experience ghost trouble from dead millionaire playboy Wilbur (Jack Norton). Wilbur is forced out of the house when the night-club dancers perform a wild jitterbug dance through the building (an unorthodox method of exorcising unwanted spirits). Unfortunately, the spook wasn't the only unwelcome uninvited guest in the house: ruthless bootleggers are using the cellar to hide their booze, and they want the new occupants out of the way. It's going to take more than a jitterbug to sort out these crooks!

With stale gags that Abbot and Costello would reject (although Bob Hope might go for a couple if he was desperate for material), and way too many forgettable musical numbers, Ghost Catchers is pretty lame stuff. This kind of zany, screwball, lightweight craziness might have been just the ticket for a wartime audience that needed cheering up, but sadly, the whole thing hasn't aged well, that style of entertainment having been consigned to the history books long ago. Lon Chaney Jr. Is reduced to playing a henchman in a bear costume, which says it all.

Entertaining movie, great music, charming Gloria Jean

[elegant_affairs · 7 January 2006]

I saw this movie at about age 11 (1949). I attended the movie because of the title and was not old enough then to appreciate the music. Ghost Catchers is by far the best work that Olson and Johnson did, and it contains some great music of that time. It was very entertaining throughout. Morton Downey and Ella Mae Morse were great, Kirby Grant and his orchestra were impressive, and Gloria Jean was charming--especially in her lovely song at the end of the movie "I'm Old Enough to Dream." I would appreciate someone posting a copy of the lyrics to that tune since the audio is not too clear in the VHS copy I have. Seems that good movies were abundant then. I would vote for this movie to achieve classic status and perhaps digital cleanup and/or colorizing.

"First the worst second the same"

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 5 July 2023]

Olsen and Johnson did four pictures for Universal, with diminishing returns each time. Hellzapoppin is an underrated masterpiece. Crazy House was fun but a big step down from Hellz. Then this one which feels like a pedestrian Abbott and Costello knock-off. They even reference that more successful Universal comedy duo in one of the film's meta jokes. Olsen and Johnson were basically a blend of A&C, Hope & Crosby, and the Marx Bros. I'm no film historian so I won't say who was first at any of the comedy devices employed by these teams. I do know who was best, at least onscreen, and it wasn't this pair. That being said, I have enjoyed their movies.

They aren't the biggest issue here anyway. The problem is the lame musical numbers. This is a common complaint today about many comedies from back then. The studios didn't seem to trust a comedy to sustain itself so they added romantic subplots and musical numbers. The best comedies rose above but this is not the best. The supporting characters are duds with some truly horrendous accents going on ("I'm a little sick of side pork and chitlins honey chile"). Lon Chaney Jr. Is wasted here in a throwaway goon role at a time he was the star of their monster films. The funniest scene in the movie involves "a horse." It's really not great but also not unwatchable. I feel like it's one of those movies I'm being too harsh on and after some repeat viewings I might feel better about it.

Funniest Olson Johnson movie ever made - side splitting

[rag-8 · 10/10 · 15 April 1999]

This movie, from start to finish, is a complete GAS. I would do almost anything to get this movie. I haven't seen it in about twenty five years or more but I remember it as if I had just seen it.

I was probably 10 years old when I last saw it.

[thomas5789 · 8 September 2003]

I was a youngster when I last saw this film. I remember it as being a little scary. There was a haunted house in New York City. When the scenes changed to the swinging night club, this was the comic relief (for me). I remember the music to be tune-full, swinging. I would love to see this movie again.

Olsen & Johnson's FUNNIEST film !

[Norm-30 · 10/10 · 5 June 2000]

This film is to O & J what "Hold That Ghost" is to Abbott & Costello -- by far, their FUNNIEST film!

A Southern Colonel and his two daughters move into a "haunted house" in NYC...O & J (who own the night club next door) help them "despook" the place!

NOTE: Someone has written me about this film -- I HAVE IT in my collection of over 800 films! If you would like a copy, pls EMAIL me, using the addr next to my name: create a "regular" email; DON'T click on the addy. I might not get it!!!!

"Last the Best of All the Game!" Norm

Great movie. Precedes Ghost Busters by years.

[larry_wild · 10/10 · 4 April 2003]

I remember watching this and other Olsen and Johnson movies on late night television in the 50s. They were my favorites. I was reminded of this one when Ghost Busters came out.

Ghost Catchers was the Ghost Busters of its day.