Ghost Chasers (1951)

6/10

bkoganbing4 September 2010

When Leo Gorcey's mother's neighbor Argentina Brunetti starts spending money and borrowing from people to talk to her dead son, it becomes time for the Bowery Boys to spring into action. In their own inimitable style Gorcey, Huntz Hall and the gang track down a whole gang of these fake mediums led by Lela Bliss.

In their quest they're aided and abetted by a real ghost, a gentlemen in a Quaker suit played by Lloyd Corrigan. Corrigan also communicates to the world through a medium and the one he's chosen is Huntz Hall. He finds him an amiable fellow and one with 'a nose like Cyrano'.

Corrigan is pretty useful when the guys invade the haunted house where the fake mediums do their thing. Of course he creates some real tricks, my favorite being the creation and disappearance of doors when needed.

All in all a good Bowery Boys film, the best scenes are those that involve Lloyd Corrigan and Huntz Hall.

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6/10

Better than usual Bowery Boys **

JoeKarlosi4 August 2004

GHOST CHASERS turns out to be a well-paced comedy, and a little better than usual. It involves Slip, Sach and the gang trying to expose a phony clairvoyant (or"clairvoyage," to quote the ever-prolific Leo Gorcey). Good fun all around, with some humorous assistance added courtesy of Bernard Gorcey (Leo's dad) as Louie Dumbrowski.

This is my favorite period for The Bowery Boys films (1946-1956), which was the point where they became all-out comedies. Unfortunately, as of this writing, there are no DVDs planned. Hopefully, Warner Bros. will put them out very soon.

**1/2 / ****

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7/10

You can't talk to someone who's dead unless they've already been reincarcerated

sol12185 September 2010

Warning: Spoilers

***SPOILERS*** The "Bowery Boys" get the unexpected help from 300 year old ghost Edger in them busting a major spirit & medium racket in the New York City area. This spirit racket has been taking people to the cleaners in claiming to be able to contact their dead friends and loved ones. And in the case of sweet shop owner Louie Dumbrowsky,in his long dead Uncle Jake, those who owed them money but kicked off or died before they had a chance to pay them back.

It was Slip who got on the case of exposing this phony medium Madam Zola who tired to gyp his neighbor Mrs. Parnelli out of $100.00 in claiming that she can contact the spirit of her dead son Frankie who was killed in the Korean War. Slip in threatening to turn over Madan Zola to the police bunko squad has her spill the beans on the spirit racket that she's a member of by fingering the big boss Dr.Grandville and his partner in crime phony medium Madam Margo.

Going to Dr.Grandville's place where Madam Margo conducts séances,at a hefty price for anyone who's interested, Slip's friend Sach is contacted by a real life not fake ghost Edger who, because of Sach's prominent looking nose,took a liking to him. Edger is more then willing to help expose the fake spirit and medium racket in it using fake ghosts to cheat unsuspecting people out of their hard earned cash. It also gives a bad name to real ghosts like himself who only want to help people in need not enrich themselves off their suffering. It's Sach who by being a moron and low IQ idiot, which keeps his subconscious mind open to being contacted by ghosts & spirits, who can both see an hear Edger which helps him as well as the "Bowery Boys" get the jump on Dr.Grandville and his henchmen.

***SPOILERS*** One of the best of the "Bowery Boys" films in that it has far more meat, or story-line, to it then the usual "Bowery Boys" movies your used to watching. In fact it was Edger the 300 year old friendly ghost who not only saved the boys from drowning in a tank that Dr.Grandville had them dump into as well as had Dr.Grandville Margo & Co. busted by the police but got those of us watching to believe that there is really such a thing as ghosts! Friendly or otherwise!

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How Now Brown Cow

dougdoepke1 October 2010

The boys get mixed up with a gang of phony spiritualists, at the same time Sach gets some special help.

What a hoot when Slip gives elocution lessons "how now brown cow" to coarse-talking Cynthia (Kayne). That's like Attila the Hun giving nice-nice lessons to Ghengis Khan. The pace really picks up once the boys invade Margo the phony Medium's house. Along the way, Sach picks up an impish ghost Edgar (Corrigan) that only he can see. It's a funny schtick since Edgar does all kinds of magic that confounds the disbelieving gang. Then too, catch that fractured Shakespeare Sach starts speaking after listening to the high-brow Edgar. Corrigan and Hall really work well together and Hall is livelier than in many of the other entries.

In fact, there are several centers of comedy, including Slip and the gang, and pint-sized Louie (B. Gorcey) doing his midget brand. And I hope they paid the boys extra for holding those frozen poses as well as they did, especially when they get lifted up. Also, I like the way Edgar "breaks character" and talks to the audience. Here, it's a rather charming touch. Of course, no one expects high-brow humor from these grade school drop-outs, but this entry is more imaginative and livelier than most.

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7/10

Ghosts and mediums are phonies...at least some of the time.

planktonrules24 May 2016

"Ghost Chasers" surprised me, as it's a very enjoyable Bowery Boys film...something I just didn't expect...especially when I learned that the picture was shot in just 6 days!!!

The story involves some phony psychics who are bilking customers out of their money with promises they can talk to their dead loved ones. Oddly, the only one who doesn't fall for any of this is Slip...and he's an idiot! Well, the story gets very strange when Edgar, a 300 year-old ghost shows up because he, too, is mad about the phony psychics and offers to help Sach uncover the gang's dirty tricks. However, no one else seems to be able to see Edgar and you can only assume he appears to REALLY dumb folks!

Overall, this is actually a rather cute installment of the series. Edgar is a very likable character and I loved when he stopped to talk to the audience early in the story! In addition, the film offers some nice twists and kept my interest. Is it brilliant entertainment? Certainly not but it is a very watchable B-movie--and better than you'd expect.

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6/10

Routine 5 = Start Throwing Punches

hogwrassler12 February 2022

I watched Ghost Chasers (1951) on TCM this morning. Whitey takes Sach to a meeting of mediums at a mansion and they watch a seance. Meanwhile, Slip learns that Mama Parelli is being billed out of $100 by a phony medium. Mama wants to contact her son, who was killed in the war. Slip decides to use Louie as bait to trap these crooks. Louie wants to contact his dead uncle to,find out wheee he hid all the money that he owed Louie before he died. When the BBs converge on the mansion, Sach meets a friendly ghost named Edgar who only he can see. Edgar is able to perform all types of supernatural tricks. Eventually, the Boys confront the phony mediums, but Routine 5 is stoped cold by mass hypnotism. It's up to Sach and Edgar to save the day, with help from Louie's new counter girl, Cynthia, and her private detective boyfriend, Jack Eagen.

This Bowery Boys entry is pretty dull. There's little action and the script is mostly unfunny. Not much slapstick, either. Whitey, Chuck, and Butch are much more prominent in Ghost Chasers than they have been in the recent movies. But Sach and Slip are in very few scenes together. At first, it's Sach and Whitey, and then Sach and Edgar interacting. Slip operates mostly on his own. This BB movie is disjointed from the start and it doesn't improve as it goes along.

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6/10

"All right boys, let's disintegrate".

classicsoncall15 May 2016

Warning: Spoilers

Considering all the stories the East Side Kids/Bowery Boys did that hinted at ghosts in the title, none actually ever showed up, at least not of the white sheet variety. Besides this one, there was "Spooks Run Wild" (1941), "Ghosts on the Loose" (1943), and "Spook Busters" (1946). Trying to pick a 'best' out of this mix is a moot exercise, you haven't a ghost of a chance.

The first surprise I got here was during a roll of the opening credits. Topping the list it was unusual to see the name of Bernard Gorcey, a regular in these stories as Louie Dumbrowsky, but his name usually wound up on the second screen of supporting players. It was also unusual to see the amount of quality time that Billy Benedict got in the story, especially in the early going teamed up with Sach (Huntz Hall). The term 'quality' here is used as a pejorative, there wasn't much quality to these pictures, but if you enjoy the goofy antics of the Bowery Boys, it doesn't much matter.

You know, if you follow the money trail here, you might wonder why Slip (Leo Gorcey) never got into the investment business. After he snookered Louie out of the hundred bucks during the séance routine to help out Mrs. Parelli (Argentina Brunetti), he wound up collecting two hundred dollars from Madame Zola (Belle Mitchell). Check it out, if you watch that scene again, you'll see that he got his own hundred bucks back for Louie, and Mrs. Parelli got her hundred dollars too! Maybe these guys weren't as dumb as I thought.

Well, hold that thought a minute. There was that later scene when Professor Krantz (Marshall Bradford) failed to hypnotize Sach. Even his amazing hypnotic power wasn't strong enough to affect a moron or an idiot. I guess Sach was both.

With an able assist from Lloyd Corrigan as a three hundred year old 'ghost', this is a fast paced Bowery Boys flick that wreaks havoc on the spirit racket and leaves the con men (and women) with the short end of the stick. The only problem with the story was that Louie never did get his money back from dead Uncle Jake, but at least he had the best analysis of things when he observed at one point - "It's a long and ridiculous story".

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6/10

The Boys and the Ghost

SnoopyStyle15 June 2021

The Bowery Boys get involved with spiritualism. Uncle Louie is desperate to contact Jake on the other side. Slip smells a con with his mother is being tricked by a spiritualist. It turns out to be a vast network of con people headed by famous spiritualist Margo the Medium. Sach meets an actual ghost and only he can see it.

It's another Scooby-Doo adventure with The Bowery Boys. It would be more compelling if Slip's mom is being tricked directly by Margo the Medium. It would make their revenge more delicious. It's set to be a fine adventure and then it adds a fun little twist, Edgar. I like Edgar and the premise that only Sach can see him. It has lots of potential fun. It's a bit of a mess but it's The Bowery Boys.

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5/10

Save the Last Trance for Me

wes-connors21 June 2009

While loquacious Leo Gorcey (as Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney) tries to teach a girlfriend English diction ("How, now, brown, cow"), simple-minded Huntz Hall (as Horace De Bussy "Sach" Jones) joins "Bowery Boys" William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), Buddy Gorman (as Butch), and David Gorcey (as Chuck) in a séance. The spirit world isn't really contacted, but Mr. Benedict remains a believer; he invites Mr. Hall to join his ghost-contacting group, which intends to contact a dead magician named "Leonardi".

The group turns out to be a racket, as Mr. Gorcey suspects. Gorcey decides to expose the group by persuading fatherly "Sweet Shop" owner Bernard Gorcey (as Louis "Louie" Dumbrowsky) to contact his debtor uncle "Jake" through "Margo the Medium" (Lela Bliss). Hall, meanwhile, befriends 300-year-old pilgrim Lloyd Corrigan (as Edgar Alden Franklin Smith), who steals the show. Edward J. Kay's finely-tuned musical direction, and Mr. Corrigan's spirited mission, help make "Ghost Chasers" an above average series entry.

***** Ghost Chasers (4/29/51) William Beaudine ~ Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Lloyd Corrigan

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5/10

Padded and overlong, though occasionally amusing

gridoon202423 February 2024

I've seen a few of these "Bowery Boys" romps by now, and they all seem to follow a similar pattern: no matter what the plot or the (supposed) setting, they ultimately end up in a single set (after all, they were made by the infamously cost-conscious Monogram studios), where the boys chase, and are chased around, by crooks. "Ghost Chasers" is no different, except that there is a rare - if brief - dramatic component, with a mother trying to get in contact with her dead son. The film is padded and overlong (even at 69 minutes), though there is the occasional funny line, and "Edgar", the one real, friendly ghost, is amusingly played by Lloyd Corrigan. ** out of 4.

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10/10

BEST OF THE BOWERY BOYS

tcchelsey11 February 2022

GHOST CHASERS is a whole lot of fun as the gang exposes a fake spiritualist racket, headed by Margo the Medium! Should you have a good memory your may notice that the bad guys mansion (complete with sliding doors and hidden rooms) is the same old dark house used in SMUGGLERS COVE a few years earlier. There's also a super gag running through the film as Sach (and only Sach) can see and hear Edgar the Ghost, who is just hanging around the mansion. Edgar is played by none other than versatile character actor and director Lloyd Corrigan. This episode also features a host of solid supporting players, such as Philip Van Zandt as a phony doctor, Robert Coogan (Jackie's brother) as goofy detective Jack Eagan, Argentina Brunetti as Mama Parelli (Slip's neighbor who is being duped by the ghost racket) and Lela Bliss as Margo. Best line department: Sach says to Edgar the ghost, "I like your outfit." To which Edgar replies, "These were the clothes I was buried in 300 years ago!!!" This was one of the first Bowery Boys to be released on vhs in 1992! Released via Warner Brothers dvd box set in 2012. Watch this one for all the old memories attached.

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Bowery Boys #22

Michael_Elliott9 September 2010

Ghost Chasers (1951)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Funny entry in the never-ending series has Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the other boys trying to bring down a medium who is charging people large sums of money for her fake spiritual advice. These victims include Slip's neighbor who recently lost her son in the war and is now trying to get in contact with him. At just 68-minutes this movie has a few too many slow spots but overall this is one of the better entries in the series and it's certainly one of their best when it comes to mixing comedy and the darker horror elements. I think some of the funniest moments happen early on when a few of the boys are in the back of Louie's shop doing a fake séance and Louie himself walks in and gets scared out of his wits. Bernard Gorcey is again back as Louie and he has some really funny moments as the screenplay makes the right decision to include him in on some of the action and the viewer gets rewarded with some nice laughs. Lloyd Corrigan gets a rather large part of a ghost who helps Sach get out of the various bad situations he gets himself into. I thought some of the stuff between the Hall and Corrigan was funny but after a while it started to get somewhat boring. With that said, Hall certainly steals the show with his idiot character constantly doing one dumb thing after another. He gets some pretty big laughs especially during the scenes where he gets scared for the various things going on. The scene where he first sees the ghost is priceless and he certainly helps keep things moving. Leo is in fine form as well, although he's part isn't nearly as big as usual. Lela Bliss isn't too bad as the medium but it's Bernard Gorcey that really nails everything home. Fans of the series will certainly want to check this one out but I think this one is good enough to the point where even non-fans will probably find themselves laughing.

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