"Whispering Ghosts" *** (out of ****)
Milton Berle has a ghoulish time in "Whispering Ghosts" (1942).
"Whispering Ghosts" is a variation of the haunted house movie, where a cast of characters are assembled on a dark and stormy night in an old mansion for a reading of a will. The difference this time around is the main location isn't a mansion but a ship, known as the Black Joker, where a murder happened many years ago. According to some, there is a treasure on board.
Berle plays H.H. Van Buren, a radio actor known as "the man who lifts the veil". He has been able to solve 12 murders the police were not able to. But it is his 13th case which is getting him into the most trouble, solving the death of Captain Eli Weatherby. The case is ten years old but Van Buren believes he has solved it and will reveal the name of the killer on his radio program.
Not wanting to wait for the big announcement on the radio, Inspector Norris (Arthur Hohl) informs Van Buren he will arrest him for obstruction of justice if he doesn't reveal the name of the killer. It turns out Van Buren hasn't solved the case and has been following the wrong suspect. Wanting to save face in front of his radio audience, Van Buren and his valet, Euclid (Willie Best), head out to the ship to search for missing clues.
While on the ship Van Buren meets the great niece of Capt. Weatherby, Elizabeth (Brenda Joyce, "Jane" in a couple of Tarzan movies) who has inherited the ship. She has faith in Van Buren's ability to solve the case while her fiance, David (John Shelton) thinks Van Buren is a phony.
Directed by 20th Century Fox studio director Alfred Werker, "Whispering Ghosts" is a moderately successful entry into the comedy / horror sub genre. It understands the basic concept of what makes this sub genre work. We have two movies in one. In order for the movie to work it must create a believable scenario for the horror to take place so the jokes may be a natural extension of the material instead of forced comedy routines. "Whispering Ghosts" does a good job establishing the background story and creating an excuse to get all the characters on the ship.
The movie also works because of Milton Berle, who has a great screen presence, and is given the chance to shoot off a lot of one-liners. Berle hadn't appeared in many staring roles prior to "Whispering Ghosts", though was very funny in a supporting role in the Sonja Henie musical, "Sun Valley Serenade" (1941). That makes this movie something of a curiosity piece, giving movie fans a chance to see Berle in action before he found real stardom in television.
Berle has a rather stereotypical comedic persona. A well meaning guy, who acts brave but when faced with adversity becomes cowardly. He is quick with the one-liners, often using humor as a defense mechanism when fear takes over him. He also tries to exert himself in an authoritarian role in his relationship with Euclid by hiding his fear and asking Euclid to do what he is too afraid to do himself. Berle and Best have a nice rapport with one another allowing Best to be a good punchline for Berle's jokes.
If you have memories of Berle on TV or have come across clips, you may think of Berle as being a bit of a ham actor and / or "the thief of bad gags". As far as the jokes go, there will be many that find the humor corny and dated. Others may call it racist, though that charge puzzles me. Some feel because Willie Best (whom if you didn't know was black) is presented as a coward and the fact he was black, adds a racist component. That Best's character acts cowardly is just standard operating procedure for a comedian. Especially in the context of a comedy / horror movie. The comedian is supposed to act scared. That is where the jokes come into play. Berle's character also has cowardly moments. I will however admit some of Berle's jokes make reference to Best being black. To me, the jokes come off in bad taste in today's modern society.
What is also noticeable is throughout the movie Berle has a smile on his face, almost to the point of laughing, as he delivers his lines. I honestly couldn't tell if this was intentional or not. Was Berle, the actor, having a good time or was he trying to have his character appear as a carefree fellow, always smiling and joking around?
For the modest success "Whispering Ghosts" has in the comedy / horror genre, it is still a routine picture and not exactly original. Other movies have been made with similar plots. In "Whistling in the Dark" (1941) Red Skelton played a radio actor known for solving crimes. Then there was Bob Hope in the slightly better "The Ghost Breakers" (1940), which Willie Best co-starred in as well.
Unlike those two other comedies, "Whispering Ghosts" doesn't have a love interest for Berle's character. For better or worst, "Whispering Ghosts" is not interested in a romantic sub-plot and focuses primarily on jokes. It makes a mistake though in having Berle's character figure out other characters' motives a little too early in the movie, which eventually denies the viewer more comedy set-ups. It also needed a stronger adversary for Berle's character. This would have been perfect for the David character, since it is established he thinks Berle is a phony. But David gets lost in the shuffle of characters. The screenplay was by Lou Breslow, who wrote two Laurel & Hardy comedies at Fox; "Great Guns" (1941) and "A-Haunting We Will Go" (1942) as well as "Abbott & Costello in Hollywood" (1945) and the Red Skelton comedy "Merton of the Movies" (1947).
"Whispering Ghosts" could have been a truly effective comedy / horror movie if it would have attempted to establish more atmosphere to play up the horror portion of the story. We needed lots of shadows, lightning, and eerie music. It also wouldn't hurt if there was one or two truly scary scenes.
Let "Whispering Ghosts" be a reminder that comedy / horror isn't an easy genre to tackle. One can watch this after they have seen Abbott & Costello's encounters with Universal Monsters and Bob Hope in "Ghost Breakers" and "The Cat and the Canary" (1939).
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