The Ghost Breakers (1940) (2024)

Popular reviews

• Review by ALISTAIR LEACH

  I was originally was gonna make a comment about how much I found the old poster with the blue ghost quite cute, but it was unflattering to Paulette Goddard.

  However after watching it to my shock and dismay, I was more offended by the "comic" racism.

• Review by julianblair ★★★½ 3

  Paramount upped the ante on this second Bob Hope-Paulette Goddard team up....there are actual supernatural elements here, a scary zombie ( Noble Johnson) and a spectral Spanish Don that both haunt an old castle in Cuba.

  Though the characters are different in name, Hope and Goddard enact roles that are almost identical to their meet-cute protagonists from 1939's The Cat and the Canary. Oh, it's fun, especially if you enjoy Hope's brassy yet timid role as a radio star who is drawn into a scary mystery, mostly as a chivalrous protector of Goddard, who has inherited the haunted castle on the island of Cuba.

  The thrills are mostly in the last half but we get to be treated to Paramount's…

• Review by 📀 Cammmalot 📀 ★★★

  Cinematic Time Capsule1940 Marathon - Film #69

  That’s all we need on top of
  ghosts and skeletons… a zombie!

  Have you ever had one of your relatives try to tell you a joke, but it takes way too long to get to the punch line? That’s this movie.

  Following the success of The Cat and the Canary, Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard are back to scare up another Scooby Doo adventure.

  This time they’re off to explore a gothic haunted castle in Cuba, and even though it’s a great final set-piece the film takes nearly an hour to finally get there, and like your relative’s joke, it makes for a really long setup with a relatively short payoff.

  What’s down there?
  Oh, just some of your stuffed ancestors.

  
  Cinematic Time Capsule - 1940 Ranked

• Review by Blair Russell ★★★

  It was time for a horror-comedy during Spooky Season; it was recorded off of TCM awhile ago but just last night did I get around to the film. A few old Bob Hope pictures I've seen before and enjoyed them all—this includes 1939's The Cat and the Canary last year, a similar horror-comedy where the laughs are paramount instead of the scares.

  This time around, Hope plays Lawrence Lawrence Lawrence (really), a radio host who begrudgingly reads ads for crap he doesn't care for as if he's a podcast host... due to absurd circ*mstances, he and his Black servant end up on a boat headed to Cuba w/ Paulette Goddard. She just inherited an island off the coast of Cuba;…

• Review by noir1946 ★★½ 2

  Because Paramount had such a success with dusting off a silent film and making it into a Bob Hope vehicle as The Cat and the Canary, it tried the formula again, reuniting Hope with Paulette Goddard in The Ghost Breakers. Like its predecessor, the weak link is Hope and his lame one-liners: “I’m shaking so hard the water on my knee is splashing.” What works is Goddard’s charm as someone who inherits a spooky house in Cuba only for various villains to interfere with her fun. Paulette also gets to flash some cheesecake—not that there’s anything wrong with that. Hans Dreier and Robert Usher’s art direction makes the house scary even without the zombie (Noble Johnson). The great Charles Lang’s…

• Review by Paul Elliott ★★★ 1

  The Ghost Breakers, directed by George Marshall and released in 1940, is a classic horror comedy starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. The film follows the adventures of Larry Lawrence (Hope), a cowardly radio host who flees to a haunted castle in Cuba after a series of mishaps involving underworld boss Frenchy Duval (Paul Fix). Along the way, he meets a mysterious woman (Goddard) and together they must battle the ghosts that inhabit the castle. The Ghost Breakers is a delightful blend of horror and comedy, with Hope and Goddard providing excellent performances. Hope is a comedic legend who has delighted audiences for decades. The Ghost Breakers is a classic horror-comedy full of dialogue and sight gags. Hope's comic timing…

• Review by kmeaston ★★★

  🎵Breakin' makes me feel good!🎵

• Review by AJ ★★★

  The Ghost Breakers doesn't have quite the highs (or lows) that Scared Stiff hits, but it's more consistent all the way through.

  Anyways, Paulette Goddard is a badass that eagerly dives into shark-infested waters at night in front of a voodoo swamp hut so she can check out her haunted castle.

• Review by 𝔸ℕℕ𝔸 ★★★½ 2

  I watched the first Bob Hope / Paulette Goddard comedy horror, The Cat and the Canary, last year, and it was enjoyable, but this? This was above enjoyable. Everyone has something to do in this Scooby Doo-esque plot. Willie Best makes an intrepid sidekick. Goddard refuses to back down from her voyage to her haunted castle. Both he and Goddard have natural chemistry with Hope who gets to not be a coward and ribs on Democrats for a change. It's a very dynamic film, moving from land to sea to land again. So many locations, so much plot. They even got Lloyd Corrigan to be in this to do .. something. I don't know what it is he does, but…

• Review by mrbalihai ★★ 2

  Leftover Halloween Candy Review #2

  You're like a blackout in a blackout. This keeps up, I'm gonna have to paint you white!

  Well, another nostalgic favorite from my horror-hosted tweener years has gone down in flames...

  This utterly dire "comedy" stars Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard, and like "Invisible Ghost", features yet another cringeworthy black comedy butler character, this time portrayed by Willie “Sleep n' Eat" Best. It spends almost an hour faffing about in a New York City hotel and on a cruise ship bound for Havana, while Ol' Ski Slope Nose delivers stale one-liners, before FINALLY getting to the ghost breaking part where the story starts to pick up a little steam.

  The last twenty minutes play out…

• Review by Natto80 ★★★★

  Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard’s second feature together is even a little better then there first enjoyable effort The Cat And The Canary. The pair seem even more comfortable together and once again show there dynamic chemistry. This time the film feels larger in scale and has all round a bigger cast. By an accident involving the mob Hope pairs up with Goddard who realises she is being targeted by a murderer on her trip to Cuba to lay claim to her inheritance. Once again we get to a haunted house complete with ghosts, a zombie and voodoo practices on the island. Hope is funny as normal but it’s his scared sidekick played by Willie Best who steals most of the laughs. Throughly enjoyable old romp.

• Review by RetroHound ★★★★

  This is certainly a step above The Cat and the Canary, which was enjoyable, but creaky. Hope gets more great lines and while a coward, he isn't the uber-chicken he would become later. Paulette Goddard has inherited a castle in Cuba that is haunted (it's a dark-old-castle film). She doesn't care, she's a modern woman! Hope is running from cops and crooks and ends up on her ship. His butler is with him, Willie Best, who also gets some very funny lines. Not only are there ghosts, but also zombies! A fun watch.