Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious Hope Haunted House Hijinx!
Review: "The Ghost Breakers" is an excellent comedyPaulette Goddard is lovely, the young Anthony Quinn is menacing, the mystery is valid, and the sets are wonderfully spooky. Hope is even somewhat heroic in this one, a bit of a change of pace from his usual, comedically cowardly characters. A dash of film noir even shows up early on as a power outage hits New York during a storm (dig that lightning!). Crime reporter Hope flees to Cuba with Goddard after he mistakenly believes he shot a gangster's henchman in Goddard's hotel. Goddard has inherited a spooky old castle just offshore the island nation, and has received death threats from a mysterious villain. Taking up her cause, the suspicious Hope (and his unwilling servant), sets out to solve the mystery and bust the ghosts. Along the way, the rest of us are busting out laughing. The thin-skinned among us may not care for some of the pre-PC dialog, but those with intellect enough to put things in context will not be upset by some of the more dated wisecracks. Also included on the disc is "Hollywood Victory Caravan", a war bond short that is kind of a condensed version of "Star-Spangled Rhythm", another Hope film available in this DVD series. A young lady needs to get to Washington to see her wounded brother just back from the battlefield, but the only train that can take her is tied up with a War Bond rally. Naturally she has to sneak into the Paramount lot and ask Bing Crosby for help. As she wanders about the lot trying to avoid a security guard (William Demerest), she runs into such notables as Barbara Stanwyck and Alan Ladd. When she meets with the sympathetic Bing (after enjoying a Gershwin number performed by Carmen Cavallero and His Orchestra), Crosby and Hope get things worked out for sister and brother. The short also features a patriotic speech by Humphrey Bogart, and a wrap-up number by Crosby. A second inclusion is a condensed and edited-down edition of "Command Performance" with Judy Garland and Lana Turner doing walk-ons (Lana gets in a good zinger on Hope that leads to some ad-libbing by the comedian). To round things out the disc includes a short documentary on Hope's USO work ("Entertaining the Troops"), production notes, bios, and the film's trailer. An excellent all-around package for Hope fans!
Rating: 
Summary: Unpleasant racial role
Review: Although I didn't find this to be as funny as Hope's best (My Favorite Brunette in my opinion), the role of Willie Best as Hope's foolish, terrified, ignorant servant made the movie unwatchable for me. See his imdb profile to see what you're in for. I've read negative comments about Snowflake's role in movies like the Palm Beach Story, but I wasn't really bothered by that movie, or Remember the Night, because of his relatively small role, consideration of the times, and the silly behavior of those with whom he acted. In contrast, Best's role here is so large, and in such contrast with Hope's essentially brave, dashing, role, that I found the movie painful to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Hope's best films
Review: Bob Hope is radio personality Lawrence Lawrence ("my parents had no imagination"). He accidentaly becomes a murder suspect, and finds himself tangled in the affairs of beautiful heiress Mary Carter (Paulette Goddard) who has inherited a haunted island near Cuba. smuggled aboard ship in Mary's trunk, he finds himself heading for the island and danger, together with his faithful but bemused valet Alex (Willie Best).
This film is very funny but also has some genuinely scary moments. Bob Hope has his usual supply of witty one-liners, but his character in this film has rather more backbone than the type he usually plays. Willie Best as Alex is very funny too, his role is more substantial than is usual for films of the period, he and Hope are almost more like partners than master and servant. Tremendous fun.
Rating:
Summary: Nice light entertainment, with a few iffy moments
Review: Bob Hope leads this charming horror comedy, with the foxy Paulette Goddard as his romantic interest... (Yes, that's right... back then Hope was considered cute enough to get the girl!) The story is simple enough: Goddard inherits a haunted castle in Cuba, the love-smitten, wise-cracking Hope tags along to display his reluctant heroism. Some of the horror sequences are actually pretty cool, and several of Hopes one-liners are pretty funny. On the downside, it's unfortunate yet instructive to see the many "Bamboozled"-isms that surround Hope's African-American sidekick/valet, Alex (played by Willie Best, who specialized in this type of eye-rolling cariacature). It is really shocking to see that kind of blatant racism in a film, but also tells you a lot about the culture of the time. (On the other hand, if you're attuned to it, you can also pick up on an undercurrent of strength and practicality in the Alex character, such as when he casually hands Hope a gun for protection when on his way to meet with a gangster...) At any rate, you have to be able to suspend your sense of outrage and overlook the racist schtick, otherwise you'll just hate this movie. But if you do forgive the social sins of the time, this is an otherwise entertaining oldie. (Also check out the young Anthony Quinn in one of his early "ethnic" roles, this time as a pair of mysterious Cuban twins...)
Rating:
Summary: Who you gonna call? What about Bob Hope? He's only 100.
Review: Bob Hope turned 100 today and the question was raised as to what movie of his should people try to see that is (a) pretty good but (b) not one of the standards like "Paleface" or the Road Pictures with Bing Crosby. My vote is for this 1940 film, "The Ghost Breakers?" The film is usually dismissed because it was just another one of haunted house comedies that were being produced right before World War II, but we are talking Bob Hope and that makes all the differences: Bob Hope being scared to death still makes me laugh, long after Lou Costello's similar routine grows stale. Having considerable hilarity going on before we even get inside the haunted house also helps the film. The plot of this 85-minute black & white comedy has Bob Hope as Larry Lawrence, a radio star who has made his reputation as a muckraker. Fleeing from a murder in a hotel he ends up in the trunk of Mary Carter (Paulette Goddard) who is on her way to Cuba, where she has inherited the haunted Black Island and its haunted Castillo Maldito. Once on the island, Mary runs into the charming Parada (Paul Lukas), her old friend Geoff Montgomery (Richard Carlson), and the scheming Mederos twins (Anthony Quinn and Anthony Quinn). Meanwhile, at the castle awaiting Larry and Mary are the Mother Zombie (Virginia Brissac) and her giant zombie son (Noble Johnson, who you might remember as the native chief in the original "King Kong"). Larry and his trusted valet Alex (Willie Best) go ahead to the castle to make sure everything is safe for Mary, at which point wackiness ensues. In contrast to the Road pictures Hope stays in character throughout the film and his romancing of Mary rings true. There is an earnestness to Hope's character that is missing from most of his comedies. Hope's wisecracks work even better because of this restraint. Meanwhile, Goddard reminds us that she knew how to compliment a first rate comedian and she certainly gets more laughs at Hope's expense than she ever got at Charlie Chaplin's (no surprise there). The biggest downside of this film is that it embraced black stereotypes throughout, mainly with Alex and the Cuban natives. Allowances can be made, more because despite Alex embodying the racist notion of blacks as slow (i.e., lazy) he usually is the one solving Larry's problems, than because the times constitutes any sort of an excuse. But even if I see some subversive elements challenge racial prejudice in this film, when Hope quips that he is going to have to paint Alex white to see him in the dark, it is hard not to cringe. That might be enough to stop you from wanting to watch "The Ghost Breakers," but I hope that it does not. The DVD has an okay featurette on Hope entertaining the troops during World War II, an excerpt from a command performance in 1944, and a short subject "Hollywood Victory Caravan." You also get the trailer and a collection of gallery stills from the production, which is enough to round the rating on this DVD up instead of down. The result is not a great film, but still a good one that I would put in the middle of a Bob Hope Top 10 film list. In fact, I just did.
Rating:
Summary: Easily one of Bob Hope's finest films
Review: Bob Hope was never truly a film comedian like Cary Grant or even Joel McCrea. He was primarily a radio personality who also appeared in a few films. For the most part, his later career was progressively weaker and weaker, and his celebrated series of Road Pictures with Bing Crosby were more notable for their spirit and energy than for much in the way of genuine humor. Indeed, of the famous comedians of the 20th century, Hope was one of the least funny. But for those who, like myself, do not count themselves among Hope's fans, there are two films that he made, both with Paulette Goddard, that are both remarkably entertaining and fun: THE CAT AND THE CANARY, released in 1939, and THE GHOST BREAKERS, released in 1940. What made these two films so much more successful than those that followed? First and foremost, there is a balance between the rest of the film elements and Hope's strong screen personality. For many of us, a little Bob Hope goes a long way, and in small amounts can even be entertaining. Although shockingly few of his one liners are actually funny, he does possess a nice physical timing, a great energy level, and a pleasant persona. He was never more pleasant or well presented as in these two films. The balance was achieved partly by not focusing as much on Hope as in his later films, and partly by including a very strong supporting cast. The very beautiful Paulette Goddard adorned both THE CAT AND THE CANARY and THE GHOST BREAKERS (her marriage to Charlie Chaplain ending in between efforts), and this film included as well Paul Lukas, Richard Carlson, and a very young Anthony Quinn (and for once the Mexican Quinn--born Antonio Rudolfo Oaxaca Quinn in Mexico--gets to play an Hispanic). The sets are fun, the direction fast-paced and never dull, and while the one liners don't elicit many out and out laughs, they at least engender a spirit of enjoyment. I can imagine only the most curmudgeonly viewer not having fun with one. One of the most fascinating aspects of the film is the role of Alex the manservant played by Willie Best, who along with other black actors such as Fred 'Snowflake' Toones played a host of frightened, illiterate, stupid, and lazy colored servants, red caps, and porters during the thirties and forties. In this film as well he is often fearful, frequently mangles his sentences, and is definitely subservient. Nonetheless, this is one of the most interesting of this kind of performance in any film I know from the era. Partly this is because you get the feeling that his character is far more intelligent than he at first lets on, and although he is often fearful, he always manages to get the better of his fear, and in fact intervenes physically more than once to help Hope when he is in danger. He and Hope seem more like companions the pure master and servant, and almost approximate Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Best does reinforce the stereotype in his role, but he comes very close to making something more of it. Sadly, it would remain one of the better roles for an African-American actor in a film mainly featuring white actors for some time (excepting several roles by the very talented and immensely dignified Rex Ingram, who is arguably the lone African American male who managed to completely shatter the stereotype in the 1940s, with several superb roles from THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD as the Genie, to Jim in HUCKLEBERRY FINN, to Da Lawd in GREEN PASTURES, to Lucifer in CABIN IN THE SKY, to Sgt. Tambul in SAHARA). The DVD has a number of excellent features, including excerpts from some of Hope's USO tours (Hope was, of course, one of the foremost entertainers of U.S. troops in WW II, perhaps surpassed only by Marlene Dietrich, whose efforts were truly heroic, with her actually living with and entertaining troops in the front lines while the invasion of Germany pushed forward) All in all, this was a very enjoyable film that will show Bob Hope at his very best.
Rating:
Summary: Easily one of Bob Hope's finest films
Review: Bob Hope was never truly a film comedian like Cary Grant or even Joel McCrea. He was primarily a radio personality who also appeared in a few films. For the most part, his later career was progressively weaker and weaker, and his celebrated series of Road Pictures with Bing Crosby were more notable for their spirit and energy than for much in the way of genuine humor. Indeed, of the famous comedians of the 20th century, Hope was one of the least funny. But for those who, like myself, do not count themselves among Hope's fans, there are two films that he made, both with Paulette Goddard, that are both remarkably entertaining and fun: THE CAT AND THE CANARY, released in 1939, and THE GHOST BREAKERS, released in 1940. What made these two films so much more successful than those that followed? First and foremost, there is a balance between the rest of the film elements and Hope's strong screen personality. For many of us, a little Bob Hope goes a long way, and in small amounts can even be entertaining. Although shockingly few of his one liners are actually funny, he does possess a nice physical timing, a great energy level, and a pleasant persona. He was never more pleasant or well presented as in these two films. The balance was achieved partly by not focusing as much on Hope as in his later films, and partly by including a very strong supporting cast. The very beautiful Paulette Goddard adorned both THE CAT AND THE CANARY and THE GHOST BREAKERS (her marriage to Charlie Chaplain ending in between efforts), and this film included as well Paul Lukas, Richard Carlson, and a very young Anthony Quinn (and for once the Mexican Quinn--born Antonio Rudolfo Oaxaca Quinn in Mexico--gets to play an Hispanic). The sets are fun, the direction fast-paced and never dull, and while the one liners don't elicit many out and out laughs, they at least engender a spirit of enjoyment. I can imagine only the most curmudgeonly viewer not having fun with one. One of the most fascinating aspects of the film is the role of Alex the manservant played by Willie Best, who along with other black actors such as Fred 'Snowflake' Toones played a host of frightened, illiterate, stupid, and lazy colored servants, red caps, and porters during the thirties and forties. In this film as well he is often fearful, frequently mangles his sentences, and is definitely subservient. Nonetheless, this is one of the most interesting of this kind of performance in any film I know from the era. Partly this is because you get the feeling that his character is far more intelligent than he at first lets on, and although he is often fearful, he always manages to get the better of his fear, and in fact intervenes physically more than once to help Hope when he is in danger. He and Hope seem more like companions the pure master and servant, and almost approximate Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Best does reinforce the stereotype in his role, but he comes very close to making something more of it. Sadly, it would remain one of the better roles for an African-American actor in a film mainly featuring white actors for some time (excepting several roles by the very talented and immensely dignified Rex Ingram, who is arguably the lone African American male who managed to completely shatter the stereotype in the 1940s, with several superb roles from THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD as the Genie, to Jim in HUCKLEBERRY FINN, to Da Lawd in GREEN PASTURES, to Lucifer in CABIN IN THE SKY, to Sgt. Tambul in SAHARA). The DVD has a number of excellent features, including excerpts from some of Hope's USO tours (Hope was, of course, one of the foremost entertainers of U.S. troops in WW II, perhaps surpassed only by Marlene Dietrich, whose efforts were truly heroic, with her actually living with and entertaining troops in the front lines while the invasion of Germany pushed forward) All in all, this was a very enjoyable film that will show Bob Hope at his very best.
Rating:
Summary: tvrepairman says: 1 of the best spooky comedies ever!
Review: Bop Hope and Paulette Goddard end up together in an old Cuban Mansion with a ghost or two. This is the 2nd film of this type with Hope and Goddard in together. The previous was the Cat and The Canary which I like even better. In Ghost Breakers they even meet a Zombie and the scene is actually spooky. Willie Best adds a little comedy to this film too while Hope does his usual great funny bits too. If you love spooky comedies this one is for you. There are not to many films of this type better than this one. Get it for your collection and you will want more!! My fav line: "It ain't Fried Chicken"
Rating:
Summary: Who Ya Gonna Call? Hope-buster!
Review: Easy to see why many viewers consider this horror-comedy to be a prototype for the 1980's mega-hit "Ghostbusters". Beautiful Paulette Goddard inherits an old haunted mansion in Cuba, and soon she's sailing for Havana accompanied by protective funnyman Bob Hope and his servant Willie Best. The trio is followed by an odd assortment of characters (Paul Lukas, Anthony Quinn, Richard Carlson) who may or may not be friends of our heroine! Once at the estate, the trio is besieged by bats, zombies, ghosts, and murderers who navigate the gloomy mansion's secret passages and panels to keep Hope & Company from discovering the real treasure hidden on Paulette's property. Hope has some funny lines; he and Goddard make a great romantic team; and the art direction and set decorations are impressive. The film's biggest fault is its inherent racist attitude toward people of color, and Willie Best's character in particular ... true, this was typical of the era, but it wasn't funny then and it definitely is hard to stomach now, especially when the script makes explicit references to "coloreds", etc. Hope and Best seem to have such a genuine rapport - and play off one another so well - that it's a shame they were cast as man and servant, rather than as equals. The extra features offered on the DVD are worth the price of the disc all by themselves. There's a truly touching tribute to Hope's long service of entertaining American troops abroad which includes some funny bits of business and some rare Technicolor footage of Hope and Frances Langford. Seldom-seen "Command Performance" footage shows Hope hosting a radio broadcast with guest stars Betty Hutton, Lana Turner, and Judy Garland. Best of all is the short film, "Hollywood Victory Caravan", which offers cameos by Hope, Barbara Stanwyck, Alan Ladd, William Demarest, and Franklin Pangborn; musical numbers by Bing Crosby and Betty Hutton; and a plug for War Bonds from a quintessentially cool and earnest Humphrey Bogart. Add in the Original Theatrical Trailer (in which Hope plugs his "Ghost Breakers" business from a tatty office), plus a Stills and Poster Gallery, and you've got hours of entertainment and Hollywood history at your fingertips!
Rating:
Summary: One of the great Bob Hope movies!
Review: Ghost Breakers is one of the funniest and most charming of all the Bob Hope movies. (It's miles above the 1950s remake with Jerry, ugh, Lewis and Dean Martin.) I've watched Ghost Breakers over and over, and it never fails to please. Paulette Goddard is beautiful ... and perfect as the brainy and brave new owner of a haunted castle in Cuba. The supporting cast, a veritable who's who of 1940s second and third bananas, will leave you laughing and yearning for more. I love Bob Hope, and I love this classic movie.
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