I saw this movie late in the 50's when my Aunt Mary babysat me and my sister in East Meadow while my parents were partying on New Year's Eve. I was scared to death. In my opinion, it is second only to the Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
I'm not a A&C fan, but I am so happy to see that someone else considers Hold That Ghost to be one of their best. It's the standout to me. But the cut I saw a few years ago, I don't remember any musical numbers... I wish I would've DVR'd it.
Next to Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein this is my favourite of their films. It has a genuinely creepy and claustrophobic atmosphere as well as some funny moments. I haven't seen it over thirty years so I cannot vouch that my opinion would has enthusiastic. As a kid I loved anything horror related and this film was a nice mixture of laughs and scares. I liked the chemistry between Lou Costello and Joan Davis,especially when they're playing in a puddle of water. As Mr. Dante points out the musical numbers are the weakest aspects to these films-I have this same issue with Marx brothers films when Harpo has his obligatory harp solo or Chico noodles around on the piano, the latter is more tolerable but both slam the film to a dead stop. I oftentimes get the feeling that they're included to pad out the run time and really serve no other purpose, especially to their respective plots.
It could be Ted Healy's "Me and My Shadow" number. Perhaps it's considered too politically incorrect these days. Which I disagree with. Let art stand as a testament to the times in which it was created.
@@tonymorello8914 for the same reason you see White Christmas during the Christmas season and no longer see Holiday INN the month of Feb is too politically incorrect
@@tonymorello8914 - Joe Dante was wrong it's band leader Ted Lewis doing "Me and My Shadow." Healey is associated with the Three Stooges and has nothing to do with this film, Tony.
If it's anything like when I programmed WABC-TV movies in the 70s -- some good films were part of a package buy. Many times TV stations had to buy (lease) several films that were stinkers in order to get that one rare film that was in there. You know, hypothetically, you have to get 14 B-movies by some unknown leading actor & you get "The Blob," with Steve McQueen with that. This is why so many horrible Japanese monster movies aired endlessly back then. None of them were as good as the original piecemeal Godzilla & Rodan. Films like Godzilla Meets The 50 Foot Woman, etc... I remember I tried hard to get John Wayne's "Hondo," for The 4:30 Movie (western week) but it was stuck in a package with films I'd never schedule. Four others that were elusive were the incredible fantasy film "The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao," the all-star cast in disguise of "The List of Adrian Messenger," & Lee Marvin with Vivian Leigh in "Ship of Fools." Blake Edwards' The incredibly intense "Experiment In Terror," with Lee Remick & Glenn Ford. To this day, I can't even find "The Yellow Rolls Royce." Very hard to find or get for broadcast. Some films are held up on purpose by the copyright owners. Orson Welles did this. Some are embroiled in controversy: John Wayne's "McLintock," (women's groups protested it being broadcast because of the wild husband chasing his wife scene & the street spanking episode with Maureen O'Hara). "Hatari," (animal rights activists didn't like the way wild animals were being rounded up for zoos). They're broadcast more often now on sites like Netflix & RUclips. Sometimes films fall into the public domain but the owners still fight in court over broadcast rights. "Hold That Ghost," is owned by Universal Films (not the Costello estate as his daughter Chris Costello told me. She owns only the TV series). However, Hold That Ghost was made in 1941 -- that's 80 years. Films made before the new 1978 law can be copyrighted for only 95 years. We have another 15 years to go before Hold That Ghost is public domain. If anyone's left to remember these great comics & their work. If you go to Tuni, Netflix, etc you'll see many movies that look great but you never heard of. That's because they make tons of films & many go direct to video & never see the inside of a theater. If we didn't have the video revolution years ago many of those films would still be sitting on film company shelves. Many films should never have been made. That's how bad they are. Others didn't make it because of something as simple as the advertising & marketing departments couldn't come up with a viable campaign. Or, it tested poorly in some test town in Texas. That's right, a small town in Texas sometimes is the determining factor whether it goes to the theaters, video, or warehouse shelf. "Krakatoa, East of Java," -- a fairly good film with an all-star cast was pulled originally & retitled briefly as "Volcano," because....Krakatoa was not East of Java. It was west. Someone didn't do their homework.
I like the trailer more than the film. Shemp Howard is the only thing about the film that I find to be funny. In fact this film doesn't remotely compare to all the Haunted House shorts that the 3 Stooges did.
My dad introduced me to this movie when I was a kid, and it remains one of my all-time favorite movies to this day.
I saw this movie late in the 50's when my Aunt Mary babysat me and my sister in East Meadow while my parents were partying on New Year's Eve. I was scared to death. In my opinion, it is second only to the Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
I'm not a A&C fan, but I am so happy to see that someone else considers Hold That Ghost to be one of their best. It's the standout to me. But the cut I saw a few years ago, I don't remember any musical numbers... I wish I would've DVR'd it.
Great movie, I wish Joan Davis was there during the final sequence of the movie.
Joe, at :51 you say "Ted Healey." I think you meant to say "Ted Lewis." Ted Healey was associated with the Three Stooges.
Next to Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein this is my favourite of their films. It has a genuinely creepy and claustrophobic atmosphere as well as some funny moments. I haven't seen it over thirty years so I cannot vouch that my opinion would has enthusiastic. As a kid I loved anything horror related and this film was a nice mixture of laughs and scares. I liked the chemistry between Lou Costello and Joan Davis,especially when they're playing in a puddle of water. As Mr. Dante points out the musical numbers are the weakest aspects to these films-I have this same issue with Marx brothers films when Harpo has his obligatory harp solo or Chico noodles around on the piano, the latter is more tolerable but both slam the film to a dead stop. I oftentimes get the feeling that they're included to pad out the run time and really serve no other purpose, especially to their respective plots.
And not a word about the great Joan Davis? Say it ain't so, Joe!
Joan is still ther best thing about this picture.
My favorite of them
Ted Lewis … me and my shadow song is so racist but I love it so much
I don't understand why this movie is NEVER on TV? Does anyone know why?
It could be Ted Healy's "Me and My Shadow" number. Perhaps it's considered too politically incorrect these days. Which I disagree with. Let art stand as a testament to the times in which it was created.
@@tonymorello8914 for the same reason you see White Christmas during the Christmas season and no longer see Holiday INN the month of Feb is too politically incorrect
@@tonymorello8914 - Joe Dante was wrong it's band leader Ted Lewis doing "Me and My Shadow." Healey is associated with the Three Stooges and has nothing to do with this film, Tony.
If it's anything like when I programmed WABC-TV movies in the 70s -- some good films were part of a package buy. Many times TV stations had to buy (lease) several films that were stinkers in order to get that one rare film that was in there. You know, hypothetically, you have to get 14 B-movies by some unknown leading actor & you get "The Blob," with Steve McQueen with that. This is why so many horrible Japanese monster movies aired endlessly back then. None of them were as good as the original piecemeal Godzilla & Rodan. Films like Godzilla Meets The 50 Foot Woman, etc...
I remember I tried hard to get John Wayne's "Hondo," for The 4:30 Movie (western week) but it was stuck in a package with films I'd never schedule.
Four others that were elusive were the incredible fantasy film "The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao," the all-star cast in disguise of "The List of Adrian Messenger," & Lee Marvin with Vivian Leigh in "Ship of Fools." Blake Edwards' The incredibly intense "Experiment In Terror," with Lee Remick & Glenn Ford. To this day, I can't even find "The Yellow Rolls Royce." Very hard to find or get for broadcast.
Some films are held up on purpose by the copyright owners. Orson Welles did this. Some are embroiled in controversy: John Wayne's "McLintock," (women's groups protested it being broadcast because of the wild husband chasing his wife scene & the street spanking episode with Maureen O'Hara). "Hatari," (animal rights activists didn't like the way wild animals were being rounded up for zoos). They're broadcast more often now on sites like Netflix & RUclips.
Sometimes films fall into the public domain but the owners still fight in court over broadcast rights. "Hold That Ghost," is owned by Universal Films (not the Costello estate as his daughter Chris Costello told me. She owns only the TV series). However, Hold That Ghost was made in 1941 -- that's 80 years. Films made before the new 1978 law can be copyrighted for only 95 years. We have another 15 years to go before Hold That Ghost is public domain.
If anyone's left to remember these great comics & their work. If you go to Tuni, Netflix, etc you'll see many movies that look great but you never heard of. That's because they make tons of films & many go direct to video & never see the inside of a theater. If we didn't have the video revolution years ago many of those films would still be sitting on film company shelves. Many films should never have been made. That's how bad they are. Others didn't make it because of something as simple as the advertising & marketing departments couldn't come up with a viable campaign. Or, it tested poorly in some test town in Texas. That's right, a small town in Texas sometimes is the determining factor whether it goes to the theaters, video, or warehouse shelf.
"Krakatoa, East of Java," -- a fairly good film with an all-star cast was pulled originally & retitled briefly as "Volcano," because....Krakatoa was not East of Java. It was west. Someone didn't do their homework.
I agree with Joe!
Loved the comedy, hated the added-on musical numbers
I like the trailer more than the film. Shemp Howard is the only thing about the film that I find to be funny. In fact this film doesn't remotely compare to all the Haunted House shorts that the 3 Stooges did.
pathetic movie