Whispering Ghosts

1942's "Whispering Ghosts" served as a rare leading role for Milton Berle, still seven years away from TV stardom as 'Uncle Miltie,' for Sol Wurtzel's 'B' picture unit at Fox. In an obvious nod to Bob Hope's "The Ghost Breakers," Berle plays a radio sleuth, H. H. Van Buren, trying to solve the ten year old ax murder of a ship's captain who had hidden a cache of diamonds on his schooner the Black Joker. Also like Hope, Willie Best is on hand to provide wisecracks aplenty, but here, sadly, the ghosts are nonexistent. Instead, we get a pair of ham actors posing as the dead captain's first mate, Long Jack (John Carradine), and sweetheart Meg (Renie Riano), plus the captain's grand niece and heir (Brenda Joyce). The only real mystery is why nobody found the jewels before, the culprit's identity painfully obvious right from his opening scene. Carradine, Grady Sutton, and Milton Parsons are on hand to prop up the second half, as the picture remains anchored to that houseboat and doesn't budge. More serious and less cowardly than Bob Hope, Milton Berle proves himself capable of carrying a picture, though his material is substandard, his constant racial banter with Best providing the most amusement. For John Carradine, it was quite a comedown from acknowledged 'A' classics like "The Grapes of Wrath" and the recent "Son of Fury" to this ignominious little 'B,' but he's genuinely funny raising his eye patch to get a better look at the note handed to him by Berle. By his second scene, he's already revealed to be an actor named Norbert, so all the ghost talk is a cheat. He was constantly in demand as a freelance actor over the next four years, but many of the Poverty Row choices made resulted in a decline in his screen fortunes, due to his unwavering devotion to Shakespeare, and the company he wanted so desperately to succeed during the difficult war years. Incidentally, 'Long Jack' was also the name given to him in his favorite film, "Captains Courageous," while at one point, he is referred to by Berle as Dracula!

Whispering Ghosts boasts some interesting credits, among them screenwriter Lou Breslow, who had a flair for offbeat comedy, journeyman director Alfred Werker, who made some decent films, B producer Sol Wurtzel, and star Milton Berle. Miltie was still a few years away from his his great television success, and here plays a radio actor out to solve a murder mystery aboard a pirate ship. The supporting cast, as is so often the case in this kind of lighthearted borderline horror fare, is first rate: Brenda Joyce, John Carradine, Edmund McDonald, and another Milton, Parsons, without whom this kind of movie wouldn't seem complete. This is an agreeable comedy, not so much hilarious as pleasingly familiar in nearly every respect, as everything about it feels recycled, including the sets, and this is not in itself a bad thing, as Hollywood excelled at this kind of formula in the forties, and handled it better in this sort of cramped, intimate second feature than in bigger budgeted films. This one's done just right, not too big, not too small.

"Whispering Ghosts" was an odd movie because although it stars Milton Berle, he isn't very much like you'd expect. While this comedian made his name on stage with his almost encyclopedic knowledge of jokes (a few were even his own), here he isn't exactly doing comedy. And, in fact, sometimes he seems more like a macho hero type! This was definitely NOT what I expected to see!

The film is a murder mystery film--very much a staple of B movies of the era. In this case, H.H. Van Buren (Berle) has a radio show and through it ends up getting caught up in a murder mystery and hunt for stolen diamonds aboard an old, possibly haunted, boat. On hand to help him is Willie Best--who played pretty much the same sort of role in a similar film, Bob Hope's "Ghost Breakers". The only problem is that while Best's character KNOWS bad things are afoot, Van Buren actually thinks it's all an act and that he's not in any danger at all.

Overall, this is a mildly interesting film but mostly of interest as a curiosity because it stars Berle...even if he doesn't seem much like Berle here. Nothing outstanding in any way...just a very typical B- mystery with an atypical sort of leading man.

Light comedy flavors this mystery by way of exaggerated characters, with a few sight gags and small touches of situational humor adjoining. Those characters are rather the key, though, because the story introduces so many that the film starts to feel overstuffed. At the same time, while the cast performs admirably in the roles they're given, the scenario is overdone to the point that with more lively jocularity the picture would fit neatly among the works of more famous comedians - say, Laurel and Hardy, or Abbott and Costello. For as suitably well as this is made, however, it feels distinctly lacking and hollow. I said "light comedy," but the truth is that the levity is so gentle that it doesn't really leave an impression. Plot development comes across as meager - and given how many characters are involved, also scattered - so any vibes of tension or suspense mostly wallow in the conglomeration of light and sound. Why, murder is committed, and the occurrence comes and goes with such passivity that one could easily miss that it had happened at all! 'Whispering ghosts' isn't abjectly terrible, but mark this as an older film that doesn't particularly stand very tall 80 years later.

I do rather like the ensemble, including not least of all Willie Best; Euclid is written as so over the top that the role is almost a stereotype, but Best does a fine job and kind of steals the show. The production design is solid; the sets look outstanding, and are the single best part of the picture. Kudos to those who worked behind the scenes on this one - only, would that the contributions of writers Lou Breslow and Philip MacDonald, or director Alfred L. Werker, were as noteworthy. Even the climax arrives with an abruptness that feels contrived, emphasizing how scenes and dialogue are written with such nonchalance, and executed with even more, that robs them of any import. I think there are good ideas here, but "think" is the key word, because the movie communicates narrative beats so lackadaisically that I'm not sure I could retell the story. The last thing any film should do is allow a viewer's attention to wander, but here we are.

I've watched many features hailing all the way back to the silent era and absolutely loved them. A preponderance of the best movies that have ever been made, or will be made, come from the first half of the twentieth century. 'Whispering ghosts,' sadly, does not join that honored company, nor does it ever come close. The generosity of acknowledging "simpler entertainment for a simpler time" doesn't even really apply here, as no matter the era, what a movie above all requires is to capably convey its tale, and this falls short. It's fleetingly adequate for a diversion on a lazy day, but unfortunately I think 'Whispering ghosts' is a title that's best reserved for when you really have nothing else to watch in the moment.

Milton Berle is the star and writer of a radio true-crime show. A police inspector tells him that his "murderer" of a ship's captain thirteen years ago was an alias of that captain. He's announced that he'll provide the murderer's name on the next broadcast, so he heads out to the grounded ship to look for a fresh solution for his audience.

It's a B movie from Twentieth-Century Fox, based on recent thrill comedies that had been successful: THE GHOST BREAKERS and WHISTLING IN THE DARK, with Sol Wurtzel trying to promote his comedian as an answer to Bob Hope and Red Skelton. The script is decent and Berle's delivery of wisecracks is fine, but the aren't that funny. Some sound like someone who had looked at the scenes he wasn't in, and "the Thief of Bad Gags" is a decent enough actor. Credit Fox's under-rated director Alfred Werker. Management would slot him into any project, even ones that were partially shot, and he would deliver a seamless movie without much fuss. It was that very faculty that kept him in the Bs. In this one, he balances the ghostly atmosphere and gags very well.