Really Surprised!

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

About the only unusual and interesting thing about "The Ghost and the Guest" is that it was written by the comedian Morey Amsterdam. Apart from that, it's all a very standard film--with the usual cliches and a typical performance by James Dunn. In other words, it has B-movie written all over it...albeit a pleasant enough one to watch.A couple (James Dunn and Florence Rice) just got married and arrived at a house they inherited. Unfortunately, it comes with a problem...a body. However, when the police arrive, the body has disappeared! They know who the dead man probably was...he was a man who recently was executed. But where is the body and why would it move?!The film is very typical of the era, when many B haunted house and mystery movies were being made. Nothing offensive or awful here...just a typical higher quality PRC production.

Midway through this picture, there's a scene where the two leads (James Dunn and Florence Rice) find themselves momentarily alone in their room. It's their honeymoon, and they've had nary a second to themselves the whole movie, until now. But—before they even have a chance to breathe, people start pouring into their room, one at a time and in groups, until virtually all of the characters in the movie are right there in the same bedroom. –It ought to be funny, in a kind of Marx-Brothers-state-room sort of way….but somehow, it's just kind of flat. This whole picture is that way: full of scenes and gags that seems like they ought to be funny, but just aren't. The plot: Dunn and Rice inherit a house and decide to move right in, sight unseen. They bring along Sam McDaniel, who is apparently Dunn's valet and chauffeur. Mysterious doings are soon afoot; it seems the house was somehow connected with a recently executed convict and there may be some money around the place. Various characters turn up at the house to investigate, make trouble, or just hang around —a retired hangman, a police chief who writes detective thrillers, a dumb blonde and a sinister brunette, a couple of gangsters….the usual assortment.McDaniel, as chauffeur Harmony Jones, is the stereotypical frightened servant but somehow comes across as less dopey than any of the other characters; his wisecracks are occasionally clever. (He also advises Dunn on how to deal with married life: "Now take my wife, for instance. This morning I bawled her out for being so extravagant." What happened? Pause. "I'm giving up cigars.")Dunn and Rice as the newlyweds bicker and flirt and do their best to generate some energy but are largely defeated by dialog and plot that are woefully short on surprises. Certainly not the madcap laugh riot that it apparently aims to be, this picture is nevertheless mildly amusing and generally harmless enough. Call it a B picture that never rises above its budget.

James Dunn had been a personable leading man for Fox in the early 30s but by the 40s alcohol had taken a grip and he was almost unemployable. He still managed to make movies (his big comeback was as the heart- breaking Johnny Nolan in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn") and he always remained likable. This was the last film for his leading lady, Florence Rice. After this film she moved on to radio and television. She was always the romantic interest - her roles were never meaty but she was pretty and wholesome and was often teamed with Robert Young.Webster (James Dunn) and Jackie Frye (Florence Rice) are newly weds (although they don't act like it) and decide to spend their honeymoon at an old country farmhouse, which is to be their home. Webster is not too keen but Jackie has enthusiasm for both. They are accompanied by their chauffeur Harmony (Sam McDaniells) who thinks that milk comes from the milkman. The farm is giving Webster the heebie jeebies - there is a man tying a noose to a tree, bullet holes in the doors, a coffin is delivered and a group of strangers turn up. One has a nervous habit of crossing and uncrossing his fingers - add to the mix a policeman who writes detective stories for a pulp magazine and you have an interesting group of characters. Nothing is done to develop them, the group turn out to be a notorious gang of jewel thieves. Webster masquerades as Bobo Hutch from Pittsburg, to infiltrate the gang - but in the next scene that is forgotten about. The most entertaining part is the man who comes to the door at the end to tell the harassed pair they are at the wrong house!!!!

Even though listed (when you can find it) in reference books as a "horror/comedy", the shiver quotient is woefully absent. This is essentially a screwball comedy with a highly capable cast, in the typical "scare-the-newlyweds-out-of-the-abandoned-house-to-get-the-treasure" movie mold.Though dated by today's standards, most of the witty dialog (supplied by Dick Van Dyke's "Buddy Sorrell" Morey Amsterdam)brings a smile, with nary a straight man present. Florence Rice as bride Jackie seems to have a character that prefigures Lucy Ricardo, and husband Webster (James Dunn) attacks the role like Jack Haley. Chauffeur Harmony Jones (played by Sam McDaniel)seems the only sensible one in the bunch, wanting to return to New York where the only people wandering the streets are alive!The pace is quick, with nary a moment to think of the ludicrous plot machinations (a police chief who has time on duty to write pulp fiction) and illogic (the newlyweds move into the wrong house which is not questioned until the end of the movie). A bit of macabre humor is added with the inclusion of a retired county executioner who constantly wants Harmony to try on a noose for size ("You have the perfect neck for hangin'!"); the racial subtext is not lost on the modern audience.In all, a harmless and painless way to spend an hour.