Movie Review: Ghosts on the Loose (1943)

Synopsis: When Glimpy's sister, Betty, gets married to Jack, Muggs and the rest of the East Side Kids decide to surprise the newlyweds by fixing up their new home before they get back from the honeymoon. However, in doing so, Muggs and the gang stumble upon a Nazi plot after mistakenly entering the wrong house.

Who's in it? The movie stars Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bela Lugosi, Ava Gardner and Bobby Jordan.


Review: I'm not a big East Side Kids fan and probably would have skipped over Ghosts on the Loose under normal circumstances. However, I saw this film also had Bela Lugosi and Ava Gardner in it and since I like both of them, decided to give it a try while waiting for my daughter to get done with work. I didn't hate it, but it didn't do much to change my mind about the East Side Kids either.

My biggest problem with this movie was, for a film that is only about an hour in length, there is quite a bit filler. Many of the sight gags were drawn out longer than they really needed to be (such as the scene with the changing portraits) and by the time the movie got to the main part of the plot, it was almost over.

In fact, I feel like Lugosi was seriously underused. He had very few lines and, along with the rest of the Nazis, doesn't do a whole heck of a lot. They were just sort of there.

I will admit the movie did manage to have some funny moments. The scene where the flowers "fell off the truck" was amusing, for example.  

Unfortunately, the movie also relies heavily on unrealistic scenarios to keep things moving. As an example, why wouldn't the bad guys just tell Mugg (Gorcey) and friends they were in the wrong house? Seems like it would be something that would attract less attention. Also, Jack (Rick Vallin) married Ava Gardner but cut the honeymoon short to check on a house he hadn't even moved into yet? Yeah, I just don't see that happening in real life.

Final Opinion: It was a better movie than I thought it would be but mostly because it took so long to get to the main part of the story and had so much unnecessary filler, it wasn't one of my favorites. 

My Grade: C+

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