MartinHafer "Ghost Chasers" surprised me, as it's a very enjoyable Bowery Boys film...something I just didn't expect...especially when I learned that the picture was shot in just 6 days!!!The story involves some phony psychics who are bilking customers out of their money with promises they can talk to their dead loved ones. Oddly, the only one who doesn't fall for any of this is Slip...and he's an idiot! Well, the story gets very strange when Edgar, a 300 year-old ghost shows up because he, too, is mad about the phony psychics and offers to help Sach uncover the gang's dirty tricks. However, no one else seems to be able to see Edgar and you can only assume he appears to REALLY dumb folks! Overall, this is actually a rather cute installment of the series. Edgar is a very likable character and I loved when he stopped to talk to the audience early in the story! In addition, the film offers some nice twists and kept my interest. Is it brilliant entertainment? Certainly not but it is a very watchable B-movie--and better than you'd expect.

classicsoncall Considering all the stories the East Side Kids/Bowery Boys did that hinted at ghosts in the title, none actually ever showed up, at least not of the white sheet variety. Besides this one, there was "Spooks Run Wild" (1941), "Ghosts on the Loose" (1943), and "Spook Busters" (1946). Trying to pick a 'best' out of this mix is a moot exercise, you haven't a ghost of a chance.The first surprise I got here was during a roll of the opening credits. Topping the list it was unusual to see the name of Bernard Gorcey, a regular in these stories as Louie Dumbrowsky, but his name usually wound up on the second screen of supporting players. It was also unusual to see the amount of quality time that Billy Benedict got in the story, especially in the early going teamed up with Sach (Huntz Hall). The term 'quality' here is used as a pejorative, there wasn't much quality to these pictures, but if you enjoy the goofy antics of the Bowery Boys, it doesn't much matter.You know, if you follow the money trail here, you might wonder why Slip (Leo Gorcey) never got into the investment business. After he snookered Louie out of the hundred bucks during the séance routine to help out Mrs. Parelli (Argentina Brunetti), he wound up collecting two hundred dollars from Madame Zola (Belle Mitchell). Check it out, if you watch that scene again, you'll see that he got his own hundred bucks back for Louie, and Mrs. Parelli got her hundred dollars too! Maybe these guys weren't as dumb as I thought.Well, hold that thought a minute. There was that later scene when Professor Krantz (Marshall Bradford) failed to hypnotize Sach. Even his amazing hypnotic power wasn't strong enough to affect a moron or an idiot. I guess Sach was both.With an able assist from Lloyd Corrigan as a three hundred year old 'ghost', this is a fast paced Bowery Boys flick that wreaks havoc on the spirit racket and leaves the con men (and women) with the short end of the stick. The only problem with the story was that Louie never did get his money back from dead Uncle Jake, but at least he had the best analysis of things when he observed at one point - "It's a long and ridiculous story".

bkoganbing When Leo Gorcey's mother's neighbor Argentina Brunetti starts spending money and borrowing from people to talk to her dead son, it becomes time for the Bowery Boys to spring into action. In their own inimitable style Gorcey, Huntz Hall and the gang track down a whole gang of these fake mediums led by Lela Bliss.In their quest they're aided and abetted by a real ghost, a gentlemen in a Quaker suit played by Lloyd Corrigan. Corrigan also communicates to the world through a medium and the one he's chosen is Huntz Hall. He finds him an amiable fellow and one with 'a nose like Cyrano'.Corrigan is pretty useful when the guys invade the haunted house where the fake mediums do their thing. Of course he creates some real tricks, my favorite being the creation and disappearance of doors when needed.All in all a good Bowery Boys film, the best scenes are those that involve Lloyd Corrigan and Huntz Hall.

wes-connors While loquacious Leo Gorcey (as Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney) tries to teach a girlfriend English diction ("How, now, brown, cow…"), simple-minded Huntz Hall (as Horace De Bussy "Sach" Jones) joins "Bowery Boys" William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), Buddy Gorman (as Butch), and David Gorcey (as Chuck) in a séance. The spirit world isn't really contacted, but Mr. Benedict remains a believer; he invites Mr. Hall to join his ghost-contacting group, which intends to contact a dead magician named "Leonardi".The group turns out to be a racket, as Mr. Gorcey suspects. Gorcey decides to expose the group by persuading fatherly "Sweet Shop" owner Bernard Gorcey (as Louis "Louie" Dumbrowsky) to contact his debtor uncle "Jake" through "Margo the Medium" (Lela Bliss). Hall, meanwhile, befriends 300-year-old pilgrim Lloyd Corrigan (as Edgar Alden Franklin Smith), who steals the show. Edward J. Kay's finely-tuned musical direction, and Mr. Corrigan's spirited mission, help make "Ghost Chasers" an above average series entry.***** Ghost Chasers (4/29/51) William Beaudine ~ Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Lloyd Corrigan