JohnHowardReid
Producer: Sigmund Neufeld. Copyright 3 March 1945 by P.R.C. Pictures, Inc. No New York opening. U.S. release: 3 February 1945. Not theatrically released in Australia. 6 reels. 54 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A crooked sheriff and the local doctor employ a gang of outlaws to run homesteaders out of the valley.COMMENT: Not a single female in sight, so I think we can safely assume that this entry was wholly and exclusively intended for the moppet audiences of Saturday matinees. That's a pity, because the basic premise of the story holds more promise than the usual Billy "B", but it's largely worked out in a thoroughly bland and conventional fashion. True, Newfield's direction, complete with a few running inserts, is competent enough and it's always nice to see heavies like Charles King and Karl Hackett run through their familiar paces. And for once, St John gets a chance to shine, — in a dual role.OTHER VIEWS: Not a few directors and photographers would have grasped the opportunities presented by this entry for some atmospheric effects in the horror vein. But Newfield seems determined to play potential thrills not only as blandly as possible, but mainly to garner laughs from an easily titivated moppet audience. - JHR writing as "George Addison".
bkoganbing
Only an incredibly stupid piece of script that allows Buster Crabbe to walk into an outlaw trap, though he does break away prevents this from being one of the best of PRC series. His Brother's Ghost has Al St. John playing Fuzzy Q. Jones and his brother Andy. Andy dies though he takes his time doing it, expiring from a gunshot wound. But not before he sets up a plan to trap the outlaws. I haven't seen this long running a death since the serial Tim Tyler's Luck where Al Shean takes two chapters to take the big trip.Andy Jones maybe with the angels, but nobody's quite sure of that as Fuzzy starts being seen around and scaring the pants off the members of a gang trying to drive homesteaders out of the valley. Veteran western villain Charles King heads the gang which has some local so called respectable community members as part of their plot. Of course Buster Crabbe takes care of them all in the end with his usual alacrity and dispatch.If you're a fan of Al St. John's slap saddle humor than this is the film for you.
FightingWesterner
In His Brother's Ghost, Al St. John takes center stage as both Fuzzy Jones and his twin brother Andy, a rancher besieged by villains trying to take over his spread.Mortally wounded, he sends for Fuzzy, who then teams up with Billy Carson to battle the bad guys by dressing as his now dead brother and playing ghost to frighten the superstitious baddies into spilling the beans on their mystery employer.Another typical entry in Producers Releasing Corporation's Billy Carson series, this has some okay action and St. John is great, really getting to show off his acting skills in the scenes where Andy lays dying.Another great scene has Fuzzy staring through a window and getting a rise from a dim-witted gunman, disappearing into the darkness before the frightened man's companions can notice.However, His Brother's Ghost hits a low point (for the film and the series) when Fuzzy hides behind a skinny wooden post and pokes out his head and shoulders a' la Looney Tunes. That was just too silly, even for a Saturday morning matinée western!
whpratt1
This is a Classic of all Classic early Westerns with great stars as Buster Crabbe, (Billy Carson), Al St. John,(Fuzzy Jones) and the bad bad guy who always wore a big black hat, Charles King,(Thorne) In this film Thorne is a bandit, con-man who wants to take over all the ranchers property and decides to either scare them off their land or just plain murder them all. Thorne has the doctor, sheriff and other officials in the Western town all wrapped around his little finger and is going to take Fuzzy Jones property, when Billy Carson comes to the aid of his old friend and decides to put an end to this murdering and stealing peoples ranches. There are no cowgirls in this picture at all and no singing cowboys. Charlie King made over two-hundred (200) Western Films and did a great job of standing up to Buster Crabbe. When television was appearing in most households in the 1950's all these Classic Western's could be seen on a daily basis until people got sick and tired of them. Enjoy
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