THE GHOST THAT WALKS ALONE

US, 1944, 63 minutes, Black-and-white.
Arthur Lake, Janis Carter, Lynne Roberts, Frank Sully, Warren Ashe, Arthur Space, Barbara Brown, Matt Willis.
Directed by Lew Landers.

There is a line of dialogue in the middle of this film about radio and radio drama where one character criticises the plays as having silly dialogue. And, unfortunately, this is one of the main criticisms of this blend of comedy and slight murder mystery.

But, for most contemporary audiences, who can sometimes live with some silly dialogue, it is the presence of Arthur Lake and his performance that will be the most off-putting. Lake appeared in many films in the 1920s. From 1938 he began a long series of many films and then television episodes of Blondie, and he taking on the role of Dagwood. His character here is very much a bamboozled Dagwood character which must have appealed at the time but seems too silly now.

He plays Eddie, the sound effects man in the studio, about to be married to the leading lady. In the background are some shenanigans about the manager, his wife and one of the actors. The performance goes badly with the sound effects man so focusing on his wife that the result is something of a shambles, and the sponsor threatening to withdraw support. After the wedding, the couple go to his sister’s boarding house but all the cast and crew turn up with the command to have rehearsals.

Then, one of the characters is found murdered, Eddie pressurised by two of the characters to help them hide the body (which then is mysteriously transported to LA in Eddie’s special effects kit). There is a very dotty lady in the house who sleep walks, imagines Eddie as a gallant knight and compels him to go for a night walk, much to the wife’s dismay. There is also the complication that she tells Eddie that she saw someone kill a man in her reverie.

The local sheriff (who actually makes a remark about the silly dialogue) has to deal with the police from Los Angeles who are investigating, puts Eddie in jail for his protection, Eddie then trying to get the truth from the old lady.

And the murderer is not so mysterious, the only candidate except for the sullen worker at the boarding house.