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Somehow, crime reporter Larry (Bob Hope) stumbles into a murder mystery
he has nothing to do with (but thinks otherwise), and before you know it
he finds himself and his valet Alex (Willie Best) on a boat headed for
Cuba, accompanying lovely Mary (Paulette Goddard), who has inherited a
haunted castle there, and because Larry wants to impress her he promises
her to get rid of her family ghost, figuring there is no ghost in the
first place, and he has already collected quite a few suspects before he
even arrives at the castle, including Parada (Paul Lukas), a man
desperately trying to prevent Mary from going to the castle, and Mederes
(Anthony Quinn), whose twin brother was murdered in affairs loosely
connected to the castle. After investigating the castle, being scared
shitless at least half a dozen times, running from the resident zombie
(Noble Johnson) and finding Parada's corpse though, Larry, Mary and Alex
have to find out that none of Larry's suspects actually has been the
baddie, that honour goes to handsome Geoff (Richard Carlson), who tried to
charm, wine and dine Mary away from her castle because underneath it there
is a rich silver mine. Of course, Geoff in the end gets his just desserts,
and Larry gets the girl.
Good if harmless horror entertainment
that shows Bob Hope on top of his form as the fast-talking cowardly hero,
and Willie Best in one of his less demeaning roles in white movies
- sure, he is still a racial stereotype, but at least his cowardice is
matched by Hope's. Also, Paulette Goddard serves as a great female lead
and the direction makes perfect use of the atmospheric sets. Sure, all of
this doesn't make the film a masterpiece, but one and a half hours of fun
nevertheless.
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