The Ghost Breakers (1940)

Film details

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Year1940
CountryUSA
GenreComedy
TypeMovie
Runtime85m
CastBob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Richard Carlson, Paul Lukas, Willie Best, Pedro de Cordoba, Virginia Brissac, Noble Johnson, Anthony Quinn, Tom Dugan

Review

"All in all, "The Ghost Breakers" is a crowd-pleasing popcorn movie with a lot to offer audiences patient enough to follow its labyrinthine plot. It delivers in all areas. Hope, Best and Norton elicit some of the biggest laughs of their formidable careers. Goddard emerges as one of if not the most memorable heroine in the classic horror-comedy genre. The scares are not only genuine but the overall tone of dread is consistent – consider even the scenes on the boat to Cuba, enhanced by highly effective, shadowy, mist-shrouded black and white cinematography. Hope and Goddard come off as a convincing romantic couple-in-the-making (bolstered by the fact that Hope could more easily pass as a leading man than some of the less attractive male comics – his charm in the scene where he and Paulette dance in her stateroom is ingratiating)." - Paul Castiglia, Scared Silly

Ranking history

The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films

EDITIONS IN TOP 1,00011
HIGHEST#3602018
LOWEST#7692016
Top 1,000Outside Top 1,000Missing ranking data

Dashed lines indicate missing ranking data. Select a point to view that year's published list. The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films list was not updated in 2022.

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