What it’s about
Larry Lawrence (Hope), a hapless radio personality, believes himself guilty of a shooting, and stows away on a boat with manservant Alex (Best). The boat is headed to Cuba, the location of an old mansion which lovely fellow passenger Mary Carter (Goddard) has inherited. With Lawrence her unlikely and often unwilling protector, Mary claims her house but finds it haunted and also meets some nasty characters, both dead and alive, who don’t want her around.
Why we love it
George Marshall’s raucous comedy with goosebumps is vintage Hope, who works extremely well with the seductive Goddard (newly divorced from real-life husband Charles Chaplin). Also on-hand are a menacing Paul Lukas, and — could it be — a very young Anthony Quinn! Black actor Willie Best also makes the best of a stereotypical part; together, he and Hope give Jack Benny and Rochester a run for their money. If you’re in the mood for laughs with some thrills thrown in, here’s your movie.