6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A radio broadcaster, his quaking manservant and an heiress investigate the mystery of a haunted castle in Cuba.
Starring: Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Richard Carlson, Paul Lukas, Willie BestHorror | 100% |
Mystery | 7% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (A, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: This film is available as part of The Bob
Hope Collection.
Bob Hope became such a monolith over the course of his later life that it may be hard to remember at one point he was just another “player”, albeit a
promising one, at Paramount. In that regard, as with many other nascent stars at both Paramount and a number of other major studios during
Hollywood’s so-called “Golden Era”, it can be kind of fun seeing the marketing and other behind the scenes mavens at the studio trying to develop a
persona for Hope that would click with the
public. Hope’s feature films from the first couple of years of his career tended to be lightweight musicals and/or comedies, but Hope was also featured
in two films that helped establish his wisecracking milquetoast characterizations and which also helped to develop the horror-comedy hybrid that was
also utilized effectively by Abbott and Costello in such films as Hold
That Ghost (which notably debuted after both of these features, which would suggest that the Hope outings attracted the attention of bean
counters in studios other than Paramount).
The Ghost Breakers is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint, ViaVision and Universal Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. My hunch is this was culled from the same master as the Kino Lorber Blu-ray release for the North American market, though I'm considerably less impressed with the presentation on this release than Neil was for the American release. It seems apparent that this was either sourced from at least two different elements with pretty widely divergent quality, or from one element that has some pretty ragged looking moments. This is a much "dupier" looking presentation than The Cat and the Canary, with fluctuating contrast, blown out whites and (conversely) crushed blacks at times, and a much grittier grain field at times that can mask fine detail levels. I've tried to provide a representative sample of some of the variances on display, but for just one example, compare general clarity, grain structure and contrast between screenshots 3 and 17. Kind of ironically, this doesn't have the same recurrent damage in the form of scratches and other blemishes that The Cat and the Canary does, but it has a much more "aged" overall appearance nonetheless. Grain does ebb and flow, as can perhaps be made out by comparing screenshots, but resolves naturally throughout, and there are no signs of any aggressive filtering. In its best moments, this certainly approaches the generally fine appearance of The Cat and the Canary, but this is a more variable presentation. My score is 3.25.
The Ghost Breakers features an LPCM 2.0 Mono track which is very much in line with the audio presentation of The Cat and the Canary. The typically boxy sound of this era's recording technologies is on display, but dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. This film probably has more sound effects than The Cat and the Canary, and those moments, along with Ernst Toch's nicely evocative score, sound fine throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
This film, along with the first of the Road pictures, helped cement Bob Hope as one of Paramount's most durable and popular stars. The Ghost Breakers takes many of the best elements of The Cat and the Canary and ups the ante in both comedy and scare aspects, with the result being one of the most memorable Hope outings from this era. Video encounters some issues, but audio is fine and the commentary very enjoyable. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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