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Rating: - Entertaining, But Thwarted By Weak Story and Script
Abbott and Costello were among the most popular comic teams in Hollywood history, and 1941's HOLD THAT GHOST is generally considered one of their better early films. Like most Abbott and Costello movies, the film exists exclusively as a set up for the pair's comic routines. By an absurd twist of fate, two gas station attendants fall heir to an isolated and decaying inn previously owned by a gangster--and, as in the usual manner of such films, find themselves stranded at the inn with a sinister guide, a silly scientist, a blonde beauty, a dizzy dame, and a host of half-seen "ghostly" characters who are out to find the dead gangster's loot. Walls slide open, bodies fall from behind curtains, beds unexpectedly turn into craps tables, and candles float in midair. It's all as broad as Abbott and Costello's comic style.

Abbott and Costello are, well, Abbott and Costello: bigger than life, over the top, and never eschewing the obvious if they think it will get a giggle. If you're in the market for sophisticated wit, you're in the wrong store--but at their best and armed with top rate material they could be extremely entertaining. Unfortunately, the script is weak, and you won't find anything here to compare to such classic turns as "Who's On First;" even so, the duo gives it everything they've got, and they manage to lift this excursion from the purely silly to the mildly amusing.

The supporting cast is quite solid here. Evelyn Ankers, best known as the ingenue in the horror classic THE WOLFMAN, is the blonde beauty of note; although the script offers her little, she's an attractive performer. While the motion picture industry gave her little more than occasional character roles, Joan Davis would go on considerable 1950s television fame with the series "I Married Joan," and her broad comic style is a perfect match for the Abbott and Costello brand of comedy--and when she pairs with Lou Costello to dance "The Blue Danube" the result is pure magic. There is also a brief cameo by "Stooge" Shemp Howard. HOLD THAT GHOST also offers a few musical moments, and film fans will find them particularly interesting, for they give a glimpse of the now-forgotten Ted Lewis performing his classic "Me and My Shadow" routine and early footage of The Andrews Sisters, who perform the seldom heard "Sleepy Serenade" and "Aurora." It's all in good fun, but while mildly amusing this really isn't one of Abbott and Costello's more memorable films. Recommended, but to hardcore fans only.

--GFT (Amazon Reviewer)--

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