Invisible Ghost ** (1941, Bela Lugosi, Polly Ann Young, John McGuire, Clarence Muse, Terry Walker, Betty Compson) – Classic Movie Review 3745

Lugosi with Polly Ann Young and Clarence Muse.

Out of the darkness comes the ear-piercing cry of a terrified girl, and the Phantom Killer has struck again. Only a terrified woman knows the secret of this ghostly murderer who leaves no clues but the bodies of his victims.

Director Joseph H Lewis’s eerie, over-the-top 1941 horror mystery stars Bela Lugosi, the Merchant of Menace, in his regular role as an increasingly unhinged doctor called Charles Kessler who wrongly believes his amnesiac wife is dead.

Well directed by cult name Lewis, maker of The Big Combo (1955) and Gun Crazy (1949), Invisible Ghost may be cheap but it is pretty cheerful.

Also in the cast are Polly Ann Young, John McGuire, Clarence Muse, Terry Walker, Betty Compson, Ernie Adams, George Pembroke, Ottola Nesmith, Fred Kelsey and Jack Mulhall.

The story and screenplay are by Helen Martin and Al Martin.

It runs 64 minutes, the black and white cinematography is by Harvey Gould and Marcel Le Picard, the film editor is Robert Golden, it is produced by Sam Katzman for Monogram Pictures. It is released on 21 March 2017 by Kino Lorber Studio Classics on Blu-ray.

It is the first of Lugosi’s nine films in his contract with Katzman at Monogram.

It is the final film of Polly Ann Young, who retired in 1941 after her marriage to Carter Hermann, devoting herself to bringing up their four children.

The failure of the copyright holder to renew the copyright resulted in the film falling into public domain.

Watch now free at the Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/TheInvisibleGhost

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3745

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com