Invisible Ghost Reviews

Bela Lugosi's first picture for Monogram is a fairly incoherent effort plotwise, but under the helm of director Joseph H. Lewis the film at least has some fairly interesting camera placement. The woefully underdeveloped story casts Lugosi as kindly Dr. Charles Kessler, who lives in a big old mansion with his adult daughter, Virginia (Polly Ann Young). Miserable since his wife was killed in an auto accident, Kessler pines for his lost love and, once a year, pretends she is still alive by having the butler (Clarence Muse) serve him a romantic dinner for two. Little does Kessler know that the gardener found Mrs. Kessler (Betty Compson) alive after the accident, but suffering from a terrible case of amnesia. Not wanting his boss to see her in such a condition, the gardener keeps Mrs. Kessler locked in his basement until she recovers. Unfortunately, Mrs. Kessler tends to slip out on occasion and wander over to the mansion, where she stares at her husband through the window. For reasons never explained, this causes Dr. Kessler to go into a deep homicidal trance that compels him to wander the house, killing anyone who gets in his way by placing his smoking-jacket over their head and suffocating them. Although the story makes little sense, with the murders and subsequent investigation bordering on the ludicrous, director Lewis lends this silly film a decidedly dreamlike, somewhat hypnotic feel. Also interesting is the surprisingly dignified and authoritative presence of black actor Muse as the loyal butler, whose character is the antithesis of the "Yas boss" stereotype common to films of the period. For Lugosi enthusiasts, the film is worth seeing merely to hear Bela say the line, "Apple pie? My, that would be a treat!" with his typical Hungarian gusto.