''Crazy Knights'' (also known as ''Ghost Crazy'') is a 1944 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

horror film directed by

William Beaudine William Washington Beaudine (January 15, 1892 – March 18, 1970) was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres. Life and car ...

and starring

Billy Gilbert William Gilbert Barron (September 12, 1894 – September 23, 1971), known professionally as Billy Gilbert, was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his comic sneeze routines. He appeared in over 200 feature films, short subjects ...

Shemp Howard Samuel Horwitz (March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955), known professionally as Shemp Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He was called "Shemp" because "Sam" came out that way in his mother's thick Litvak accent. He is best known as the ...

and

Max Rosenbloom Max Everitt Rosenbloom (November 6, 1906 – March 6, 1976) was an American professional boxer, actor, and television personality. Nicknamed "Slapsie Maxie", he was inducted into '' The Ring's'' Boxing Hall of Fame in 1972, the International Je ...

.Rigby p.256

Plot

and Dave Hammond (Bernard Sell) manage a carnival act with a live gorilla named Barny with Shemp posing as the gorilla during the actual act. While driving to their next carnival performance, they are side tracked by picking up stranded Mr. Gardner ( John Hamilton) and his daughter Joan Gardner (Jayne Hazard) whom Dave seems quite smitten with. Joan's father is convinced that someone is trying to kill him and the actions of his suspicious secretary, Mr. Williams (Tay Dunn) seem to confirm this. Gardner insists that the carnival trio take him and his entourage to one of his residences that is close by, though his daughter is upset by the idea. The Gardner's chauffeur (

) is left to stay with their broken down car. When they arrive at the Gardner estate, they are met by a mysterious and strange house servant Mrs. Benson (Minerva Urical) and an Electrician (Dan White) who is roaming about the house. Billy and Shemp are terrorized by ghostly voices, transforming pictures and figures dressed in sheets. Maxie finally arrives at the estate shortly after a suspicious character named Mr. Grogan (Tim Ryan) does. As things get stranger, Maxie teams up with Gilbert and Howard, Shemp dons the gorilla outfit and Barny the real gorilla gets free from his mobile cage trailer. Soon after a body is discovered and it is clearly a case of murder. The film is 63 minutes with the story wrapping up in the final two minutes. Billy Gilbert, Shemp Howard and Max "Maxie" Rosenbloom all use their actual names in the movie. The alternate title for this movie is "Ghost Crazy".

Cast

as Billy *

as Shemp *

as Maxie * Tim Ryan as Grogan * Jayne Hazard as Joan Gardner * Tay Dunn as Ralph Williams *

Minerva Urecal Minerva Urecal (born Florence Minerva Dunnuck; September 22, 1894 – February 26, 1966) was an American stage and radio performer as well as a character actress in Hollywood films and on various television series from the early 1950s to 1 ...

as Mrs. Benson * John Hamilton as Mr. Gardner * Bernard Sell as Dave Hammon *

Betty Sinclair Elizabeth Sinclair (3 December 1910 – 25 December 1981) was an Irish communist organiser. Early life Born as Elizabeth Margaret Sinclair at 44 Hooker Street in Ardoyne, Belfast on 3 December 1910, Betty came from a Church of Ireland family a ...

as Girl * Buster Brodie as Baldy *

Art Miles Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

as Barney the Gorilla *

Dan White Daniel James White (September 2, 1946 – October 21, 1985) was an American politician who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at City Hall. White was convicted of manslaugh ...

as Electrician

References

Bibliography

* Rigby, Jonathan. ''American Gothic: Sixty Years of Horror Cinema''. Reynolds & Hearn, 2007. * Marshall, Wendy L. ''William Beaudine: From Silents to Television''. Scarecrow Press, 2005.

External links

* 1944 films American comedy horror films American black-and-white films 1940s comedy horror films 1940s English-language films Films directed by William Beaudine Monogram Pictures films 1944 horror films 1944 comedy films 1940s American films {{comedy-horror-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

Bibliography

External links