''The Ghost Breaker'' is a 1922 American silent

horror comedy Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and sp ...

film about haunted houses and ghosts. It was produced by

Famous Players-Lasky Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and ...

and distributed through Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Alfred E. Green and starred Wallace Reid in one of his last screen roles. The story, based on the 1909 play '' The Ghost Breaker'' by

Paul Dickey Paul Dickey (12 May 1882 – 7 January 1933), was an American playwright and silent screen writer. He wrote 17 films between years 1914 and 1933. He was born in Chicago, Illinois and died in New York, New York, aged 50. Selected filmogr ...

and Charles W. Goddard, had been released on film in 1914 (bearing the same name), directed by

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

and

Oscar Apfel Oscar C. Apfel (January 17, 1878 – March 21, 1938) was an American film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1913 and 1939, and also directed 94 films between 1911 and 1927. Biography Apf ...

. The 1922 version is now considered

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

. Two of the actors in this film, Snitz Edwards and Arthur Edmund Carewe, later appeared together in the 1925 Lon Chaney silent classic ''The Phantom of the Opera''. Two uncredited "ghosts" in the cast, Mervyn LeRoy and

Richard Arlen Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television. Biography Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Arlen attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a ...

, later went on to successful film careers. ''The Ghost Breaker'' would be remade in the sound era as ''

The Ghost Breakers ''The Ghost Breakers'' is a 1940 American mystery/horror comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. It was adapted by screenwriter Walter DeLeon as the third film version of the 1909 play '' The Ghost Bre ...

'' (1940) with

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

and

Paulette Goddard Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy; June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990) was an American actress notable for her film career in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Born in Manhattan and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Goddard initially began her career ...

, and later as '' Scared Stiff'' (1953) starring Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. The Ghost Breaker (1922) 1

Plot

Warren Jarvis and his manservant Rusty Snow help a beautiful young heiress named Maria Theresa to rid her father's mansion of ghosts. The spooks turn out to be fakes however, fabricated by the Duke D'Alba to scare the young lady away, thus allowing him to steal her father's hidden gold.

Cast

* Wallace Reid as Warren (Walter) Jarvis, ghost breaker *

Lila Lee Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel; July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras. Early life The daughter of Augusta Fredericka Appe ...

as Maria Theresa, a Spanish heiress *

Walter Hiers Walter Hiers (July 18, 1893 – February 27, 1933) was an American silent film actor. Biography Born in 1893, during his two decade-long acting career spanning from 1912 to 1932, Hiers acted in 101 films. He was a particularly prolific actor w ...

(in blackface) as Rusty Snow, a Negro servant * Arthur Edmund Carewe as Duke D'Alba, leader of the ghosts *

J. Farrell MacDonald John Farrell MacDonald (June 6, 1875 – August 2, 1952) was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a four-decade career from 1911 to 1951, and directed fort ...

as Sam Marcum, a Kentucky feudist *

Frances Raymond Frances Raymond (1869–1961) was an American stage and film actress.Goble p.193 An established character actress, she played in a number of supporting roles during the silent era. Later, during the sound era, she primarily played much smalle ...

as Aunt Mary Jarvis *

Snitz Edwards Snitz Edwards (born Edward Neumann, 1 January 1868 – 1 May 1937) was a stage and character actor of the early years of the silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialog ...

as Maurice *

as A Ghost (uncredited) * Mervyn LeRoy as A Ghost (uncredited) * George O'Brien as A Ghost (uncredited)

References

External links

* *
''The Ghost Breaker''
at silentera.com
Surviving image cardSurviving Wallace Reid image from lost film "The Ghost Breaker"
Wayback Machine)
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1922 films 1920s comedy horror films 1922 horror films American comedy horror films American silent feature films Famous Players-Lasky films American films based on plays Films directed by Alfred E. Green American black-and-white films American haunted house films Lost horror films Paramount Pictures films Lost American films 1922 comedy films 1920s English-language films 1920s American films Silent comedy-drama films Silent comedy horror films Silent American drama films Silent American comedy films {{comedy-horror-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links