By Frank Miller
Spook Chasers
Brief Synopsis
The Bowery Boys go after crooks hiding in a haunted house.
Cast & Crew
Read More
George Blair
Director
Huntz Hall
Horace DeBussy "Sach" Jones
Stanley Clements
Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie
Darlene Fields
Dolly Owens
David Gorcey
Chuck
Jimmy Murphy
Myron
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Horror
Release Date
Jun
2,
1957
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Allied Artists Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Allied Artists Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 2m
Film Length
5,490ft
(6 reels)
Synopsis
Mike Clancy, the owner of the café that Horace DeBussy "Sach" Jones, Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie and their Bowery friends Chuck, Myron and Blinky frequent, is told by his doctor that he needs to take a rest in the country because his asthma is not improving and he is overworked. The doctor's suggestion that Mike buy a place in the mountains is overheard by crooked real estate agent Harry Shelby and his assistant-girlfriend Dolly Owens, who see the opportunity to unload a derelict farmhouse owned by a gangster's widow. Mike is persuaded to buy the place, sight unseen, and is horrified when he and the Boys drive there and discover that the property is in an extremely dilapidated condition. Although the Boys claim that they can fix the place up, Mike phones Shelby to demand his money back, but Dolly answers and lies that Shelby is out of town. While cleaning up the place, Sach causes major electrical and plumbing disasters when he attempts to fix a leaky faucet. Angered by Sach's blunders, Duke chases him, causing him to collide with a wall. After the collision dislodges a pile of cash from its hiding place, the Boys search the rest of the house for more bills, but find none. When Mike, Duke and Sach visit Shelby's office to pay off the balance of the purchase price of the house, Shelby wonders where they suddenly found all the cash. After they leave, Snap, Ziggie and Ernie, three friends of the late gangster, who claim to represent his widow, arrive and tell Shelby they will deliver the money to her. Realizing that the money may be part of the proceeds from a robbery in which they all participated, Snap tells Shelby to offer to buy back the property from Mike at twice the original price. Soon after, the Boys are at the café discussing how to invest the cash when Shelby comes to make his offer. After Mike refuses all of Shelby's offers, Shelby mentions that the house is rumored to be haunted and reminds Mike of his delicate state of health, causing Duke to suspect that Shelby knows something about the hidden bills. Hoping to persuade Sach to reveal why the house is in such demand, Shelby asks Dolly to romance him. While the Boys are preparing to leave for the house, Dolly invites Sach to her apartment and after she gets him tipsy, he tells her about the money. After Duke manages to locate Sach, they and the others head for the house, arriving during a thunder and lightning storm. Sach and Blinky share a room, but are soon disturbed by two "ghosts," who also tie up and gag Chuck and Myron. Meanwhile, Snap and his sidekicks enter the house and search for the cash, which they believe rightfully belongs to them. While Sach is trying to flee from one of the ghosts, he accidentally discovers a revolving wall with a shelf containing several bags of money. When Snap and his friends try to relieve Sach of the cash, he tricks them and knocks Snap's gun out of his hand, causing it to fire. The shot alerts Duke, Mike and Blinky who then overpower the gangsters. As two ghosts enter and demand the money at gunpoint, a police lieutenant and three officers, who have been following Snap, arrive and arrest them. The lieutenant removes the ghosts' hoods, revealing Shelby and Dolly. Later, the Boys think Sach is playing a joke on them by dressing as one of the ghosts, until Sach suddenly shows up as the ghost disappears through a wall. At a party to celebrate the recovery of the cash, stolen in an armored car robbery, Sach poses for photographs with two attractive young women and claims to be the bravest man in the world until Duke dons one of the ghost outfits and terrifies him.
Director
George Blair
Director
Cast
Huntz Hall
Horace DeBussy "Sach" Jones
Stanley Clements
Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie
Darlene Fields
Dolly Owens
David Gorcey
Chuck
Jimmy Murphy
Myron
Eddie Leroy
Blinky
Percy Helton
Mike Clancy
Peter Mamakos
Snap
Ben Welden
Ziggie
Robert Shayne
Lt. Harris
Bill Henry
Harry Shelby
Robert Christopher
Ernie
Bill Cassady
Photographer
Audrey Conti
Young woman
Anne Fleming
Young woman
Pierre Watkin
Dr. Morse
Crew
Neil Brunnenkant
Film Editor
Ralph Butler
Recording Engineer
Irene Caine
Wardrobe
Sam Gordon
Props
Del Harris
Sound Editing
Bert Henrikson
Wardrobe
Austen Jewell
Assistant Director
Emile Lavigne
Makeup Artist
Bert Lawrence
Dialogue Director
Augie Lohman
Special Effects
Dick Michaels
Script Supervisor
Richard Michaels
Set Construction
Robert J. Mills
Set Decoration
David Milton
Art Director
Alice Monte
Hairdresser
Fred Morgan
Stills
Harry Neumann
Director of Photography
Eve Newman
Music Editor
Lindsley Parsons Jr.
Assistant Director
Charles Schelling
Sound Editing
Ben Schwalb
Producer
Marlin Skiles
Music
Elwood Ullman
Writer
James West
Construction Supervisor
Allen K. Wood
Production Manager
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Horror
Release Date
Jun
2,
1957
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Allied Artists Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Allied Artists Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 2m
Film Length
5,490ft
(6 reels)
Articles
Spook Chasers
The 45th Bowery Boys film, Spook Chasers, epitomizes the changes to the series after Leo Gorcey's departure. This time, the overgrown boys, now headed by Huntz Hall's Sach and Stanley Clements' Duke, help a friend restore a dilapidated farmhouse. When they discover a pile of money hidden in the walls, they don't realize it's the loot from a bank robbery, but the bank robbers do. Before long, the crooks are trying to convince them the house is haunted. The plot is similar to Abbott and Costello's Hold That Ghost (1941), but it's still fun to see the gang running from ghosts and crooks. Hall's drunk scene, when a femme fatale tries to find out where they found the money, is a delight. With the death of Gorcey's father, Bernard, the Bowery Boys lost their usual hang-out, the malt shop his character ran. For a while, stories focused on the boarding house where they all lived. With this entry, however, they moved to the Clancy Café, run by Mike Clancy (Percy Helton). This would be Helton's only appearance as Mike. He was replaced by Dick Elliott in the final three films.
By Frank Miller
By Frank Miller
Spook Chasers
The 45th Bowery Boys film, Spook Chasers, epitomizes the changes to the series after Leo Gorcey's departure. This time, the overgrown boys, now headed by Huntz Hall's Sach and Stanley Clements' Duke, help a friend restore a dilapidated farmhouse. When they discover a pile of money hidden in the walls, they don't realize it's the loot from a bank robbery, but the bank robbers do. Before long, the crooks are trying to convince them the house is haunted. The plot is similar to Abbott and Costello's Hold That Ghost (1941), but it's still fun to see the gang running from ghosts and crooks. Hall's drunk scene, when a femme fatale tries to find out where they found the money, is a delight. With the death of Gorcey's father, Bernard, the Bowery Boys lost their usual hang-out, the malt shop his character ran. For a while, stories focused on the boarding house where they all lived. With this entry, however, they moved to the Clancy Café, run by Mike Clancy (Percy Helton). This would be Helton's only appearance as Mike. He was replaced by Dick Elliott in the final three films.
By Frank Miller
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The opening title cards read: "Allied Artists Pictures Corporation presents Huntz Hall and the Bowery Boys in Spook Chasers." This film marked Percy Helton's only appearance as "Mike Clancy." For the remaining films in the series, Dick Elliott assumed the role. Although a Hollywood Reporter news item included Byron Foulger in the cast, he was not in the released film. For more information about "The Bowery Boys" series, please consult the Series index and the entry for Live Wires in AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1941-50.
