Invisible Ghost (1941) starring Bela Lugosi
Invisible Ghost – a very unusual, very enjoyable murder mystery. Someone is killing people in a small town. And the kindly town doctor finds himself at the center of the mystery …
Review
And the story’s excellently told, as the backstory’s unravelled bit by bit. Then the murder suspect’s twin brother comes to investigate the mystery, and with the help of the doctor’s daughter, begins to do so. And when the audience begins to see what’s really happening, it’s sad and heartbreaking. It’s one of those stories where the audience feels sorry for the murderer — but in real life wouldn’t want to be near him.
It’s a sad revelation, and the entire movie’s extremely well done. Spoiler alert: I don’t spoil movies, but the product description below does — you’ve been warned.
Cast of characters in Invisible Ghost
- Bela Lugosi (The Devil Bat; The Corpse Vanishes) … Charles Kessler
- Polly Ann Young … Virginia Kessler
- John McGuire (Stranger on the Third Floor) … Ralph Dickson / Paul Dickson
- Clarence Muse (White Zombie) … Evans
- Alice Dahl … Cecile Mannix (as Terry Walker)
- Betty Compson … Mrs. Kessler
- Ernie Adams … Jules Mason
- George Pembroke … Police Lt. Williams
- Ottola Nesmith (The Return of the Vampire) … Mrs. Mason (as Ollola Nesmith)
- Fred Kelsey (Mesa of Lost Women) … Ryan – Policeman
- Jack Mulhall (The She-Creature) … Tim – Police Detective
Product Description
The great Joseph H. Lewis (Gun Crazy, My Name is Julia Ross) directed this classic Monogram horror film about a man who unknowingly carries out a series of grisly murders while under the power of his insane and domineering wife (Betty Compson, The Docks of New York). Horror legend Bela Lugosi (Dracula, Chandu the Magician) stars in this dark Jekyll & Hyde tale as a kindly doctor whose thought-to-be-dead wife hypnotizes him, turning him into an unwitting homicidal killer. This was the first and the best of nine Monogram Pictures made by producer Sam Katzman (Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, It Came from Beneath the Sea) co-starring Polly Ann Young (The Man From Utah) and Clarence Muse (The Black Stallion).
Editorial review of Invisible Ghost courtesy of Amazon.com
Dr. Charles Kessler (Bela Lugosi) lives with his daughter Virginia Kessler (Polly Ann Young) and his servants and misses his wife that left him. When there is a murder in his house, Virginia’s fiancée Ralph Dickson (John McGuire) is accused of the killing and sentenced to death penalty. Soon his twin brother comes to stay, meanwhile Mrs Kessler is alive and hidden in the garden house!
