The Living Ghost (1942)

Interesting facts

The Living Ghost is a 1942 American mystery-drama film directed by William Beaudine and produced by Monogram Pictures. Starring James Dunn and Joan Woodbury, the film incorporates elements of the horror genre as it follows an ex-private detective who is called in to investigate why a banker has turned into a zombie. As the detective shares wisecracks with the banker's cheeky secretary, the two fall in love. The film was distributed in the United Kingdom under the title Lend Me Your Ear, and later released on home video as A Walking Nightmare.

Production

The Living Ghost was based on an original story by Howard Dimsdale titled "Money for What". Joseph Hoffman adapted the screenplay. The film was director William Beaudine's fourth since beginning projects for Monogram Pictures in 1942.

This was James Dunn's first film with Beaudine as director; the two worked together again on Leave It to the Irish (Monogram, 1944) and A Wonderful Life (Protestant Film Commission, 1951). Lawrence Grant, who played Dr. Bruhling, was a long-time British actor working in Hollywood; this was one of his last films.

Production began on August 28, 1942. Principal photography took place on "standing sets, interiors and soundstage exteriors" which would be reused in other Monogram horror films and Charlie Chan films starring Sidney Toler.

Like other Monogram productions of the early 1940s, the film was extremely low-budget; DVD Talk estimates the budget was "well under $50,000, probably in the $15,000-$20,000 range".

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.