''The Live Ghost'' is a 1934 American comedy short film starring Laurel and Hardy, directed by Charles Rogers and produced by

Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, and screenwriter, ...

. A copy of this film is held by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

Plot

A gruff sea captain ( Walter Long) enlists fish-shop employees Laurel and Hardy to help in

shanghaiing Shanghaiing or crimping is the practice of kidnapping people to serve as sailors by coercive techniques such as trickery, intimidation, or violence. Those engaged in this form of kidnapping were known as ''crimps''. The related term ''press gang'' ...

men to be a crew for his next voyage. They succeed in doing so by a stunt that gets each man to chase after Laurel, whereupon Hardy frying-pans the pursuing sailor and knocks him out. But they accidentally clobber the captain as well (but merely give him a slight headache rather than rending him unconscious, since he is so much bigger and tougher of stature than the wimpy sailors), provoking him into shanghaiing them as well aboard what is rumored to be a "ghost ship" (which was why Captain Long was unable to get men to voluntarily enlist). He is so angry at this rumor that he makes a dire threat against the next man that so much as even utters the word "ghost" in his earshot: "I'll take his head and I'll twist it around so that when he's walkin' north he'll be lookin' south!" When Captain Long gives his men shore leave, the boys opt to remain on board, fearing the men they shanghaied would seek revenge if they were not under the captain's jurisdiction. Preparing to head ashore himself, Captain Long asks The Boys to keep an eye on a drunken shipmate (

Arthur Housman Arthur Housman (October 10, 1889 – April 8, 1942) was an American actor in films during both the silent film era and the Golden Age of Hollywood. Career Arthur Housman was one of the first screen comedians known to the public by name, and on ...

) and make sure he stays aboard ship. But he sneaks off anyway, and then while later staggering back to the ship in a state of liquor-hazed oblivion, falls into a tub of

whitewash Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used. ...

, then comes back onboard and crawls into his bunk to sleep it off. Sometime later the boys accidentally discharge a pistol, and mistakenly believing that they've shot the passed-out sailor, they toss his sleeping body—still wrapped in his bedsheet, and thus they have not yet seen him in his whitened state—overboard, but he promptly wakes up and climbs back on board. When the duo next see him, they're convinced he's the ghost of the "dead" sailor and run around the deck shrieking in terror. Meanwhile, the shanghaied sailors have been plotting revenge against the duo for shanghaiing them and decide to sneak back aboard the ship to clobber The Boys during the captain's absence. When they get to the ship and see Laurel and Hardy running, they begin to pursue them—only to be stopped when they see what they're running from: the drunken sailor covered in whitewash, which they too mistake for a ghost and jump overboard shrieking in terror. Captain Long returns with a barfly ( Mae Busch) whom he has talked into joining him, only for her to recognize the whitewashed sailor as the husband who had deserted her years ago. She chases the drunken man off the ship with her furled umbrella. Irate and disappointed at this turn of events, Captain Long is further enraged by Laurel and Hardy when they both tell him that they saw a ghost. He thereupon carries out his threat: he twists their heads around so they will be facing backwards. Hardy wearily utters his "Another nice mess..." catchphrase; Stan performs his classic, "Oh, I couldn't help it" whimpers in reply.

Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan * Oliver Hardy as Ollie * Walter Long as Captain *

as Drunken Sailor * Charlie Hall as Sailor at Table * Mae Busch as Maisie the Vamp *

Leo Willis Leo Willis (5 January 1890 – 10 April 1952) was an American actor who began his career in the silent era. He played mainly tough guys and comic villains, notably opposite Harold Lloyd, Charley Chase, and Laurel and Hardy at the Hal Roach Stud ...

as Sailor at Table

References

External links

* * *
''The Live Ghost'' at Laurel and Hardy
not active {{DEFAULTSORT:Live Ghost, The 1934 films 1934 comedy films 1930s ghost films American black-and-white films American comedy short films Films directed by Charley Rogers American films about revenge American ghost films Laurel and Hardy (film series) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films Seafaring films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films