''Haunted Spooks'' is a 1920 American silent

Southern Gothic Southern Gothic is an artistic subgenre of Gothic fiction, fiction, Popular music, music, Gothic film, film, theatre, and television that are heavily influenced by Gothic fiction, Gothic elements and the Southern United States, American South. ...

comedy horror film, produced and co-directed by

Hal Roach Harold 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, ...

,Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). ''Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era''. Midnight Marquee Press. p. 221.. starring

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many Silent film, silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influent ...

and

Mildred Davis Mildred Hillary Davis (February 22, 1898The reference book ''Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory'' gives Davis's birth date as January 1, 1900.August 18, 1969) was an American actress who appeared in fifteen of Harold Lloyd's cl ...

. The

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

has a comedic version of a typical

haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property ...

tale, and a dispute over a family's inheritance. A young woman is the heiress to a

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

and a

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

, but only if she is married. She quickly enters an

arranged marriage Arranged marriage is a type of Marriage, marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures, a professional matchmaki ...

with a stranger, and they travel to the mansion. Her uncle fakes ghostly apparitions, in order to scare them away and lay claim to the inheritance. At the end of the film, the husband and wife remember to enquire about their respective names.

Plot

The action in ''Haunted Spooks'' centres around Harold's romantic problems. It is set in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

(" odown the

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and turn to the right"). The opening sequence has an uncle reading a

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

regarding a will. It tells him that his niece Mildred will inherit the house and plantation, provided she lives there for a year with her husband. He tells his wife that they must scare them out of the house. A lawyer visits the niece to tell her of the will. She tells him she is not married and he says he can resolve the problem. We then jump to Harold who is disappointed in love and vying for the attention of the Other Girl in rivalry with her other potential suitor. They compete to be first to ask her father for her hand in marriage. Harold wins but when he returns to the girl she is in the arms of yet a third man, so he gives up. He then tries, with notable lack of success, to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

. Firstly using a gun he finds on a path, which turns out to be a water-pistol; then standing in front of a tram, which takes a sudden turn; then he ties a rock around his neck and jumps off a low bridge into a lake, but this fails as it is only inches deep; he then picks a second bridge, but lands in a boat; and finally stands in front of a car, which stops in time, but contains the lawyer from the earlier scene. He takes Harold to Mildred and arranges their marriage. They then drive off to the mansion, with some jokes en route: the gesticulating passengers in the car in front appear to be signalling right then left, preventing overtaking; the birds in the back seat pecking his head. They reach the mansion and the uncle plays a series of tricks to make the house appear haunted. A series of people appear in white sheets and covered in flour until the prank is uncovered. In a more unusual prank, a pair of trousers walk on their own, having a little black boy inside. We see Harold's hair stand on end then fall. The film ends with the couple inquiring about each other's name and entering the bedroom together.

Cast

as The Boy *

as Mildred Hillary, The Girl * Wallace Howe as The Uncle * Sammy Brooks as Short Butler (uncredited) *

Gaylord Lloyd Gaylord Fraser Lloyd (March 20, 1888 – September 1, 1943) was an actor and assistant director, known for ''Dodge Your Debts'' (1921), ''Trolley Troubles'' (1921) and ''Why Worry?'' (1923). He was the older brother of actor Harold Lloyd. He was ...

(uncredited) *

Sam Lufkin Samuel William Lufkin (May 8, 1891 – February 19, 1952) was an American actor. He was known for appearing in small or bit roles in short comedy films. Career Born in Utah, Lufkin spent most of his career at the Hal Roach Studios where he made ...

as Man arguing in car (uncredited) * Ernest Morrison as Little Boy (uncredited) * Dee Lampton as Tall Butler (uncredited) * Charles Stevenson as Winning Suitor (uncredited) * Blue Washington as Negro Butler (uncredited) *

Noah Young Noah Young, Jr. (February 2, 1887 – April 18, 1958) was a champion weightlifter and actor. Biography Young was born in Cañon City, Colorado. His father, Noah Young, was a foreman of the Glenrock coal mine who later became a coal mine i ...

as Chef (uncredited)

Production

The film began shooting on August 9, 1919 and halted on the 23rd of that month due to an accident. Lloyd was posing for publicity photos, and a prop bomb exploded in his hand. He lost two fingers, his face was badly burned and he was temporarily blinded. In subsequent films, he wore a prosthetic glove fitted with artificial fingers. After four months of recovering the film resumed on January 5, 1920 and continued through the 25th. There was very little public knowledge about the loss of Lloyd's fingers, but people knew of the accident. Lloyd wanted it that way because he did not want people to watch his films for sympathy or curiosity, but to watch his films "because they were good, laughable, and delightful comedies". Lloyd's salary doubled after his return to this film. After this movie, he moved away from

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

and went towards more intellectual and romantic comedies. Three years after this film was made, Harold Lloyd married his co-star Mildred Davis, whose brother Jack was a member of

's ''

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...

'' comedies. They remained married until her death in 1969.Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). ''Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era''. Midnight Marquee Press. p. 222.. ''Haunted Spooks'' was filmed on location at Hancock Park and what is now

MacArthur Park MacArthur Park (originally Westlake Park) is a park dating back to the late 19th century in the Westlake, Los Angeles, Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In the early 1940s, it was renamed after General Douglas MacArthur, and la ...

. The scenes at the haunted

were filmed at

Hal Roach Studios Hal Roach Studios was an American motion picture and, through its TV production subsidiary, Hal Roach Television Corporation, television production studio. Known as ''The Laugh Factory to the World'', it was founded by producer Hal Roach and busin ...

, in

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the ea ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The film had a lot of racist humor in it, revolving mainly around the frightened black servants in the house showing then-stereotypical behavior such as shaking knees and wide eyes. One of the servants was even played by a white actor in

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

. "One can even conclude that the film's title is a racist slur" according to critic Christopher Workman.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haunted Spooks 1920 films 1920 comedy horror films 1920 short films 1920s American films 1920s English-language films American black-and-white films American comedy horror films American haunted house films Articles containing video clips English-language comedy-drama short films English-language comedy horror films English-language horror drama films English-language horror short films Films about inheritances Films about marriage Films directed by Hal Roach Films set in country houses Films shot in Los Angeles Films with screenplays by H. M. Walker Pathé Exchange films Short films directed by Alfred J. Goulding Silent American comedy-drama short films Silent American horror films Southern Gothic films Surviving American silent films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links