Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

JohnHowardReid Producer: Sol M. Wurtzel. Copyright 22 May 1942 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York release at the Rialto: 17 May 1942. U.S. release: 22 May 1942. Sydney release at the Civic: 7 August 1942. Australian release: 13 August 1942. U.S. length: 6,745 feet (75 minutes). Australian length: 6,948 feet (77 minutes).SYNOPSIS: Radio comic solves mystery of haunted treasure ship.COMMENT: A most enjoyable B-picture with an amusing, intriguing script, a top-flight cast and excellent production values. Milton Berle is at the top of his form and delivers the script's many wisecracks with the same brilliant timing and dexterity as he manually disarms Abner Biberman (whom he mistakenly supposes to be an actor).Speaking of actors, there are two deliciously hammy performances from John Carradine and Renie Riano which are spot on in character and reveal a range of subtlety unmarked elsewhere in their careers. Grady Sutton too for one brief flash shows an unexpected capacity to be a menacing heavy. Frank Faylen has a nice cameo as a replacement announcer (the script device that works Faylen into the plot has us puzzling for a while but it turns out to be a typically brilliant piece of Philip N. MacDonald plot construction). Milton Parsons has another of his sinister sepulchral roles which Arthur Hohl gives a typical portrayal as the harassing detective — and Harry Hayden as the harassed sponsor. We like Charles Halton's scared lawyer and Abner Biberman scuttling about in the shadows.Brenda Joyce gives an attractive performance and whilst her Herschel costumes are now somewhat dated, she still looks pretty good to us. Many of Berle's jokes are made at the expense of Willie Best who provides plenty of chuckles with his deft portrait of a cowardly valet.Alfred Werker's direction is considerably above his usual standard — the close-up on Halton as he waits nervously for the lift and glances over his shoulder will knock audiences to the back of their seats, while the tracking and panning shots with torch beams over the rotting hulk keep suspense high.The art direction is masterly and is arguably the most lavishly atmospheric ever achieved in a "B" picture and is ably abetted by Lucien Ballard's superbly calculated-for-thrills cinematography. Other production credits are A-1 and production values, even by Fox's high B-feature standards, are exceptional.

MartinHafer "Whispering Ghosts" was an odd movie because although it stars Milton Berle, he isn't very much like you'd expect. While this comedian made his name on stage with his almost encyclopedic knowledge of jokes (a few were even his own), here he isn't exactly doing comedy. And, in fact, sometimes he seems more like a macho hero type! This was definitely NOT what I expected to see!The film is a murder mystery film--very much a staple of B movies of the era. In this case, H.H. Van Buren (Berle) has a radio show and through it ends up getting caught up in a murder mystery and hunt for stolen diamonds aboard an old, possibly haunted, boat. On hand to help him is Willie Best--who played pretty much the same sort of role in a similar film, Bob Hope's "Ghost Breakers". The only problem is that while Best's character KNOWS bad things are afoot, Van Buren actually thinks it's all an act and that he's not in any danger at all.Overall, this is a mildly interesting film but mostly of interest as a curiosity because it stars Berle...even if he doesn't seem much like Berle here. Nothing outstanding in any way...just a very typical B- mystery with an atypical sort of leading man.

bkoganbing Watching Whispering Ghosts and Milton Berle's scenes with Willie Best I was put in mind of Bob Hope with Willie Best in The Ghostbreakers. It was obvious that 20th Century Fox was trying to turn Berle into their version of Bob Hope with films like these. But super stardom would have wait until television for Milton Berle.That being said Whispering Ghosts isn't a bad comedy. Berle plays a criminologist who solves mysteries on his radio show. But he's advancing theories of crimes where the principals are long dead. When he offers to solve the mystery of Brenda Joyce's uncle who was murdered and left a buried treasure there a few folks still alive who want said treasure.Joyce's uncle was a sea captain and he was killed aboard his ship. His will contains the usual cryptic clues as to the whereabouts of the treasure. As is usual a few cast members die before the mystery is solved.Uncle Miltie has his usual wisecracks, but the funniest is John Carradine all made up in pirate costume telling Berle and Best he was first mate to Joyce's uncle. Carradine looked like he was having a great old time shivering everyone's timbers as a pirate, Rene Riano comes in a close second as Carradine loony sister. Whispering Ghosts while done on the cheap is still a fun film and a must for Uncle Miltie's fans.

Norm-30 Van Buren (Berle) "The Man Who Lifts the Veil" in a weekly radio mystery series, attempts to solve an actual murder that occurred several years before. This film is VERY much like the film "Mystery Broadcast", but the latter is a MUCH better film. Berle seems "out of place" here, and his wisecracks tend to "fall flat" in many scenes (esp. aboard the ship, the "Black Joker"). What saves this film from being mediocre is the "scared reaction " comedy of Willie Best, and the strange assortment of characters. It's quite enjoyable to watch, but is NOT a "classic mystery"! Norm