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The Ghost Talks (1949 film)
Encyclopedia
The Ghost Talks is the 113th short subject
starring American slapstick
comedy team The Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures
between 1934 and 1959.
(voiced by Phil Arnold
) scares the hapless Stooges, until he convinces them that he is, in fact, a friendly spirit. After finally gaining their trust, Tom tells the trio the story of his watching Lady Godiva
, only to get a pie in the face. In turn, his ghost is cursed and trapped inside the suit of armor, having been trapped for 1000 years. The Stooges, however, still have a job to do and tell Tom that they have to move everything in the castle, including him. He instructs the boys to leave him be, as "bad luck" will be upon them should they try to take him away. Shemp, Larry and Moe all take turns trying to move Tom, but various shenanigans, such as a frog jumping down Shemp's shirt and an owl entering a skull and assuming the role of a death's head spirit, spooks the Stooges. As they run into another run to escape, Lady Godiva, strangely clad in a swim suit, rides up on a horse and takes Tom away. The Stooges rush over to the window to watch them depart, only to be pelted with three successive pies amidst a cheering crowd.
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
starring American slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
comedy team The Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
between 1934 and 1959.
Plot
The Stooges are moving men assigned to move furniture out of the haunted Smorgasbord Castle. All goes well at first, outside of a few scares, until a clanking suit of armor inhabited by the ghost of Peeping TomVoyeurism
In clinical psychology, voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature....
(voiced by Phil Arnold
Phil Arnold
Phil Arnold was an American screen, stage, television, and vaudeville actor. He appeared in approximately 150 films and television shows between 1939 and 1968....
) scares the hapless Stooges, until he convinces them that he is, in fact, a friendly spirit. After finally gaining their trust, Tom tells the trio the story of his watching Lady Godiva
Lady Godiva
Godiva , often referred to as Lady Godiva , was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in order to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation imposed by her husband on his tenants...
, only to get a pie in the face. In turn, his ghost is cursed and trapped inside the suit of armor, having been trapped for 1000 years. The Stooges, however, still have a job to do and tell Tom that they have to move everything in the castle, including him. He instructs the boys to leave him be, as "bad luck" will be upon them should they try to take him away. Shemp, Larry and Moe all take turns trying to move Tom, but various shenanigans, such as a frog jumping down Shemp's shirt and an owl entering a skull and assuming the role of a death's head spirit, spooks the Stooges. As they run into another run to escape, Lady Godiva, strangely clad in a swim suit, rides up on a horse and takes Tom away. The Stooges rush over to the window to watch them depart, only to be pelted with three successive pies amidst a cheering crowd.