Haunted Spooks (1919) starring Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis
Haunted Spooks – Harold Lloyd silent comedy. A young lady who must be married, to inherit her grandfather’s estate. And live in a “haunted” house!
Synopsis of Haunted Spooks
Poor Harold Lloyd is unlucky in love. He loses every girl he loves to the other guy. Even suicide fails. Then along comes Mildred, who needs a husband to inherit her grandfather’s house. It’s wedding bells for Harold but he gains a haunted house in the bargain. Although Haunted Spooks marked Lloyd’s return to the screen after a bad accident, reviewers hailed it as his best comedy to that time. It’s ingeniously simple in conception and filled with cleverly executed gags.
Review
Haunted Spooks is a very funny Harold Lloyd comedy, with a large negative. Which I’ll get to in a moment. First, the funny stuff.
Fighting for the hand of the other girl
Haunted Spooks begins with Harold fighting with another suitor for the hand of “the other girl”. It’s a very funny bit, as they’re first fighting with each other, until she tells them to ask her father for permission to marry her. So, then they’re fighting to see who can get their first! There’s a very funny moment as the other suitor, excited, is having trouble communicating clearly. And Harold makes it sound like he’s unhinged! Soon, the wealthy man’s entire staff is throwing him out! And Harold gets permission to marry the other girl! He runs to tell her, but …. She’s kissing another suitor.
Heartbroken and suicidal
At this point, Harold is heartbroken. Seeing no reason, to live, he tries to commit suicde …. And fails comedically at it multiple times! First, Shooting himself in the head … with a water pistol. Then, trying to drown himself in a few inches of water. Next, finding a deeper body of water, he jumps off a bridge …. Only to land in a rowboat passing by. Finally, he’s trying to get run over by a car …. Which The Girl’s Lawyer is drirving.
The Girl
The Girl, by the way, is a pretty young lady. She’s about to inherit her grandfather’s estate. If she and her husband stay in the place for a year! If not, the property goes to her Uncle. But she’s not married. Her Lawyer promises to come right back with a husband for her. And that’s when he “runs into” Harold. He takes Harold back to The Girl. After a short ceremony, the two strangers marry. The car’s packed, and they’re on their way to the new house.
Is the house haunted?
While the newlyweds are on the way to the house, Uncle and Aunt are already there. They plan to pretend that the place is haunted. If they can scare off the newlyweds, the house will be theirs! Shades of Scooby Doo. This is where the negative comes in. They decide to tell the staff of the plantation that this is the night that ghosts rise from the grave to haunt the house. So the staff, all African-American, react in stereotypically racist ways. Their knees knock, their eyes bug out, and they all run for their lives. Despite having presumably worked there for years, and never seen the hint of a ghost. They all leave, except for a cute young boy and the butler. He would have left, but he’s too frightened to move. It’s a good thing, too.
Arrival at the house
Next, the newlyweds arrive after a funny car ride. Including Harold getting attacked by The Girl’s ducks, chickens flying into the car, etc.. Only for the stampede of fleeing servants to run over Harold. Uncle and Aunt are in the house, preparing to scare the newlyweds away by covering themselves in white sheets and pretending to be ghosts. Something comedic and interesting happens, though. The two frightened servants accidentally look like ghosts. The butler hides behind a curtain …. And gets wrapped up in it. While the young boy falls into flour. Later the boy’s in a pair of men’s trousers walking, looking like half a person. After some very funny “run away” comedy, the Uncle and Aunt are exposed. And the butler throws them out! The staff returns, and the newlyweds settle down for the night. “By the way, what’s our name?”
Thoughts
Haunted Spooks is a very funny comedy. But frankly the racist depiction of the staff brings it down for me. On one hand, it’s wrong to judge a silent comedy, more than 100 years old, by today’s standards. But on the other, it’s still offensive. The positive part of this is that the butler actually overcomes his fear, and becomes the silent hero towards the end. And I don’t find the young boy’s portrayal as racist at all. He’s a cute little kid, accidentally getting into “ghostly” mischief.
One other thought — the title cards are hilarious.
Cast of characters
- Harold Lloyd (Safety Last) … The Boy
- Mildred Davis (An Eastern Westerner) … The Girl
- Wally Howe … The Uncle
- William Gillespie (The Immigrant) … The Lawyer
- Ernest Morrison (Ghosts on the Loose) … Little Boy
- Blue Washington … Butler
- Marie Mosquini … The Other Girl