| Haunted Spooks | |
|---|---|
 Promotional advertisement | |
| Directed by | Alfred J. Goulding Hal Roach |
| Written by | H. M. Walker |
| Produced by | Hal Roach |
| Starring | Harold Lloyd Mildred Davis Wallace Howe Ernest Morrison Blue Washington |
Release date |
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Running time | 25 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Haunted Spooks is a 1920 American silent Southern Gothic comedy film produced and co-directed by Hal Roach, [1] starring Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis.
The action in Haunted Spooks centres around Harold's romantic problems. It is set in the South ("[go] down the Mississippi and turn to the right").
The opening sequence has an uncle reading a telegram 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. 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.
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". [4]
Lloyd's salary doubled after his return to this film. After this movie, he moved away from slapstick and went towards more intellectual and romantic comedies. [1] Three years after this film was made, Harold Lloyd married his co-star Mildred Davis, whose brother Jack was a member of Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies. They remained married until her death in 1969. [5]
Haunted Spooks was filmed on location at Hancock Park and what is now MacArthur Park. The scenes at the haunted mansion were filmed at Hal Roach Studios, in Culver City, California. 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. "One can even conclude that the film's title is a racist slur" according to critic Christopher Workman. [1]
This is an overview of 1923 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
This is an overview of 1921 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
The year 1920 in film involved some significant events.
The year 1918 in film involved some significant events.
1917 in film was a particularly fruitful year for the art form, and is often cited as one of the years in the decade which contributed to the medium the most, along with 1913. Secondarily the year saw a limited global embrace of narrative film-making and featured innovative techniques such as continuity cutting. Primarily, the year is an American landmark, as 1917 is the first year where the narrative and visual style is typified as "Classical Hollywood".
The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.
The year 1915 in film involved some significant events.
The year 1914 in film involved some significant events, including the debut of Cecil B. DeMille as a director.
1913 was a particularly fruitful year for film as an art form, and is often cited one of the years in the decade which contributed to the medium the most, along with 1917. The year was one where filmmakers of several countries made great artistic advancements, producing notable pioneering masterpieces such as The Student of Prague, Suspense, Atlantis, Raja Harischandra, Juve contre Fantomas, Quo Vadis?, Ingeborg Holm, The Mothering Heart, Ma l’amor mio non muore!, L’enfant de Paris and Twilight of a Woman's Soul.
The year 1912 in film involved some significant events.
The year 1911 in film involved some significant events.
The year 1910 in film involved some significant events.
Hot Water is a 1924 American silent comedy film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor and starring Harold Lloyd. It features three episodes in the life of Hubby (Lloyd) as he struggles with domestic life with Wifey and his in-laws.
L'Homme qui vendit son âme au diable is a 1921 French silent film comedy directed by Pierre Caron. The plot was similar to Faust and The Student of Prague, about a man who makes a diabolical deal with the Devil.
Number, Please? is a 1920 American short comedy film directed by Hal Roach and Fred C. Newmeyer featuring Harold Lloyd.
The Mechanical Man is a 1921 Italian science fiction film directed by André Deed. It was produced in 1920 and released in November 1921. It is one of the first science fiction films produced in Italy, and the first film showing a battle between two robots. The cinematographer was Alberto Chentrens.
The Ghost Breaker is a 1922 American silent horror comedy film about haunted houses and ghosts. It was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Alfred E. Green and starred Wallace Reid in one of his last screen roles. The story, based on the 1909 play The Ghost Breaker by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard, had been released on film in 1914, directed by Cecil B. DeMille and Oscar Apfel.
Friedrich Feher was an Austrian actor and film director. He first entered the film business in 1913, starting out as an actor but quickly gravitated toward directing.
The Lost Shadow is a 1921 German silent film directed by Rochus Gliese and starring Paul Wegener, Wilhelm Bendow and Adele Sandrock. The cinematographer was Karl Freund. The film's sets were designed by the art director Kurt Richter. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin. For some reason, the film was only released in the US in 1928. It is today considered a lost film.
Spook Ranch is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by Edward Laemmle and starring Hoot Gibson. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film featured white actor Ed Cowles in blackface playing Hoot Gibson's black sidekick, George Washington Black.
