Captain Long shuffles into the local tavern, looking for a crew to sail with, but none of the barflies want to set foot on his ship, fearing that it's "haunted." Walking along the doc, the captain sees Stan and Ollie fishing. They work over at the fish market, and today is their day off. The captain asks them if they'd like to make some easy money, by way of Shanghaiing him a crew from that tavern, a $1.00 a head. Stan and Ollie agree to this bargain and set about their task, by having Stan go in with a bag full of eggs, daring the men that they can't put one in their mouth without breaking it. They manage to do so, but a pop on the chin breaks the egg and the enraged drunk chases Stan outside where Ollie waits with a frying pan to clunk him. The ploy works numerous times, giving the captain a hull full of groggy drunks, until Ollie decides he should be the one to go in and fish them out. The egg trick doesn't go quite as planned, and Stan ends up not only clunking the guy, but also Ollie, and the captain, who then clunks him back.
When Stan and Ollie regain consciousness, they find themselves shanghaied as well, and the crew is acrimonious with them, but the captain warns them not to lay a finger on his "friends" until they go ashore. He also warns the crew to never mention ghosts to him, lest he twist their heads around 180 degrees. As a result, Stan and Ollie remain on board the ship for the ten times that they dock. The captain orders a drunken sailor to remain on the ship with them, but he sneaks off the ship anyway, placing a trunk in his bed. When deciding to turn in themselves, Stan finds a revolver and it accidentally misfires, hitting the trunk. Fearing they've killed the man, Stan and Ollie go off to get a sack to throw him off the ship before the others returned. Meanwhile, the drunken sailor fell into a vat of whitewash before he staggered back onto the ship and slipped into his bed, just as Stan and Ollie slip him into a sack and toss him overboard. Unfortunately, the water didn't wash off the whitewash, so when he climbed back aboard, they assumed he was a ghost and freak out like children. When the captain gets back, they tell him of their ghost sighting, and he fulfills his earlier promise of twisting their heads from north to south.
I wonder if it was the captain's plan all along to shanghai Stan and Ollie, even if Stan hadn't clunked him. I'm sure it was, as the man seemed pretty underhanded. As far as a critique, this one is really good. With Laurel and Hardy, you can seldom go wrong. This one is pretty funny and it even has a few creepy moments. Perfect to watch around the Halloween season. Other good spooky Laurel and Hardy shorts include Oliver the Eighth, The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case and Dirty Work, which were included with The Live Ghost on a video collection. So I definitely recommend The Live Ghost, still a funny romp after 80 years.
When Stan and Ollie regain consciousness, they find themselves shanghaied as well, and the crew is acrimonious with them, but the captain warns them not to lay a finger on his "friends" until they go ashore. He also warns the crew to never mention ghosts to him, lest he twist their heads around 180 degrees. As a result, Stan and Ollie remain on board the ship for the ten times that they dock. The captain orders a drunken sailor to remain on the ship with them, but he sneaks off the ship anyway, placing a trunk in his bed. When deciding to turn in themselves, Stan finds a revolver and it accidentally misfires, hitting the trunk. Fearing they've killed the man, Stan and Ollie go off to get a sack to throw him off the ship before the others returned. Meanwhile, the drunken sailor fell into a vat of whitewash before he staggered back onto the ship and slipped into his bed, just as Stan and Ollie slip him into a sack and toss him overboard. Unfortunately, the water didn't wash off the whitewash, so when he climbed back aboard, they assumed he was a ghost and freak out like children. When the captain gets back, they tell him of their ghost sighting, and he fulfills his earlier promise of twisting their heads from north to south.
I wonder if it was the captain's plan all along to shanghai Stan and Ollie, even if Stan hadn't clunked him. I'm sure it was, as the man seemed pretty underhanded. As far as a critique, this one is really good. With Laurel and Hardy, you can seldom go wrong. This one is pretty funny and it even has a few creepy moments. Perfect to watch around the Halloween season. Other good spooky Laurel and Hardy shorts include Oliver the Eighth, The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case and Dirty Work, which were included with The Live Ghost on a video collection. So I definitely recommend The Live Ghost, still a funny romp after 80 years.