There is very little new (even for 1941) in "The Smiling Ghost," but it is an agreeable rehash of comedy/mystery conventions. Wayne Morris is amiable as the down-on-his-luck engineer who accepts a job posing as the fiance of a beautiful young woman (the very young Alexis Smith) whose previous fiances have all been murdered or maimed. The prime suspect is "The Smiling Ghost," presumed to be her first ex returned from the dead. The cast is packed with Warner Bros. reliables, notably Alan Hale, who is rather badly miscast as a society butler, but is all the more amusing for it. The actor who really keeps the film afloat, though, is Willie Best, doing something of a reprise of his role in "The Ghost Breakers" from the previous year. As Morris's valet-slash-right hand man, Best steals every scene he's in, still making you laugh even while you're cringing at the dated frightened black routine. He's the reason to watch the movie, because if anyone can't figure out who the killer really is, they should stop watching B mysteries.
Review of The Smiling Ghost
