Spooks Run Wild
Encyclopedia
Spooks Run Wild is a 1941 film and the seventh film in the East Side Kids
series, starring Bela Lugosi
, Leo Gorcey
, Huntz Hall
, and Bobby Jordan
. Released in 1941, it was directed by Phil Rosen
, in his first and only outing in the series, and produced by Sam Katzman
(under the company name Banner Pictures). It is based on an original script by Carl Foreman
and Charles R. Marion.
The East Side Kids:
Additional Cast:
, which made famous the Gorcey/Hall banter, producer Sam Katzman
decided that the seventh film in the series would not only be a change of pace, but, would also be one of the biggest East Side Kids extravaganzas yet.
With that in mind, Katzman enlisted the screen writing team of Carl Foreman
and Charles R. Marion to pen the screenplay, which would feature Monogram's two most popular draws for the first time together on screen: Bela Lugosi and the East Side Kids.
At the last minute, with Bowery Blitzkrieg director Wallace Fox
already attached to Columbia
's The Lone Star Vigilantes, Katzman hired Russian-born director Phil Rosen, who had just finished filming Monogram's "The Deadly Game" to helm the production.
Ghosts in the Night began filming in Early August 1941, around the same time as Bowery Blitzkrieg was making its way into theatres. By the time filming wrapped only a week and half later, the film's working title
was changed to Spooks Run Wild and hit theaters on October 24, 1941, just in time for Halloween.
East Side Kids
The East Side Kids were characters in a series of films released by Monogram Pictures from 1940 through 1945. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids and The Little Tough Guys, and several of them later became members of The Bowery Boys....
series, starring Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
, Leo Gorcey
Leo Gorcey
Leo Bernard Gorcey was an American stage and movie actor who became famous for portraying on film the leader of the group of young hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys. Always the most pugnacious member of the gangs he participated in, young Leo...
, Huntz Hall
Huntz Hall
Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall was an American radio, theatrical, and motion picture performer noted primarily for his roles in the "Dead End Kids" movies, such as Angels with Dirty Faces , which gave way to the "The Bowery Boys" movie franchise, a prolific and highly successful series of comedies in...
, and Bobby Jordan
Bobby Jordan
Robert "Bobby" Jordan was an American actor, born in Harrison, New York, most notable for being a member of the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys.-Early life and career:...
. Released in 1941, it was directed by Phil Rosen
Phil Rosen
Phil Rosen was an American film director and cinematographer. He directed 142 films between 1915 and 1949....
, in his first and only outing in the series, and produced by Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Born into a poor Jewish family, Katzman went to work as a stage laborer at the age of 13 in the fledgling East Coast film industry...
(under the company name Banner Pictures). It is based on an original script by Carl Foreman
Carl Foreman
Carl Foreman, CBE was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the notable film High Noon. He was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.-Biography:...
and Charles R. Marion.
Cast
- Nardo - Bela LugosiBéla LugosiBéla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
The East Side Kids:
- Muggs - Leo GorceyLeo GorceyLeo Bernard Gorcey was an American stage and movie actor who became famous for portraying on film the leader of the group of young hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys. Always the most pugnacious member of the gangs he participated in, young Leo...
- Danny - Bobby JordanBobby JordanRobert "Bobby" Jordan was an American actor, born in Harrison, New York, most notable for being a member of the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys.-Early life and career:...
- Glimpy - Huntz HallHuntz HallHenry Richard "Huntz" Hall was an American radio, theatrical, and motion picture performer noted primarily for his roles in the "Dead End Kids" movies, such as Angels with Dirty Faces , which gave way to the "The Bowery Boys" movie franchise, a prolific and highly successful series of comedies in...
- Scruno - Ernest Morrison
- Peewee - David GorceyDavid GorceyDavid Gorcey was an American actor and comedian best known as being a member of the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. He was the younger brother of Dead End Kids member Leo Gorcey.-Career:...
- Skinny - Donald HainesDonald HainesDonald Haines was an American child actor who had recurring appearances in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1929 to 1933.-Our Gang:...
Additional Cast:
- Jeff Dixon - Dave O'BrienDave O'Brien (actor)Dave O'Brien was an American film actor, director and writer. Born David Poole Fronabarger in Big Spring, Texas, O'Brien started his film career in bit parts before gradually winning larger roles, mostly in B pictures....
- Linda Mason - Dorothy ShortDorothy ShortDorothy Short was an American film actress mainly in low-budget westerns and serials in the 1930s and 1940s.A native of Philadelphia, she married actor Dave O'Brien in 1936, the same year they appeared together in the low-budget exploitation cheapie Reefer Madness, which in modern times has become...
- Dr. Van Grosch - Dennis MooreDennis Moore (actor)Dennis Moore was an actor who specialized in western films and film serials....
- Lem Harvey - P.J. Kelly
- Luigi - Angelo RossittoAngelo RossittoAngelo Rossitto was an American actor. He had dwarfism and was 2'11" tall.Rossitto was discovered by John Barrymore and made his screen debut opposite Barrymore in The Beloved Rogue . He appeared in the then controversial 1932 film Freaks directed by Tod Browning. He appeared in another...
- Constable Jim - Guy Wilkerson
Overview
Since the series inception in 1940, the East Side Kids films had been, for the most part, a well balanced mix between comedy, drama, and social relevance. Following Huntz Hall's introduction into the series with 1941's Bowery BlitzkriegBowery Blitzkrieg
Bowery Blitzkrieg is a 1941 film and the sixth installment of the East Side Kids series.It was released in the United Kingdom under the title Stand and Deliver.-Cast:The East Side Kids:* Muggs McGinnis- Leo Gorcey...
, which made famous the Gorcey/Hall banter, producer Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Born into a poor Jewish family, Katzman went to work as a stage laborer at the age of 13 in the fledgling East Coast film industry...
decided that the seventh film in the series would not only be a change of pace, but, would also be one of the biggest East Side Kids extravaganzas yet.
With that in mind, Katzman enlisted the screen writing team of Carl Foreman
Carl Foreman
Carl Foreman, CBE was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the notable film High Noon. He was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.-Biography:...
and Charles R. Marion to pen the screenplay, which would feature Monogram's two most popular draws for the first time together on screen: Bela Lugosi and the East Side Kids.
At the last minute, with Bowery Blitzkrieg director Wallace Fox
Wallace Fox
Wallace Fox was an American film director. He directed 84 films between 1927 and 1953.He was born in Purcell, Oklahoma and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* Bowery Blitzkrieg...
already attached to Columbia
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...
's The Lone Star Vigilantes, Katzman hired Russian-born director Phil Rosen, who had just finished filming Monogram's "The Deadly Game" to helm the production.
Ghosts in the Night began filming in Early August 1941, around the same time as Bowery Blitzkrieg was making its way into theatres. By the time filming wrapped only a week and half later, the film's working title
Working title
A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...
was changed to Spooks Run Wild and hit theaters on October 24, 1941, just in time for Halloween.