Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fresh and Exciting

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

*Spoiler/plot- A Haunting We Will Go, 1942, 'The Boys' get innocently involved with some crooks and con-men. They have to get 'out of town' and do it while escorting a coffin to another town by rail for money. This job becomes a shady way a gang of crooks take advantage of the new townspeople with another 'con'.*Special Stars- Laurel and Hardy, Dick Lane, Elisha Cook Jr. "Dante the Magician".*Theme- Spooky things happen around stage magicians and crooks.*Trivia/location/goofs- Dante the Magician was doing street magic and got cast in this film. This Columbia Studios film was one that was considered a 'lesser' Larual and Hardy comedy due to not be made at Hal Roach Studios.*Emotion- A quite different film due to its director's serious premise of this being a mystery film instead of a Laurel and Hardy comedy. It lacks some of the classic comedy plot and on camera antics because the writers didn't know what worked for this great comedy duo. Still good to enjoy.

Laurel and Hardy had been stars for years with Hal Roach Studios. However, by the 1940s, they were considerably older and their contract had expired. Their decision to try out other studios (RKO, MGM and FOX) resulted in a string of, at best, lackluster films. Sure, they made better money, but none of these films comes close to classic status.As for A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO, it was one of these 1940s films, but at least it wasn't bad--just, unfortunately, made by a studio that had no appreciation for the team at all. The biggest problem about this film is that Stan and Ollie play roles that could have been filled by practically anyone. The usual banter and style you'd expect in a Laurel and Hardy film is strangely absent--something that plagued all their post-Roach productions.The plot for A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO was quite unexpected. With a title like this, I would have expected a movie about a haunted house or ghosts but these were strangely absent from the film. Instead, it's about Stan and Ollie stumbling into a gang of criminals as well as bumbling into becoming assistants to a magician.Fortunately, despite being a very odd and unfamiliar style, the script wasn't bad at all--but unfortunately it wasn't all that funny either. While there were a few mildly funny moments, they were all centered around camera tricks and had nothing to do with the boys themselves. It was if funny things were thrown at them instead of allowing them to just be themselves and express their own gentle form of humor. Still, not a bad film--but far from classic Laurel and Hardy. Worth a look for fans of the team and not particularly offensive or daring.

First things first - this is not a "horror-comedy" as I presumed it would be by the title. I mean, even the opening credits have the name of the film in ghoulish lettering along with the spooky image of a ghost leering down at Stan and Ollie, for crying out loud! But getting past that -- this is one of those oft-despised latter day "Fox films" that the aging team of Laurel and Hardy made after their greatest works at Hal Roach Studios. It's not as "heinous" as most critics make it out to be, but it's not one of their better forties movies either. In this one, the "boys" get released from a stay in jail and are told to leave town. So they meet up with a group of swindling crooks (one of them is played by a very young Elisha Cook Jr.) who need their help in traveling to Dayton, Ohio. The dopey plot is all over the place, but along the way there are some small chuckles to be had (the hitchhiking fiasco, the "Inflato" machine duping) and a few mildly cute slapstick gags. But things sink as the film goes on and "Dante the Magician" takes up too much screen time (he's even top billed along with Laurel and Hardy!) ** out of ****

For many years,both ATOLL K(1951)and THE BIG NOISE(1944)had reputations for being Laurel & Hardy's worst film;amongst film scholars and L & H buffs like myself,this film has definitely taken over that mantle in recent years. So why is A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO so dismal? Firstly,Laurel & Hardy the actors are not allowed to play Laurel & Hardy the characters throughout.Namely,the naive,likeable innocents they established at the Hal Roach studios are virtually non-existent;they are forced to play irritating,doltish nit-wits who we are not called to sympathise with;the exact reverse philosophy as was with their Roach films. Secondly,Fox saddles them with a tenth-rate gangster melodrama in which they would've been better off not appearing in;much of the dialogue is straight,unfunny exposition with supporting characters that are far too tough and nasty to be funny. Thirdly,Alfred Werker,a solid director of melodramas,is totally out of his depth with comedy,and it shows up starkly in this film. And finally,the title is misleading;haunting has nothing to do with the plot,and nothing of it's description turns up in the film. The only mildly amusing moments occur within a train sequence featuring Dante the magician(who easily gives the film's most assured performance);Stan & Ollie,though,look embarrassed and bored with the film's content;as they should be.It's my candidate for their worst film,and many others are beginning to agree.3 out of 10.