IMDB:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0193979/GOODNESS, A GHOST! is the only film that Harry Langdon made for RKO. I do not know what sort of deal this was, but the screenplay was written by Harry as well. The condition of the reels is dreadful in places, so be prepared to either turn up the brightness on your screen or to do a lot of squinting.
This isn't a bad two-reeler, but it starts off really well and drops off at the end. The first reel has a wonderful setup with a typically cowardly Harry being the owner of a haunted 1800s police suit that once belonged to his grandfather. All we know is that is grandfather was an Irish cop named O'Toole, and Harry's character is an O'Toole. We have this build-up to explain how why it's haunted and how it's affecting the environment of the play that is being produced.
That first scene that leads up to the revelation of the ghost is the best part. We have cheesy bad acting on display in an absolute mockery of... cheesy bad acting; I guess Harry had a thing for parody given this and THE STAGE HAND. Harry is fine as the dimwitted special effects man with a grandiose but comical setup.
The revelation that the suit is haunted is done nicely within the limitations of special effects circa 1940 (although these techniques go back to at least the 1920s if not sooner). This ghastly character then drives Harry into a situation where a real cop is needed to arrest some gangsters. The setup is fine at this point and involves a comical poker game in which Harry is coached to victory by the ghost... and then it all goes to hell in a handbasket.
The travesty that follows is just awful as almost the entire second reel just consists of an airplane strafing the villains and Harry for what feels like forever. The close-ups are terrible, the reactions are worse, and the timing is atrocious. As horrible as it sounds, this scene needed Jules White to come in and save the day because that's the kind of scene he would have handled to perfection. There's no cast on IMDB or in the film itself, but that's James C. Morton as the criminal with the eyepatch. Notice they even do his famous toupee routine.
When Harry runs back into the theater... missed opportunity again. Good film turned to hot garbage by the end.
