The Ghost Breakers (1940)

This is one of the better of the Bob Hope movies. The basic plot is that Hope and his valet (Willie Best) go with Paulette Goddard to Cuba because she has inherited a supposedly haunted castle. She receives various threats before she gets there. I will not spoil the surprise ending by telling it to you.

Suffice it to say that most of the really funny lines are given to Best, who delivers them in masterful, bug-eyed fashion. This was one of his better roles because he got  more opportunity to speak.

One undervalued facet of the movie is the wonderful music score composed by classical composer Ernst Toch. It helps to maintain the tension in what is essentially a comedy built upon a serious theme.