Scared Stiff (1953 film)
| Scared Stiff | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | George Marshall |
| Produced by | Hal B. Wallis |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on |
The Ghost Breaker (1909 play) by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Leith Stevens |
| Cinematography | Ernest Laszlo |
| Edited by | Warren Low |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3.5 million (US) 811,256 admissions (France) |
Scared Stiff is a 1953 American musical comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. One of the 17 films made by the Martin and Lewis team, it was released on April 27, 1953 by Paramount Pictures.
Scared Stiff was Carmen Miranda's final film. The Portuguese-Brazilian musical star died of a heart attack, two years later, in August 1955.
Mary Carroll (Lizabeth Scott) inherits her family's ancestral home, located on a small island off Cuba, and, despite warnings and death threats, decides to sail to Havana and take possession of the reputedly haunted castle. She is joined by nightclub entertainer Larry Todd (Martin) who, believing he has killed a mobster, flees New York with a friend, Myron (Lewis). Once on the island the three enter the eerie castle and, after viewing the ghost of one of Mary's ancestors and fighting off a menacing zombie, find the key to the castle's treasure.
The team's ninth picture, Scared Stiff is a remake of Paramount's previous effort, The Ghost Breakers, a 1940 "scare comedy" starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard, also directed by George Marshall. The property has proven successful for Paramount in decades past and they've also filmed two versions in the silent era The Ghost Breaker (1914) directed by Cecil B. DeMille and The Ghost Breaker (1922) starring Wallace Reid.
Martin and Lewis had a cameo in Hope and Bing Crosby's Road to Bali the previous year as part of a "comedy trade" between the two teams. In turn, Hope and Crosby appear for a cameo in Scared Stiff. Both shared a common producer, Cy Howard, who produced Martin and Lewis' first two My Friend Irma pictures and That's My Boy. A few years later, Martin and Frank Sinatra appeared in the final scene of the final Hope and Crosby road picture, Road to Hong Kong.
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