Scared Stiff (1953)

Film and Plot Synopsis

In this fourth film adaptation of the 1909 play The Ghost Breaker, Mary Carroll (Lizabeth Scott) inherits her family’s ancestral home, located on a small island off Cuba. Despite several warnings and death threats, Mary decides to sail to Havana and take possession of the reputedly haunted castle. She is joined by nightclub entertainer Larry Todd (Dean Martin) who, believing he has killed a mobster, flees New York with a friend, Myron. 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.

‘Scared Stiff’ Movie Summary

Rosie (Dorothy Malone) is a cigarette girl who is dating multiple men at the hip nightclub include Pierre the busboy (Henry Brandon) and Larry Todd (Dean Martin), the club’s singer. Pierre is abducted by a couple of men who are in the employ of a local gangster, Shorty (Leonard Strong). Shorty is also dating Rosie. Myron Mertz (Jerry Lewis) is forced to take over for the missing Pierre, but he is quite ineffective as a busboy. Myron and Larry have been friends for years with Larry usually working to protect the clumsy Myron. Not long after Pierre disappears, Shorty begins looking for Larry, presumedly to kill the singer for being involved with Rosie. Rosie convinces Myron to go and confront Shorty on Larry’s behalf, which the dim-witted Myron agrees to do.

At the same time, Mary Carroll (Lizabeth Scott) inherits her family’s ancestral home, a castle located on a small island off the coast of Cuba. Mary decides to sail to Havana via boat. Before leaving, she encounters one of Shorty’s men and jokingly refers that it is a nice night for a murder. The mobster asks her how she knew, to which she informs him that did not know. Before leaving, Mary receives a phone call from Ramon Cariso (Paul Marion) who wishes to warn her about something before she leaves for Cuba.

At Shorty’s place, Myron tries to bravely bluff Shorty into leaving Larry alone. However, Shorty is not intimidated by Myron who unfortunately learns that Pierre has been killed by Shorty’s men. Meanwhile, Larry breaks off his relationship with Rosie and begins packing to leave town. When he learns that Myron has gone to Shorty’s place, Larry goes to help his friend. Once at the hotel, the nervous Larry mistakenly believes that he kills one of Shorty’s men when he sees Ramon being shot by Mary’s advisor, Mr. Cortega (George Dolenz). In a panic, Larry runs into Mary’s room to hide. Mary takes pity on him and helps Larry hide from police when they come looking for him. Unbeknownst to Mary, Larry hides in Mary’s trunk which is taken to the boat to Havana. Mary and Myron deduce where Larry hid and rush off to the dock to let him out of the trunk.

At the pier, Myron and Larry are harassed by a drunk (Frank Fontaine) while trying to avoid the police and Shorty’s henchman, Trigger (Tony Barr). Myron and Larry get stuck on the ship when it leaves before they can disembark. Larry also wishes to help Mary since she helped him avoid police. On the boat, Mary receives a package that warns her to stay away from the castle, and Cortega informs her that he will be traveling to Cuba with her. Cortega continually tries to warn Mary away from the castle. Before leaving port, Larry grabs a newspaper and learns that Cariso was killed by a different caliber gun therefore he couldn’t have killed him. Mary recognizes the name of Cariso as the man from the phone call who tried to warn her. Larry and Myron stay on the ship by posing as part of the entertainment group led by their friend Carmelita Castinha (Carmen Miranda).

Honey, if you’re an average girl then I’ve been dating boys. Larry Todd (Dean Martin)

While in route to Cuba, Larry and Mary begin to fall in love with each other. However, an unknown person attempts to kills Larry and Mary while still on the boat, although both survive. Mary also finds a voodoo charm in her room just prior to leaving the ship. Cortega tries to convince Larry and Myron into keeping Mary away from the castle. Instead, Larry and Myron decide to accompany Mary to the castle. An old friend of Mary’s, Tony Warren (William Ching), warns the trio about zombies and their connection to voodoo. Once on shore, Mary attends Larry and Myron’s performance with Tony. There, she sees a man that resembles the deceased Ramon Cariso (Paul Marion) although no one else sees him.

After their show, Larry and Myron travel via boat to the castle where they are to meet with Cortega. Once there, the two performers find ghosts inside the castle. Mary arrives a little while later but must swim to the castle once her boatman refuses to approach the haunted castle. Once in the castle, Mary is pursued by a zombie (Jack Lambert). She escapes the zombie and begins exploring the castle. She begins finding peepholes and secret passages. At the same time, Larry and Myron are attacked by a zombie in a suit of armor. The zombie stops the attack after seeing Mary dressed in the same outfit that one of her ancestors is wearing in a painting in the castle.

Larry and Myron capture the zombie and lock him in a room. Larry and Mary continue to explore the castle while Myron watches over the zombie. Larry and Myron find Cortega stabbed and left in a coffin in the basement. Before dying, Cortega tells Mary that there is a fortune under the castle. He also gives them a clue to find the treasure by playing the organ to open a chamber to the treasure. Myron falls down a trapdoor that leads him to Mary and Larry. In the secret chamber, Larry and Mary encounter Ramon’s twin brother, Francisco, the man Mary saw in the Havana club. Francisco holds them at gunpoint until he is shot and killed by Tony, who is the man who has been trying to stop Mary from traveling to the castle. Before he can kill Mary and Larry, Myron plays the organ upstairs which opens a trapdoor underneath Tony which drops him into a pit.

In the aftermath, Tony is arrested. Mary and Larry talk about getting married. Myron plays the organ again which opens a panel to another secret room. Myron and Larry look inside the room and the two men immediately grab Mary and run outside the castle. The camera pans inside to show two skeletal bodies with the live heads of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. The film ends with Myron and Larry peeking back inside the door of the castle to tell the audience that that is the end of the film.