The Ghost Breakers is a 1940 American mystery/horror comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard.

It was adapted by screenwriter Walter DeLeon as the third film version of the 1909 play The Ghost Breaker by Paul Dickey and Charles W.

From a radio studio, broadcaster Larry Lawrence exposes the crimes of underworld boss Frenchy Duval.

When Larry arrives, he fires his gun and becomes convinced he killed a man, initially unaware that the actual assailant is further down the hall.

They then meet an acquaintance of Mary's, Geoff Montgomery, a young intellectual who regales them with tales of Caribbean superstitions, particularly voodoo, ghosts, and zombies.

As the couple draw closer to the lost treasure, Parada's murderer attempts to kill them, but this sets off a trap that causes him to plummet through the basement floor to his death.

Uncredited (in order of appearance) The Dickey and Goddard play The Ghost Breaker was filmed twice previously by Paramount, first in 1914 by Cecil B. DeMille, with stars H. B. Warner and Rita Stanwood.

Marshall also directed the not-dissimilar Murder, He Says (1945), in which Fred MacMurray compares the situation to "that Bob Hope movie The Ghost Breakers."

"[12] Writing in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Peter Dendle said, "This is considered to be among Bob Hope's finest pictures, and the direction is smooth and the lines delivered flawlessly, but black actor Willie Best's jokes about fried chicken are no longer funny, and smarmy Hope isn't funny to begin with.

"[13] Glenn Kay, who wrote Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide, called it "entertaining and hugely successful", though he said some scenes are uncomfortable due to their political incorrectness.