Galloping Ghosts (1928) Review - Oliver Hardy and a lot of horses

If you are looking for something to watch today, this is a solid maybe. You will probably like it if you're a nerd for silent comedy history or just want to see what Oliver Hardy was doing before he became a household name.

If you hate old movies where people fall down for no reason, you will probably absolutely loathe this. It’s got that specific kind of frantic energy that feels like a caffeinated cartoon.

The plot is basically one big daydream. John T. Murray plays this guy who is kind of a pushover, but he spends his time imagining he's a legendary polo player.

It’s a bit like The Soda Water Cowboy in that sense. Just a guy wanting to be way cooler than he actually is.

Oliver Hardy is here, and even though he’s not doing the full "Ollie" persona yet, his facial expressions are already perfect. He has this way of looking at the camera that makes you feel like he's the only sane person in the room.

The polo match scenes are actually kind of impressive. I mean, the way they move those horses around looks genuinely dangerous for the actors involved.

There’s this one bit where a horse looks like it’s trying to eat someone’s hat. I don't think that was in the script, but they kept it in anyway. 🐎

James Finlayson shows up too. He’s the guy with the mustache who always looks like he just smelled something bad.

His squinting is legendary. It’s way more entertaining than the actual plot of The Woman Above Reproach, which I watched last week and already forgot.

The writing team on this was stacked. You’ve got Stan Laurel and James Parrott credited, so the gags are actually timed really well.

One gag with a mallet goes on about ten seconds too long. It starts to get unfunny, and then it becomes funny again because of how long it lasts.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Galloping Ghosts (1928) through its definitive frames.

I noticed the costumes look a bit dusty. Like everyone just finished a long day of filming in the actual dirt and didn't bother to brush off.

It has a much lighter tone than something like Annie Laurie. That one is all drama, while this is just pure chaos.

Vivien Oakland is also in this, and she’s great at playing the frustrated woman. She has to deal with a lot of idiots in these movies.

There is a weird moment where the film speeds up for a chase. It makes everyone look like they are vibrating across the screen.

The title Galloping Ghosts sounds like it should be a horror movie. Or maybe a mystery about a haunted stable.

But nope, just polo. And falling. Lots of falling.

I wonder if they used real polo players for the wide shots. Some of the riding is too good for just actors who learned it in a weekend.

It’s definitely better than The Million Dollar Handicap if you want actual laughs. That one is more of a straight racing flick.

The ending feels a bit abrupt. It’s like they just decided to stop filming because they ran out of daylight or something.

Overall, it's a fun little time capsule. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s good enough for a Sunday afternoon.

Just don't expect it to change your life or anything. It's just people being silly on horses.