The Ghost Breakers

The film opens in 1940 Manhattan on a violent evening thunderstorm as broadcaster Larry Lawrence uses his radio studio to reveal the crimes of underworld boss Frenchy Duval. The broadcast sets a tense mood and pins a target on Duval’s criminal empire. The storm and the exposé establish the danger and momentum for the story.

In her hotel suite, Mary Carter is visited by Mr. Parada and receives the deed to her inheritance—a plantation and mansion in Cuba. Parada objects, yet Mary resolves to travel there by ship to inspect the property. The promise of fortune pulls her into a perilous voyage.

After finishing his program, Larry takes a phone call from Frenchy inviting him to his hotel. The invitation suggests a confrontation and links Larry with the criminal on the same floor where Mary resides. The tension deepens as the paths of the two men converge.

When Larry arrives at Frenchy’s hotel, he fires his gun and believes he has killed a man, though the actual assailant is down the hall. Seeking cover, Larry ducks into Mary’s suite and hides in a large trunk. Mary, unaware of his presence, locks the trunk and arranges for its transport to the harbor.

At the dock, Larry’s valet Alex searches the luggage and discovers Larry inside the trunk. He cannot prevent the trunk from being moved into the ship’s hold, but he manages to board the vessel in a desperate attempt to rescue his employer. The trunk’s voyage becomes a focal point of the early adventure.

During the voyage, Larry and Mary begin to flirt, growing closer as the danger behind them remains. They meet Geoff Montgomery, an acquaintance of Mary, who regales them with tales of Caribbean superstitions, voodoo, ghosts, and zombies. The stories foreshadow the mysteries awaiting them in the tropics.

The trio travels to Havana and from there to Mary’s fragile island estate. Along the way they encounter a shack with an old woman and her catatonic son, whom they suspect is a zombie. The locals’ rumors deepen the sense of foreboding around the estate and its secrets.

Inside the old mansion, they discover a large portrait of a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Mary. Soon they are terrorized by a ghost that stalks the corridors, amplifying the mystery surrounding the estate’s history. The supernatural atmosphere heightens the stakes for the trio.

The group encounters the zombie rumored to haunt the mansion, and Alex traps the body inside a closet. The moment confirms that the local legends might have some basis in reality and adds a dangerous layer to their search for the treasure. The trap also accelerates the tension toward the estate’s secrets.

Parada arrives at the estate but is fatally stabbed and placed in a casket. His dying act reveals a secret passage under the house that leads toward the lost treasure. The discovery shifts the focus from crime exposure to a dangerous treasure hunt.

As Mary and Larry draw closer to the treasure, Parada's murderer makes a last attempt on their lives. A trap triggers, sending the killer plummeting through the basement floor to his death. The deadly machinery of the estate seals their path toward fortune and safety.

With Mary’s fortune secured, the trio leaves the island, and Larry hints at a future honeymoon with Mary. The resolution ties up the financial stakes while setting up a hopeful, if uncertain, future for the couple. The film closes on their plans for what comes next.