HENRY ALDRICH HAUNTS A HOUSE (1943)

High school student Henry Aldrich has a crush on Elise, daughter of a chemistry teacher, and is upset to see Whit, a conceited jock, try flirting with her. When Whit tries to pick a fight, Henry backs off, partly because he thinks that "fighting is atavism" and partly because he thinks taking a more intellectual approach to conflict will impress Elise. But as it turns out, everyone (Henry's father, Henry’s buddy Dizzy, and Elise herself) thinks Henry should have stood up for himself. Elise tells Henry that her father has been experimenting on himself with a serum that triples a person's physical strength and that night, Henry, spooked by a nearby lightning bolt, accidentally drinks an entire test tube of the stuff. Meanwhile, Kenniston Manor (known locally as Creep House), the home of a science professor who has been dead for ten years, has been condemned; Bradley, the school principal, and Quidd, a teacher, are in the dark house taking inventory, interested particularly in a mummy which supposedly has a curse on it. The two men are attacked by a hulking shadowy figure at the same time that the disoriented Henry wanders into the house. The next morning, Bradley has vanished (we saw him being dragged into a secret passage by the shadowy figure) and Henry wakes up in bed, hungover from the serum. Remembering little of his walk home, he worries that, emboldened by his extra strength, he is the one who attacked Bradley. Henry takes more of the serum and, joined by Elise and Dizzy, goes back to the house to investigate. 

Henry Aldrich was a character on a popular radio show—and later a TV show—called The Aldrich Family (1939-1953) and though largely forgotten today, Paramount made a series of second-feature movies focused on teenager Henry, kind of a B-movie version of MGM's Andy Hardy. In most of the films, Henry was played by the gawky but likeable Jimmy Lydon, who later played the oldest son in Life With Father; Dizzy was Charles Smith, known by me as Rudy, the bicycle messenger in The Shop Around the Corner. From what I've read, this movie sticks to the template of the series: the slightly nerdy Henry gets blamed for some mayhem that isn't actually his fault, and he spends the rest of the movie clearing his name. Mild romantic entanglements also occur, as do conversations with his mother (Olive Blakeney) and father (John Litel), the town's D.A. This film has the added attraction of being a bit spooky, sort of a live-action Scooby-Doo old dark house story. Though it's not a horror film, the shadowy atmosphere makes it perfect for October viewing. Lydon and Smith work well together, and Litel and Blakeney are fine as concerned parents. Making good impressions are Joan Moritmer as Elise and Jackie Moran as the bully Whit who gets his comeuppance. Familiar movie thug Mike Mazurki has a small role as The Goon, the menacing guy who attacks Bradley. Henry's catchphrases, repeated often (and mocked by the principal) are "Gee whiz!" and "Golly Moses!", that last line used often by yours truly because of how it's used by Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story. Favorite lines: Elise: "Do you believe in love at first sight?"; Henry: "Gosh, yes! I mean, huh?" Later, Henry to Dizzy: "Do you realize you're growing up to be a moron?" I might watch a few more of these in the future. Pictured: Henry talking to his inner self in a mirror. [YouTube]