Very well executed

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Charming and brutal

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Like a number of others here with their comments about Arthur Askey and his portrayal of Tommy Gander being obnoxious and in some cases stealing the show, I had the same thoughts when I first saw the film. I have seen a number of his films and have enjoyed them, particularly with "Stinker" Murdock as his side kick, but I at first glance in watching The Ghost Train, it was just Arthur Askey playing Arthur Askey. This all changed recently when I happened to purchase a copy of the original 1923 stage script to find that Askey's Tommy Gander, in the script, Teddie Deakin, was a very unlikable and obnoxious character, much like the way Askey played it. After watching the film again while following the stage script, I found that Askey had actually nailed the character quite faithfully. Some parts missing from the stage script, and rightly so, was Gander stopping the train and retrieving his hat, and the corridor scene with Murdock and the woman in the compartment, I felt that it did nothing for the movement of the story. The stage script starts with the characters entering the waiting room at the station.

When I reviewed the Jean Arthur/John Wayne film A Lady Takes A Chance one of the things I remarked is that I could not imagine being on a three week bus tour of the USA with Phil Silvers as driver/tour guide. Someone who is 'on' as much as Silvers would have been killed by a passenger who couldn't take it after a while. Good in small doses.So true is it of British comedian Arthur Askey. This one pulls the emergency cord of a train he was riding on because his bowler hat flew off. The train stops and Askey runs down the tracks to retrieve his hat. Of course this makes him very popular with the other passengers, something that he cannot grasp as he seeks to entertain the group.The group misses a train connection and are forced to spend a night in a railway station where things start to go bump in the night. The passengers are told of the legend of The Ghost Train which was high balling along and plunged into a river when a draw bridge was left open. The legend says that you can hear the train at night, but to see it is instant death.Besides Askey for comic relief there is also Kathleen Harrison who gets herself good and soused and misses the action coming. All I can say is there are forces who want to keep The Ghost Train legend alive for their own nefarious purposes.The Ghost Train is a moderately amusing comedy which I hope that Arthur Askey takes it down a might for other films.

I feel sorry for the English people trying to suffer through WWII with privation, air raids, and their sons off at the front, and I understand why they might have wanted some git prancing around on stage or screen acting like this Askey fool to distract them from falling bombs and the dire outlook of 1941, but it's not 1941 anymore, the Nazis aren't invading us, and the film looks stupid now. The "ghost train" part of the story does not start until nearly minute 25, so what this is is a short mystery film interspersed with the lowest of low stage humor. A few action scenes are run behind narration, then it's back to the prancing git again. The little bit of dramatic acting here is dated, as well. It's not a comedy, it's not a ghost story, it's just a mess. As sympathetic as I feel for the English of that era, and as thankful as I am that they held off the Nazis for so long by themselves, I'm not so grateful that I can recommend this travesty to appease their nostalgia.This is another case where I look at the average user rating and scratch my head and say "huh?"

With help from a capable supporting cast, comic Askey carries this show very well.For some reason, it is listed on u tube under "Horror" and "scary", probably as a joke, because this is vaudeville comedy with a "haunted background".A group of characters are isolated at a train station where a "ghost train" is coming.We're never given any real "lead" characters. In fact, the most interesting thing about this film is the equality involved.1941 saw fewer prima donas, or at least room for everyone in many b movies. Here, Askey plays a comic named Gander, who is a cross between Groucho Marx and Erkel.He is very entertaining, too. I certainly wasn't around in those days, and he made me laugh, because vaudeville is usually about 15% up to date political commentary and 85% slapstick physical comedy.And most good comedy is at least 75% slapstick, and won't depend on the squawk of the year. Thus, it won't be "dated".Askey is certainly more amusing than 80% of the comedians we see in movies today. He isn't afraid to degrade himself for a laugh, and that's the key. Today's alleged comics are bred form local programs for the most part, and are really rich kids who would never debase themselves in any way.The story line here is weak, but that's okay, because it's just a farce. The real story here is "amusing the audience", and this the cast achieves.