Simply Perfect

How sad is this?

Excellent but underrated film

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

This is the remake of the 1931 version of the 1923 stage play "The Ghost Train" - but, unlike many remakes, it doesn't look inferior to its predecessor (of which unfortunately only parts have survived), but takes a fresh, and very entertaining approach to the old subject, with a nice balance between ghost story and comedy. First of all, it updates the political background that is revealed in the end, giving a VERY real explanation for the 'ghost train' legend: while in 1931, it were Russian gun runners who used the train, now it's the Fifth Column, the stooges of the German Nazis - England obviously had discovered at last who the REAL enemy was... And then, the characters who are assembled here at this lonely train station are even more amusing and typically British than in the first version! It all starts when vaudeville comedian Tommy Gander (Arthur Askey) - who will continue throughout the movie to pester his fellow passengers with his strange kind of 'humor' - loses his hat and stops the train in order to retrieve it; which results in them all losing their connection train and being forced to stay overnight at a shady train station, in the middle of a blazing thunderstorm... So the atmosphere is already nice and creepy - but the station master enhances it by telling them about a 'ghost train' that drives through the station at nights, ever since a horrible train accident years ago, when the then station master, while trying to turn the wheel to close the swing bridge for the train to pass over the river, died of a heart attack, and the train crashed into the deep... He then leaves them, and they try to forget about the spooky story and pass the night as comfortable as possible.But then, at exactly eleven o'clock - the time the accident had occurred then - the station master returns, and collapses on the floor. One of the passengers, a doctor, declares him dead from - heart failure; and the fear of the people in that dark, lonely shack returns. And soon afterward, a young woman rushes in from the rain (beautiful Linden Travers, well known to fans of classic British cinema from Hitchcock's early masterpiece "The Lady Vanishes"), declaring hysterically that she's GOT to see the ghost train - and right after her, her brother appears, who explains that she's mentally ill and only imagines everything... Anyway, the tension rises (despite the constant 'tries' by the vaudeville comedian to cheer up the others) - until the VERY real explanation for the 'ghost train' story is revealed: it's being used for smuggling rifles for the Nazis through the swing bridge over the river; but by the time the passengers understand that, the three spies - the doctor, the strange woman and her brother - already have put them onto a bus and are driving away from the station, while the 'resurrected' station master is preparing the train for its ride over the swing bridge - the only thing they DON'T know is: the seemingly dopey comedian had changed the wheel earlier, and the bridge is OPEN! And so, the Nazis have got to watch from the other side of the river how 'their' train runs at full speed into the river...A very nice, typically British piece of classic movie entertainment, admirably suitable for any fan of good old-fashioned spooky tales who also possesses a good sense of humor!

Train passengers are stranded overnight at a train station due to the hijinks of an obnoxious man named Tommy Gander (Arthur Askey), who pulled the brake so he could go get his hat he dropped off the train. That's the first of this guy's annoyances in this movie, but hardly the last. He spends the entire film being annoying. While they're at the station, they're told the station is haunted and a ghost train passes at night. If anybody looks upon the train they will die. At this point I was cheering for Gander to see the train.I'm a sucker for a train movie so I really wanted to like this. I did like the train station set, particularly the platform outside with the moody matte painting backdrop. The mystery elements aren't bad. I would rate this one a lot higher if not for Askey's overbearing character and the fact we seem to get little relief from him in the movie. As one other reviewer rightly noted, whether or not you will enjoy this film depends on how you feel about Arthur Askey's performance. For me, he was unfunny, irritating, and unlikable. You might think he's the funniest person who ever lived. Watch it and see for yourself.

It doesn't really succeed as a thriller about war-time arms smuggling, a supernatural mystery about a "ghost train" that uses a line of neglected tracks, or a comedy about anything.The most notable feature of the movie -- originally a play -- are the indoor and outdoor sets, not including the original train which deserts the handful of diverse passengers at a lonely railway station in the midst of a downpour.Even if the juvenile plot had some merit, the movie would have been ruined for me by the antics of Arthur Askey, the least funny comedian since Jack E. Leonard. Maybe I've lost my sense of humor now that I've developed this debilitating case of restless legs syndrome, but I ask you -- Askey annoys someone he doesn't like by pressing his face against a window and smearing his nose and open mouth around on the glass. If you find this amusing, then this movie is for you.But I did appreciate the shabby interior of the deserted station, and I rather liked the brief glimpse of the gloomy platform outside. And Kathleen Harrison is easy on the eyes. Yum. And these are the only reasons the film doesn't deserve a null.

Late one night, many years ago, I came across this movie, and although it is filled with holes (see other reviews), it was still very enjoyable. I managed to record it, unfortunately the old VHS is well and truly gone and I would dearly love to obtain a copy on DVD region 4 (Australia). Alas, to no avail. You see, it is one of those films you want to go back to time and time again. This film was made when Britain had its back to the wall, and the British film industry wanted to both entertain and educate her people of the various dangers surrounding them. It is a warm and corny trip back into a time long gone. Having said that, if you ever get the opportunity to watch this film, do yourself a favor, sit back with a glass of your favorite beverage, kick off your shoes and watch a cheesy old WW2 propaganda film that is still entertaining, and will bring a gentle smile to your face.