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Walter FordeThe Ghost Train (1941)

Mismatched travellers are stranded overnight at a lonely rural railway station. They soon learn of local superstition about a phantom train which is said to travel these parts at dead of night, carrying ghosts from a long-ago train wreck in the area.
The travelers eventually get to the bottom of the things that go bump in the night. In between the scary bits, comedian Arthur Askey plays the gags with his Vaudeville style humor.


This movie is part of the collection: Sci-Fi / Horror

Director: Walter Forde
Producer: Edward Black
Production Company: Gainsborough Pictures
Audio/Visual: sound, black & white
Keywords: Comedy; Horror; Arthur Askey
Contact Information: www.k-otic.com

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: picfixer - - July 3, 2010
Subject: Tickets please!
A first-class suspense mystery that is dragged down a peg by the miscasting of Arthur Askey. The faults are in the script and the character he plays, an annoying twit, not his abilities. (see cast notes) The rest of the performances are fine, and once you get past Askey's over-the-top carrying on, you should find this to be an engaging thriller. If some plot elements stretch credulity a bit, remember this really is a… er, I can't tell what it really is without being a spoiler. So just turn down the lights, and enjoy this British old dark house mystery played out in a train station.

CAST NOTES: I'm an Arthur Askey fan, and if you check out these other films here at IA, you might become fans too: "Back Room Boy," "Miss London, Ltd" and "King Arthur Was a Gentleman." The first two are the picks of this unfortunately small litter.
A familiar face in "The Ghost Train" cast, and one of my faves, is the parrot lady, Miss Bourne, played by Kathleen Harrison. She will be recognized by many as Scrooge's housekeeper, Mrs. Dilber, in "A Christmas Carol" (1951), and as the jilted maiden aunt, Rachel Wardie, in "The Pickwick Papers" (1952). Miss Harrison's last film role was in 1979. She passed away in 1995, at the age of 103.

Reviewer: kareneliot - - May 26, 2010
Subject: Six of one, 1/2 a dozen of the other
I am torn on this film. I really liked it quite a bit, EXCEPT for that annoying little man. He annoyed me so much that I wanted someone to throw him in front of a train.

It's a great little mystery - if I just could have gotten past Arthur Askey being in it.

Reviewer: Albert Schlef - - April 26, 2010
Subject: A gem!
This film is a gem. Top notch!

Reviewer: JonathanDP - - April 2, 2010
Subject: Great little wartime horror/comedy
This is a charming film and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It takes a bit to get going, but the light tone and fun characters make it never slow. I enjoyed Arthur Askey's performance, but I must say it should be spectacularly annoying to be in the same room as his character. It's fun to watch the old-time rapid-fire comedy of vaudeville. The plot is typical classic era of film silly but it makes for a nice watching experience.

Reviewer: norfolkman - - March 31, 2010
Subject: Background on The Ghost Train
For our American friends, here is a little background that you may not be aware of.
The Ghost Train was originally written as a play by Arnold Ridley (Later best known as Private Godrey in Dad's Army).
Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch who both star in this film were a comedy partnership who, at the time the film was made were probably the most poplular comedy duo on British radio. Both started in British Music Hall as did the majority of comedians before the war. The 'over the top' antics of Arthur Askey stem from the Music Hall tradition where an artiste performed to the back of the house. I just watch this film and enjoy it for what it is...Enjoying!!!

Reviewer: Carolyn Blake - - March 30, 2010
Subject: A great period piece
This is a little gem. From my American view, it is a charming look into the cinema culture of WWII era England. We get to spend a dark and stormy night with a collection of quirky characters trapped together in a train station, waiting for the dreaded ghost train. The character played by Richard Askey was a bit over the top, and though I had never seen him before, I had the sense he was well loved at that time. I did a bit of research on him and indeed he was a large figure in English comedy from that era. It's a nicely done mystery too with some genuinely tense moments, beautiful production, and is quite unpredictable -- the end comes as a very satisfying surprise.

Reviewer: babe917 - - December 15, 2009
Subject: the ghost train
i just joined archive tonight & just saw the ghost train & i found it a very compelling movie! i enjoyed it alot! great acting, great plot, & yeah i can see parts of this in scooby doo episodes.

it was a great joy to watch! great mystery-suspense film!

Reviewer: SonOfChaos - - July 19, 2009
Subject: A Great piece of cinema.
If I was to describe this film in one word I'd say 'Scooby-Doo'. Undoubtedly this film when qualify as one of the best episodes of the series, and I would not be surprised in the least.

This is one of those rare films that truly is solid on multiple levels. The characters are believable, the production is excellent, acting of high quality and very well written. I suspect that some modern viewers today my find the comedian in the film a bit over the top, perhaps he could be best described as a prototype of Jim Carey's comedic style, but otherwise a great piece full of ghost stories.

Reviewer: skilpad - - June 26, 2009
Subject: Good Film
A fairly enjoyable film. Although, Tommy Gander's (Arthur Askey)performance is a bit over the top and can be annoying at times. Good use of suspense and the plot wasn't too predictable.

Notice the change of change of the fire arm used to shoot the singing ghost near the end. It appears as if the shooter swopped his gun.

Aside from the Tommy Gander Vaudeville style humor it's an easy film to watch.

Reviewer: billbarstad - - June 10, 2009
Subject: I hate Arthur Askey!
Eight travelers stranded overnight in a haunted train station, one of them an extremely annoying vaudevillian, deal with their predicament as is expected in wartime Britain. All but two are unaware of the intrigue surrounding them. I really enjoyed watching it.

I downloaded the 699MB DivX file, which is actually an AVI. Video and audio are fine.