The Ghost Goes West
| The Ghost Goes West | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | René Clair |
| Written by | Story: Eric Keown Screenplay: René Clair Geoffrey Kerr Robert E. Sherwood Lajos Biro[1] |
| Produced by | Alexander Korda |
| Starring | Robert Donat Jean Parker Eugene Pallette |
| Cinematography | Harold Rosson |
| Edited by | Henry Cornelius Harold Earle-Fishbacher |
| Music by | Mischa Spoliansky |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date | 17 December 1935 (UK) |
Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Ghost Goes West (1935) is a British romantic comedy/fantasy film starring Robert Donat, Jean Parker, and Eugene Pallette, and directed by René Clair, his first English-language film. The film contrasts an Old World ghost dealing with American vulgarity.
This rather cosmopolitan production combines an Hungarian-born British producer, a French director, and an American writer in a British film. This movie was the biggest grossing movie in 1936 in Great Britain.
Plot
Peggy Martin (Parker), the daughter of a rich American businessman (Eugene Pallette), persuades him to purchase a Scottish castle from Donald Glourie (Robert Donat), dismantle it and move it to Florida. Along with the castle goes its ghost.
Murdoch Glourie (also played by Donat) haunts the castle after dying a coward’s death in the 18th century. To find rest, he must get a descendant of the enemy Clan MacClaggan to admit that one Glourie is worth fifty MacClaggans.
Main cast
- Robert Donat as Murdoch Glourie and Donald Glourie
- Jean Parker as Peggy Martin
- Eugene Pallette as Mr. Martin
- Elsa Lanchester as Miss Shepperton
- Ralph Bunker as Ed Bigelow, Martin's rival
- Patricia Hilliard as Shepherdess
- Everley Gregg as Mrs. Martin
- Victor Rietti as the Scientist
- Morton Selten as The Glourie
- Chili Bouchier as Cleopatra
- Mark Daly as Murdoch's Groom
- Herbert Lomas as Fergus
- Elliott Mason as Mrs. MacNiff
- Hay Petrie as The McLaggen
- Quentin McPhearson as Mackaye
Miscellany
- Both the original treatment and the final cutting continuity were published in Successful Film Writing as Illustrated by 'the Ghost Goes West' by Seton Margrave. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1936.
Reception
The film was voted the best British movie of 1936.[2]
It was the 13th most popular movie at the British box office in 1935-36.
See also
References
- ^ The Ghost Goes West at Turner Classic Movies
- ^ "BEST FILM PERFORMANCE LAST YEAR". Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954). Launceston, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 9 July 1937. p. 8 Edition: LATE NEWS EDITION and DAILY. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
External links
- The Ghost Goes West at AllMovie
- The Ghost Goes West at the TCM Movie Database
- The Ghost Goes West at IMDb
- The Ghost Goes West on Screen Guild Theater: 21 August 1944
- Use dmy dates from July 2012
- 1935 films
- 1930s romantic comedy films
- 1930s historical films
- 1930s fantasy films
- British films
- British historical films
- British romantic comedy films
- British fantasy films
- British black-and-white films
- Fantasy-comedy films
- Ghost films
- Jacobite rising of 1745 films
- Films set in Scotland
- Films set in London
- Films set in New York City
- Films set in Florida
- Films set in the 18th century
- Films set in the 1740s
- Films set in the 1930s
- London Films films
- Films directed by René Clair
- Films produced by Alexander Korda