Really Surprised!

Let's be realistic.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Actually quite a crafty and thoughtful sitcom, with some enjoyable twists, and perhaps one should begin by understanding what this movie's style implies, you can judge the degree of craft that went into shooting this comedy by the very natural instantaneous changes of key, from the overabundance of comedy to the suspenseful moments (as when the station master returns, or when the ghost train passes, etc.); despite the fact that some mistake it for a shocker, which by no means was it ever meant to be. Even a seeming clumsiness like Julia's acting when she raves within the station, gets explained after-wards. Slapstick and sitcom, thoughtfully plotted; though coming from the league of unpretentiousness (the script is an occasional story, with a patriotic intent, and at least one mind-blowing twist …), it shows an enchanting ease at switching registers, at passing from slapstick to paranormal suspense, I also liked very much the sets, the station and its few shown surroundings. A 4th intimation would be that the leading actor knew how to move, how to use his body, and also how to make a bawdy remark; also, complainers who find his acting indigestible or astringent should be aware that this movie is a vehicle for him, he actually is the leading actor.

OK, so Abbott and Costello aren't in this film, but there's lots of laughs here so American audiences can learn to appreciate, as I did, the comedy of someone we here in the states haven't had the pleasure of getting to know. Arthur Askey is a comic I discovered several years ago on TCM with a double showing of "The Band Waggon" and "Charley's Big-Hearted Aunt". I had heard of him before and seen movie stills of him, but hearing his voice and seeing him in his comic firm had not occurred until then. I was able to see this film, based upon an ancient British play, I too, had heard about, yet had never seen in any form."The Ghost Train" is just what the title implies: a train which, filled with ghosts, wants to add the living to their list of passengers. You see the train, you become one. This is the type of play that almost a hundred years ago toured around England and even the states, playing in community theaters (mostly converted barns) and giving audiences a chill much like Tod Slaughter was doing with his similar melodramas "Sweeney Todd" and "Murder in the Red Barn".Previously filmed in 1931, this remake got the comedy treatment with the Harold Lloyd like Askey, playing a ham actor who is stranded in a country station with a group of strangers. Through the station master, these lost folks learn the story of the mysterious train, which fell nearby through a bridge when the old stationmaster died before being able to close the bridge, sending everybody aboard to their deaths. The plot has been updated to the beginning of World War II to give it a sense of timeliness. It still retains the spooky atmosphere, gives Askey a cute song, a damsel in distress, and provides some comedy with a drunken female passenger who passes out and sleeps through the whole thing. Askey's in-your-face comedy is actually quite subtle; He's just a dude who likes to entertain and make people laugh, and some passengers like him more than others. What makes this more watchable for Americans is that there are few references to things we might not get, and the humor is more slapstick than droll.

From the first few minutes of the film it was clear that the main character, Arthur Askey, was an obnoxious person that would have been better left on the tracks after pulling the emergency cord on the train. Because they waited for him to pick up his hat and return to the train we are forced to listen to a man that should have been beat with a large stick until his mouth was so swollen that he could not speak. But since none of this happened, we are forced to watch a performance by Askey where he tries to hog every scene by what some call humor.Askey was like a case of herpes- he would just not go away. He kept inserting himself in every third line by means of something like juvenile humor. (I do not mean to speak bad of juveniles)I know I am being rough on Arthur Askey. I have seen other comedy films from this period that is just as dated as this film. But that does not make a poor performance any better to watch. Some will say that this is classic humor. If so, thank goodness we do not live in a time where we think classic humor needs to be obnoxious and unfunny.Actually this story is not a bad idea for a film. If you took Askey out of this and inserted another comedian, that was not so obnoxious, then this would be a good film. The last half of the film could have been a good film on it own merit except for one character.This film does contain the beautiful actress Kathleen Harrison. I have never seen a film where Ms Harrison gave an unpleasant performance. She is the only one that deliveries in this film. But with Askey, it was hard for anyone else to do anything but listen to his rants.It is clear that Askey was better in front of a live audience. He could play and mingle with the people. He relied on the interaction of people to be funny. In front of the camera that did not play well. In this film it did not play well - at all.

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?"