The Phantom Light

In '30's British films I've always liked the mix of pithy Music Hall humour, mild ghostliness, a frisson of sex, and manly London chaps saving the day, all displayed perfectly in the Phantom Light. Director Michael Powell's best stuff was yet to come of course, but this can be seen as him still learning his craft practising with more inconsequential trifles.

Gordon Harker here shines with some cracking comedy lines handed to him, as the new lighthouse-keeper at a rather ... insular Welsh coastal village, apparently 200 years behind the times with Wrecking ships on the rocks still big business. Ian Hunter is the manly Londoner with all the brains ... er, I think this was his last British film until after the War ended. He was the best King Richard Hollywood ever had! Until the last reel Binnie Hale has no brains but admirably compensates with long legs. Herbert Lomas perfects the character he particularly re-used later in Ask a Policeman and The Ghost Train - he was even back in Powell & Pressburger's I Know Where I'm Going! But the film that borrowed the most from this was Arthur Askey's Back Room Boy from '42, it even looked the same inside the lighthouse!

A pleasant 75 minutes spent in the company of familiar faces and story.

With its wafer thin plot, this relies on the likeability of its cast and it's got just enough of that to make this entertaining from beginning to end. Gainsborough reused the story six years later as BACK ROOM BOY with Arthur Askey and although this won't be in anyone's top ten, it least it doesn't have Arthur Askey in it!

As naff as this is, I think I enjoyed it. I might even watch it again sometime. Why - because it was fun without being a comedy, exciting without being a thriller and watchable without being particularly well made. It relies on its two leads: Binnie Hale and professional cockney Gordon Harker. He's your typical grumpy but loveable cor blimey gov'nr cockney and he really carries this single handedly. He's also got some lovely old forgotten East End expressions. Surely it's time to resurrect this one: "I'll lay a pound to a sausage." It must mean something?

Just as I'm convinced that Genevieve Tobin is Joan Blondell's sister, Binnie Hale obviously must also be another sibling. She was an established actress on the stage but she hadn't quite mastered movie acting, nevertheless she's still better than a lot of established stars over in California. Looking at her, it's hard to believe she's actually the sister of Jessie Matthew's other half - whom, if you're familiar with Sonnie Hale - let's just say he didn't have the classic movie star looks! She's actually rather lovely (which you'd expect if she's Joan Blondell's long lost English sister!)

Some actresses have a magnetic screen presence because of their talent, Miss Hale might not exhibit a lot of talent but she certainly exhibits a lot of her legs - very nice legs too! Since Joseph Breen and his cohorts over in America had by 1935 banned anything remotely saucy, it fell on the shoulders of the British film industry to provide the public with a little bit of sexiness and Binnie Hale in shorts and negligee - not just a negligee but a wet negligee, certainly ticks that box.

Gainsborough in the early thirties didn't really do quality, they just made the sort of stuff you could veg out to with your brain switched off after a hard day's work. They were owned by Gaumont-British so had the same sort of relationship First National did to Warner Brothers. They made cheap simple, basic entertainment for the masses. So if you're not expecting too much from this, I'll lay a pound to a sausage that you might just enjoy it.

I didn't expect much from this obscure film and that was the right approach. The film's pace is a big letdown - it's consistently slow from beginning to end. The scriptwriters couldn't have been bothered with the development of the story, as it is never made clear what is going on. Gordon Harker does quite well and tries his best to enliven the proceedings but it's all in vain.

Gordon Harker arrives at the tiny Welsh village where everyone seems to be named Owen. He's to take over the light house in the bay. He listens to stories about the Ghost Light that led the two earlier masters to their death: the light goes out, another one appears, and guides a ship onto the rocks. "Wreckers" he says, and thinks no more of it. He also doesn't think much of Ian Hunter, who claims to be a reporter and offers him lots of money to go to the lighthouse, nor of Binnie Hale, who also makes the same request. He's proud of his 25 years in the service, and runs things by the book. When he gets to the house, there's a helper who's being tended to by doctor Milton Rosmer. Most of the time he's out, but occasionally he gets up and tries to kill someone with his bare hands.

It's a nicely opened version of the stage play by Evadne Price and Joan Roy Byford., with some nice location shooting in th west counties and Wales. It makes me wonder if this was the inspiration for dirctor Michael Powell to wander the island, far from London, and look at the weird and wonderful way people live far from London.

Superficially, this is just another of the many British comedy/dramas from the era. It has a characteristic manner: a fellow with a humorous take on life, a pretty girl, some intrigue and danger.

What sets this apart are two things.

The first is the setting in Wales, or more precisely among the Welsh. Its an odd sort or layering for me since I think the 30's era English are as different, strange, quaint to me as the Welsh are shown here from the English. The language is emphasized in the setup, first half of the movie. They surely are depicted as alien. At the end, there's a clear balance between evil Welsh and noble ones that come to the rescue. The chief villain of course, the ringmaster, is English of course. That Imperial undercurrent!

The second interesting thing is that the action, about 3/5s of the movie, takes place in an actual lighthouse, most at night. What an amazing challenge this must have been; there are no studio shots that I could discern. Its a small, curved structure with no opportunity to anchor the frame against a wall. There's lots of movement across different levels, as there must be, and some clever (from a staging point of view) movement from inside to outside. I suppose the director made up much of how this appears as he went along.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.