Castle in the Air

"Castle in the Air" is a clever British comedy. It stars David Tomlinson as a man who owns a large manor home...but simply cannot afford to keep it. However, two possibilities for dealing with it arise. First, a beaurocrat tells him that the government is considering requisitioning the place...meaning he'll probably only get a fraction of what it's worth. Second, a lady from the States arrives and says she's considering buying it. So, it's up to the Earl to focus on its best qualities around the lady as well as convince the beaurocrat that the place is a falling down dump. And, then there's the ghost...it's a nice ghost...but a ghost nevertheless. The craziest part of all this is that two women want this Earl...and it's hard to imagine even one!!

This is a clever little comedy....not a laugh out loud one but more of a cute slice of life film. Well acted and enjoyable throughout.

By the way, the American lady did not sound the least bit American. Sometimes the actress sounded very Canadian...others she sounded almost British...but she never sounded like a lady from Utah!

There is a good cast for this mildly amusing but unexceptional comedy by Alan Melville who wrote many plays,films and TV series in the fifties and sixties.Margaret Rutherford seems rather underused and relying far too much on her Madame Arcati role.David Tomlinson is on his way up to stardom.Barbara Kelly would find more fame on TV.Helen Cherry was married to Trevor Howard but never really found true stardom for herself.Lots of well known character actors such as A.E>Matthes do their thing.However this film is never more than faintly amusing.Not worth 7/10its current rating.At the end it is really nothing more than a filmed stage play.

One of the comic themes of post-War England was the suddenly impoverished nobility trying to deal with their crumbling stately homes -- bad drains was a common trope. In this one, David Tomlinson is the Earl of Locharne, whose house is haunted, not only by a ghost played by Patricia Dainton, but by holidayers dissatisfied by the poor conditions, neighbors who resent his poaching, a bureaucrat from the Coal Board who wants to requisition the place for convalescing miners, an American millionairess (played by Barbara Kelly) who wants to buy the place, and Margaret Rutherford, who insists he is rightful King of Scotland. Can his manager, Helen Cherry, get him out of debt and get him to notice she's been in love with him for years?

It's based on a stage show, and whatever subtext may have existed at some point has been rubbed out. Still, the director is Henry Cass, who directed one of my favorite non-Ealing comedies of the era, LAST HOLIDAY, so he knows how to direct for laughs. If some of the lines come out a trifle fast for emotional weight, this is not the first movie from a stage play I've seen that happen in. The cast handles the comedy very well, even if some of the characterizations are a bit standard. I expect you'll have a good time watching this.

This is one of the few British films I just did not enjoy. Perhaps the humor went over my head? The film is pleasant but dull.

Had Margaret Rutherford had more scenes I would have probably enjoyed it.

Some films are saved by a good quality cast, and this almost is, with Margaret Rutherford and David Tomlinson, but it's a bit flighty and does tend to drag just a little bit in the middle. The plot is a good idea but the remainder of the cast are relative unknowns who don't give you that cosy feeling a lot of British comedy of the 50s does. It would have been better with one or two character actors thrown in, maybe Richard Wattis or Irene Handl, just to add another dimension. That said it is worth watching and wouldn't sit out of place in anyone's DVD library. I only wish someone at one the major film distribution companies would have a brain wave one day, dig out all the small British films of the 50s and release them all on modern format. A lot of my collection from this era is on VHS...you can't get it more up to date! I've given this a 6, it could have been much better, but it's still one I'm keeping in my collection.