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Driving to Dublin late one night, Orson Welles stops to pick-up a stranded motorist. The man proceeds to tell Welles about what happened to him late one evening at that very spot in the road, when he was flagged down by two women. As his tale continues, it wraps back to enfold Welles and the viewer in its skein of mystery - inviting us all to RETURN TO GLENNASCAUL...

In 1951, during a hiatus in the production of his OTHELLO, two of the actors in the Shakespearean film asked Welles, their old friend, to appear in a short film they were producing. They were Hilton Edwards & Micheál Mac Liammóir, the founders of the famed Dublin Gate Theatre. They thought Welles would be the perfect choice to tell their little ghost tale. They were right - his magnificent voice still worked its magic as it had in radio's heyday. Others in the cast, all excellent, were Michael Laurence (also on leave from OTHELLO), Shelah Richards & Helena Hughes.

This Irish two-reeler is a superb example of what can be done in a very short amount of screen time. Beautifully crafted, not a frame of film or line of dialogue is wasted. Intriguing & entertaining, it's a shame this little gem is so obscure today.

Travelling through Dublin by car, Orson Welles (playing himself) gives a lift to a stranded man, who recounts a similar but strange occurrence of his own. Not particularly gripping as a ghost story; however, the detail is quite nice…and Mr. Welles' genial presence entirely welcome. Even so, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences thought it enough of a novelty at the time to deem it worthy of an Oscar nomination in the "Best Two-Reel Short Subject" category in 1953 – one that was eventually won by an obscure Walt Disney 'True-Life Adventure' documentary, BEAR COUNTRY! What is interesting to modern audiences in general and Welles scholars in particular is that the short under review was literally shot when the great man was taking a break from the filming of OTHELLO (1952) – an event which is captured in its very opening scenes! In fact, it was co-produced by Micheal MacLiammoir and writer/director Edwards who, were not only portraying Iago and Brabantio in Welles' exceptional filming of Shakespeare's tragedy, but had been Welles' theatrical cohorts in the late 1930s when he was just starting out. The restored version of the short – retitled ORSON WELLES' GHOST STORY – was overseen by genre producer Richard Gordon and introduced by the ubiquitous Peter Bogdanovich.

This fine little film might be entirely unremembered were it not for the appearance of Orson Welles in the movie's frame and as the narrator throughout. The story is quite predictable to anyone who has ever heard a ghost story told aloud, but manages to deliver a chill anyway. Oddly, the least effective part of the script is that given over to Welles narration. The photography, however, is so good throughout as to approach perfection. The performances are all competent, though Welles can be faulted for chewing the scenery in the old Mercury Theatre manner.

This short little ghost story feels just like that, a story someone might tell during a long drive or over a campfire. The details are obscure enough to make you wonder and the reaction of Orson Welles to the story told him here is priceless to witness. A short little film which manages to tell an haunting story in a very short amount of time.

It's a short and quite simple but it's well done and has the right amount of atmosphere to work. Wish Orson had directed it, but it's still fun.