The Halfway House

Never having been a fan of the concept of the dead returning to advise the living, I was none-the-less pleased with this charming film. The tragedies that occur during war-time can often be treated as 'due course' by most of us, but we are not usually those who have suffered a loss. Like many stories involving benevolent ghosts or angels, the supernatural beings are metaphors for the hand of God in the lives of the living, seeking to influence them along a better path than that which they currently pursue.

'Halfway House' is a kind-hearted, quirky little film, with talented character performances. Sally Ann Howes, the gifted musical actress, plays an early role as the daughter of an estranged couple heading for divorce. Her performance was amusing and poignant, as she tries to think of ways to get her parents back together. Françoise Rosay's character desperately attempts spiritualism, trying to contact her only son who has died in the war. They, and the other guests at a ghostly Welsh inn, seem to take a somewhat 'oh, well, so that's it' attitude toward their dearly-departed innkeepers, which makes the film that much more appealing. 'Halfway House' is exactly what it was intended to be, a comfort and a lesson.

Surprisingly good camera work and color balance for a drama filmed in 1944. Even the out-of-doors scenes are crisp and the light is well balanced.

A group of strangers check-into an inn, each have their own emotional problems. The plot is interesting enough to hold the audiences attention, although a little slow moving in parts. The acting was very solid.

This is a very time-period relevant film. It really accurately reflects the attitudes, values and behaviors of middle class wartime Britain. A little slice of the Welsh countryside during war years.

This was the first Ealing film I saw, knowing it was an Ealing film, because it was shown as part of a long Ealing film series on UK BBC2 from May 1977. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although then at 18 years old the wartime propaganda element of it paradoxically irritated much more than it does forty years later. Is it blood running cooler or a more resigned luxury of perspective in operation? I feel I have to repeatedly point out with British films made in wartime that present day allowances must be made: if the people in this movie had lost the war they were fighting I wouldn't be here writing this nor you reading it. But if the people who made the film could come back would they think their efforts then were worthwhile is another matter though… Every week during that TV series my admiration and awe grew until I realised that British cinema would never again match the art and craft displayed by Ealing at their peak in the '40's and '50's; and by now I've watched some of their classics over a dozen times. However I find that I've seen The Halfway House for only the fourth time - maybe it was meant to be revisited only once in a while, like the ghostly inn itself.

A group of relatively unhappy temporal travellers find themselves drawn to and ensconced in a weird country inn in Wales complete with an unsettling landlord and his daughter who cast no shadows but end up casting large ones over the guests (and us), and for their own good. They were all fighting their own battles and problems but I admit! the biggest problem was that mine host Mervyn Johns was so firmly robotic in his anti-Nazi propaganda and posturing that his imperiousness ultimately became unconvincing and tiresome. It's a very gentle ghost story but at least it wasn't a musical like Brigadoon. Rather moralistic too and there's an array of familiar faces in here to back it all up: Tom Walls, more taciturn now; Alfred Drayton, Joss Ambler and rakish Guy Middleton, all as sharp as ever; Esmond Knight, in rural Wales one year before he memorably played a village idiot and a psycho in rural England; Sally Ann Howes, so posh you realise what today's inclusive society has lost or gained depending on your own prejudices. Sure that's not Wylie Watson playing one of the Welsh porters? There's plenty of beautiful atmospheric photography amid some lovely country and excellent sets. Favourite bits: Johns in a remarkably underplayed scene of mirror-trickery and his daughter Glynnis – like Peter Pan, in a clever for the time scene of shadow-trickery; the extended dinner conversation.

There's a few trite moments mainly involving the belief in the afterlife and the acting is rather stagey at the best of times but all in all it's still great escapist entertainment, which has imho er withstood the test of Time. And to hopefully echo back to the cast Glynnis's gentle farewell: good night to you all, see you in the morning.

Mervyn Johns and his real life daughter Glynnis shine in this ghostly 1944 film and I disagree with most of the negative comments from other users above.Consequently I have rated this film 7/10.The other users seem to have either forgotten or misunderstood the average conditions that Britons were living under then and indeed up to 1955 when food rationing was abolished in the UK.

London Live TV station here in the UK is currently running a festival of Ealing films Mon-Sat starting @ 2p.m. which gives a chance for this slightly younger viewer (born in 1946), the chance to see their less frequently aired films.I notice they do tend to repeat these films so people who miss the original showing can catch up with it.This was my first viewing 17/7/15 and me and my wife (born 1947) enjoyed it immensely.I take on board the criticism of rather preachy dialogue about redemption but Britain dare I say was a more formally religious country then.Atonement for past misdemeanours was understandable with the population facing unexpected death from the V1 & V2s.

Ealing Studio's The Halfway House is a heartwarming supernatural wartime parable intended to raise morale in its blitzed British audience with the message that, despite such troubled times, the United Kingdom shall prevail, whilst at the same time lifting the spirits of the bereaved by suggesting that death isn't the end. There's also time to bash those who remain neutral during wartime or who try to profit from the conflict.

These messages are hammered home rather heavily, but do not stop the movie from being an enjoyable time; if anything, the film's status as wartime propaganda only makes it more interesting. Of course, a cracking cast doesn't hurt, and this one's got great performances to spare: Mervyn Johns plays Rhys, the ghostly landlord of the titular inn, and his real-life daughter Glynis plays his on-screen daughter Gwyneth (whose husky Welsh lilt is particularly appealing). Support is given by a range of reliable character actors, including Tom Walls and Françoise Rosay as a couple who are struggling with the loss of their son, Esmond Knight as terminally ill conductor David Davies, Guy Middleton and Alfred Drayton as a couple of racketeers, and Valerie White and Richard Bird as an estranged couple whose daughter (played by a young and very plummy Sally Ann Howes ) tries to get her parents back together.

Before the halfway mark of The Halfway House, I had guessed that the visitors to the inn were dead (victims of an air raid), but I was wrong, and glad to be so. Instead of taking this trite route, the film treads another path, with a Twilight Zone-style time twister plot and an ending that sees each person finding redemption and leaving with hope in their hearts. It's the kind of feel-good finalé that makes the film ideal for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for lovely Glynis.