The Ghosts of Berkeley Square

Robert Morley and Felix Aylmar are a couple of high-ranking British officers in the reign of good Queen Anne, recently retired. They have bought a house together on Berkeley Square. When it turns out that Marlborough is in charge of the latest campaign, they realize he's going to lose the war. They rig up a contraption to kill him, but it backfires, killing them. They are condemned to haunt the place discreetly until reigning royalty visits -- there's always an escape hatch.

And so they haunt it, as it is occupied by gentry, and a bawd and her girls, and P. T. Barnum, who turns it into a haunted house exhibit. Will royalty ever visit, freeing them?

It's directed rather lugubriously by Vernon Sewell from Caryl Brahms' and S. J. Simons' comic novel, NO NIGHTINGALE. The two authors had met a couple of decades earlier, when Miss Brahms recruited him to help her write captions for a series of cartoons by David Low. Their first novel, A BULLET IN THE BALLET, arose from her fantasy of killing ballet critic Arnold Haskell. Several novels followed, including the one this is based on. She died in 1982, five days short of her 81st birthday.

S. J. Simon was born Simon Jacoblivitch Skidelsky in Harbin, Manchuria. In the 1930s and 1940s, he was a leading bridge player, co-inventing the Acol bidding system, and writing the funny and still valuable classic Why You Lose At Bridge. He died in 1948, aged 44.

I saw this film on TV in the late 1980's. Fortunately I recorded it on to VHS tape and have kept it. However I cannot play it now so have to comment by memory. I feel that this is film although rather lightweight in comparison to Will Hay's 'Oh Mr Porter!' it is still good clean comedy. I hope that it will be released on to DVD one day (along with other lesser known English comedy films).

Although over 50 years' old, this film's wit and imagination have not dated. Two retired 18th-century British army officers accidentally kill themselves and are required to haunt their house in London's Berkeley Square until visited by reigning royalty. All their attempts over the next two centuries to lure the British monarch to the house fail. During that time, their home is occupied by a succession of colourful tenants, including a house of ill repute, an Indian rajah with his harem, a World War I soldiers' hospital and a World War II officers' club.

Robert Morley and Felix Aylmer as the quintessentially British ghosts are excellent. Their characters' witty repartee and dogged determination form the backbone of the movie. The supporting cast is equally good, containing a broad range of England's best character actors of the 1940's.

The sets and costumes are imaginatively rendered and true to the various historic periods covered by the story. The varied and imaginative musical score greatly helps set the mood of each era. Much of the cinematography is remarkable; a single-take lengthy crane shot very early in the film is particularly impressive. This is probably the best movie made by director Vernon Sewell, whose long career encompassed very little distinctive work.

This entertaining and well-made film is worthy of re-discovery.

The cream of British comic acting talent could not disguise the somewhat thin script, that was clearly intended as a wartime morale booster, but somehow appeared past its sell-by date, in 1947. Its true length should have been half an hour but they didn't have TV then.

Nevertheless it has some fascination as a period piece, and we are kept in dull suspense wondering why they are waiting for the visit of a monarch, an interesting twist, which gives it its patriotic wartime message.

The best cameo is undoubtedly Yvonne Arnaud as the scatty Bordello keeper (who - for the benefit of those below a certain age or not French or British - continued to have great success on BBC comedy radio throughout the 1950s till her death aged 66.)

Robert Morley too, as usual, never fails to entertain.

In the 1700s a pair of rum military officers plan to kidnap the Duke of Marlborough. The officers die testing a trap-door on the afternoon they are supposed to be serving tea to Queen Anne. As punishment for missing their date, they must haunt the house until royalty visits again.

Although they try to attract royalty they seem to be doomed to failure, and the house is leased to many different colorful-characters including French courtesans, circus performers and an Indian emperor.

A light-hearted film full of dry-humour quips and farce. The humour would have appealed to audiences looking for escapism and whimsy; however like all films of this time it contains subtle war-propaganda to inspire the masses.