My Friend Walter

Been waiting to see a movie about an imaginary sir walter raleigh? wait no longer! Far superior to the glut of imaginary sir walter raleigh films that followed, this film pushes back the boundaries of what one would normally expect in a film about a potato-munching bowls player. the plot? who cares about plot when polly grant eats up the screen with a performance that transcends all accepted acting codes. See it. Now.

A little girl called Bess Throgmorton while visiting London encounters the ghost of Sir Walter Raleigh, to whom she is distantly related. He is tired of hanging around the Tower of London after four hundred years, so persuades her to let him return with her to her home, a farm in Devon, near to where he spent his childhood. Naturally complications arise from having a ghost around the house, and then there are the financial problems her parents are having, struggling to keep the farm going. But perhaps Sir Walter can help with that? This is a very enjoyable dramatization of Dick King-Smith's book, with Ronald Pickup very good as Sir Walter, and Prunella Scales both funny and touching as Bess's houseproud Aunt Ellie. Fun for anyone who enjoys light comic fantasy.

I agree with the previous reviewer -this is a mighty, canonical work which must be viewed at all costs.

However, not all subsequent cash-ins were awful; the film where Magellan, Columbus and Capt.Cook time-travelled to 1950s New York to save an orphanage was pretty darn good as well.

Ever wanted to see a movie about an imaginary Sir Walter Raleigh? Wait no longer! Far superior to the glut of imaginary Sir Walter Raleigh films that followed in its wake, "My Friend Walter" is a heady mix of art-house bravura and visceral popcorn-munching fun. See it now. You won't be disappointed. See it tomorrow and you may be disappointed until you see it.