boblipton When a German bomb lands on a crypt, the explosion lets out the ghost of a bad old earl, and lets loose a roundabout plot involving a decayed aristocrat, his tenant, who wishes to enclose a cricket pitch annoying the local villagers, Richard Greene, who has shown up to look at some recently revealed old manuscripts and his real life wife, Patricia Medina, as the earl's daughter.There's a fair amount of well-constructed social satire in this production, as well as some good jokes, and the amount of silliness increases at a steady pace throughout, as the ghost becomes more and more active in setting things right. A goodly number of screen comics get a chance to amuse the audience, particularly Edward Rigby as the butler, Moore Marriott as the inevitable ciderhouse layabout and Joan Hickson, when she was merely middle-aged -- doubtless, if she ever appeared in any movies when she was young, they were produced by Robert W. Paul.Although the movie becomes a bit too cartoonish for my taste at the three-quarters mark, it recovers itself nicely at the end and makes its points, humorous, dramatic and serious, nicely by the end.

johndunbar-580-920543 For someone who knows so little about British films, I was delighted to learn more by watching it in the only place one might find it these days: You Tube. It's British humour and therefore one has to be awake to get the full benefit. The British routinely poke fun at themselves, especially their Xenophobia. When a passenger on a bus learns that the driver who drove so badly was a 'foreginer' and 'French' to boot, she simply replied "so there you are". I found the whole thing a delicious and at times an hysterically funny film. Add to that the inimitable British skill at character depiction and a cast of terrific actors to act them out and the result is quite impressive. It's also interesting to note the date of production (1944), Like the Americans, the Brits didn't make film about the War during it; they both preferred to laugh their way to Victory as much as possible. These great film greatly helped relieve the enormous personal stress of those enduring that horror. As Eleanor Roosevelt (if I remember correctly the author) said about the war on the home front: "keep 'em laffing "

Alex da Silva Peter Hayward (Richard Greene) leads the villagers in the town of Chaunduyt (pronounced "Condwit") against a landowner, Mr Pike (Alfred Drayton), who refuses to allow animals onto his land and wants to plough up the cricket pitch. Peter is helped by a ghost (Richard Bird) who has been released from the walls of a stately home after it has been hit by a German bomb. Hey, it might be a British bomb, after all, we now know that in every war it seems traditional to kill your own troops in some way. The film climaxes with a court scene and a surprise revelation.I was hoping for a good ghost story but it is far from that. Unfortunately, this is another example of British silliness. The ghost as played by Richard Bird is hardly in the film and when he does appear, he is portrayed as a friendly buffoon. Another buffoon who I suspect was meant to court sympathy was the "Butler" as portrayed by Edward Rigby. We have tedious sections at the beginning of the film where every time he moves around the stately home, he is accompanied by comedy music. I found him irritating. There are some funny touches, eg, the fact that everyone in the village has the same name due to inbreeding throughout the years (a hot topic especially with the royal family) and this film gives us the original dilemma over the pronunciation of the surname "Bucket"...... or is that "Bouquet"? If you like silly British nonsense, then you will enjoy this film. It's not a catastrophe but it is a disappointment.

Kittyman This picture deserves more publicity. It is a charming British comedy with a great sense of goofiness that the Brits used to do so well.In it, our hero Richard Greene displays the wonderful charm we remember so well from his subsequent "Robin Hood" TV series. As the reluctant Lord (who secretly yearns for commoner vices), Brefni O'Rorke is delightfully wise, subtle, and droll. Even Ivor Barnard, in his brief cameo, is memorable as a French refugee bus driver. (Apparently, he apprenticed in a Parisian taxi.) And scattered throughout the film are many funny bits (such as rival lawyers continually attempting to one-up each other with earlier and more obscure citations.) Indeed, my only disappointment was over the ghost's role. More could have been done with him. Since sheep have a crucial role in the picture, for example, perhaps, as a sight gag, a ghostly encounter might have turned some black ones white. Also, the ghost's fate should somehow have been intertwined with that of the obnoxious plaintiff, who, after the trial, just seems to abruptly disappear, as if forgotten.