The Ghost Goes West
Encyclopedia
The Ghost Goes West is a British
romantic comedy
/fantasy
film starring Robert Donat
, Jean Parker
, and Eugene Pallette
, and directed by René Clair
, his first English-language film. The film contrasts an Old World ghost dealing with American vulgarity.
This rather cosmopolitan production combines an Hungarian
-born British producer, a French
director, and an American
writer in a British film. This movie was the biggest grossing movie in 1936 in Great Britain.
), persuades him to purchase a Scottish castle
from Donald Glourie (Robert Donat
), dismantle it and move it to Florida
. Along with the castle goes its ghost
.
Murdoch Glourie (also played by Donat) haunts the castle after dying a coward’s death in the 18th century. To find rest, he must get a descendant of the enemy Clan MacClaggan to admit that one Glourie is worth fifty MacClaggans.
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
romantic comedy
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
/fantasy
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
film starring Robert Donat
Robert Donat
Robert Donat was an English film and stage actor. He is best-known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr...
, Jean Parker
Jean Parker
-Career:Born as Lois Mae Green in Deer Lodge, Montana, she appeared in 70 movies from 1932 through 1966. She was discovered by Ida Koverman, secretary to MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer, after she saw a poster featuring Parker portraying Father Time. She attended Pasadena schools and graduated from John...
, and Eugene Pallette
Eugene Pallette
Eugene William Pallette was an American actor. He appeared in over 240 silent era and sound era motion pictures between 1913 and 1946....
, and directed by René Clair
René Clair
René Clair born René-Lucien Chomette, was a French filmmaker.-Biography:He was born in Paris and grew up in the Les Halles quarter. He attended the Lycée Montaigne and the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. During World War I, he served as an ambulance driver. After the war, he started a career as a journalist...
, his first English-language film. The film contrasts an Old World ghost dealing with American vulgarity.
This rather cosmopolitan production combines an Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
-born British producer, a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
director, and an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer in a British film. This movie was the biggest grossing movie in 1936 in Great Britain.
Plot
Peggy Martin (Parker), the daughter of a rich American businessman (Eugene PalletteEugene Pallette
Eugene William Pallette was an American actor. He appeared in over 240 silent era and sound era motion pictures between 1913 and 1946....
), persuades him to purchase a Scottish castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
from Donald Glourie (Robert Donat
Robert Donat
Robert Donat was an English film and stage actor. He is best-known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr...
), dismantle it and move it to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Along with the castle goes its ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
.
Murdoch Glourie (also played by Donat) haunts the castle after dying a coward’s death in the 18th century. To find rest, he must get a descendant of the enemy Clan MacClaggan to admit that one Glourie is worth fifty MacClaggans.
Cast
- Robert DonatRobert DonatRobert Donat was an English film and stage actor. He is best-known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr...
as Murdoch Glourie and Donald Glourie - Jean ParkerJean Parker-Career:Born as Lois Mae Green in Deer Lodge, Montana, she appeared in 70 movies from 1932 through 1966. She was discovered by Ida Koverman, secretary to MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer, after she saw a poster featuring Parker portraying Father Time. She attended Pasadena schools and graduated from John...
as Peggy Martin - Eugene PalletteEugene PalletteEugene William Pallette was an American actor. He appeared in over 240 silent era and sound era motion pictures between 1913 and 1946....
as Mr. Martin - Elsa LanchesterElsa LanchesterElsa Sullivan Lanchester was an English-American character actress with a long career in theatre, film and television....
as Miss Shepperton - Ralph Bunker as Ed Bigelow, Martin's rival
- Patricia Hilliard as Shepherdess
- Everley GreggEverley GreggEverley Gregg was a British actress.She made her film debut in the 1933 film The Private Life of Henry VIII as Catherine Parr, Henry's last wife...
as Mrs. Martin - Hay PetrieHay PetrieHay Petrie , born David Hay Petrie, was a Scottish actor noted for playing eccentric characters, among them Quilp in The Old Curiosity Shop , the McLaggen in The Ghost Goes West and Uncle Pumblechook in Great Expectations .Hay Petrie went to St Andrew’s Academy, Dundee, and St...
as The McLaggen
Miscellany
- Both the original treatment and the final cutting continuity were published in Successful Film Writing as Illustrated by 'the Ghost Goes West by Seton Margrave. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1936.
- The plot resembles Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
’s The Canterville GhostThe Canterville Ghost"The Canterville Ghost" is a popular short story by Oscar Wilde, widely adapted for the screen and stage. It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in the magazine The Court and Society Review in February 1887. It was later included in a collection of short stories entitled...
(published in 1887, first adapted for film nine years after The Ghost Goes West). - The film was referenced in "Is There Honey Still for Tea?Is There Honey Still for Tea?Is There Honey Still for Tea? is the third episode of the eighth British comedy series Dad's Army that was originally broadcast on Wednesday, 19 September 1975. The title is taken from the concluding line of Rupert Brooke's 1912 poem, The Old Vicarage, Grantchester:-Synopsis:Private Godfrey's...
", an episode of Dad's ArmyDad's ArmyDad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
, when it is proposed a cottage is moved in a similar style to the castle in the film.