The Ghosts of Berkeley Square
The Ghosts of Berkeley Square | |
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Pathe Pictures (UK) [1] | |
Release date |
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Running time | 100 minutes [1] |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Ghosts of Berkeley Square is a 1947 British comedy film, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Robert Morley and Felix Aylmer. The film is an adaptation of the 1944 novel No Nightingales by Caryl Brahms and S. J. Simon, inspired by the enduring reputation of the property at 50 Berkeley Square as "the most haunted house in London".[2] Despite its stellar cast of highly respected character actors and its inventive use of special effects, the film proved less successful at the box-office than had been hoped.[3]
Plot
At the 1000th Annual dinner of the Old Ghosts Association General 'Jumbo' Burlap and Colonel 'Bulldog' Kelsoe present the story of their death and haunting to the general public after the inter-terrestrial hookup of radio and television allows communication between humans and spirits. In the 18th Century, Burlap and Kelsoe are officers in the army of Queen Anne who have recently retired and purchased a house on Berkeley Square. At a house-warming party the pair speculate how to win the war however they learn that the Duke of Marlborough has other plans that will lead to the Battle of Malplaquet. Believing the battle will end in slaughter they hatch a plan to capture Marlborough and hold him prisoner until the threat of hostilities passes. They build a contraption to drop Marlborough through a trapdoor onto a mattress in the cellar, however when they elect to test their device, they are killed as the mattress has been removed. Their deaths prevent a planned visit by Queen Anne.
Burlap and Kelsoe watch their funeral procession and speculate about being ghosts when they are sent a book of rules and regulations as well as documents to sign from beyond. Later, the pair are also subjected to a court-martial who find them guilty for crimes against the Crown, sentencing Burlap and Kelsoe to haunt their Berkeley Square residence until it is visited by a member or reigning royalty. Lady Mary looks at buying the now empty house however as the Queen hates her Burlap and Kelsoe decide to scare her away. Realising that by scaring Lady Mary away the house will now be labelled as haunted and therefore never sell and be visited by royalty, Burlap and Kelsoe blame each other for the fiasco, quarrel, and refuse to speak to each other. 66 years later, after adopting a ghostly cat, Burlap and Kelsoe receive a Christmas present along with a Christmas Tree and decide to forgive each other.
15 years later the house is occupied by Madam Millie, who demands to see Burlap and Kelsoe. The pair materialise before her and she explains that while she is not frightened of them they must not bother her girls. She also claims to know
Over the next 75 years Berkeley Square becomes home to a number of governmental departments before being purchased by T.B. Farnum (a play on
Berkeley Square is sold once again and becomes a soldiers' hospital during the
Main cast
- Robert Morley as Gen. "Jumbo" Burlap / Nawab of Bagwash
- Felix Aylmer as Col. H. "Bulldog" Kelsoe
- Yvonne Arnaud as Millie
- Claude Hulbert as Merryweather
- Abraham Sofaer as Benjamin Disraeli
- Ernest Thesiger as Dr. Cruickshank
- Marie Lohr as Lottie
- Martita Hunt as Lady Mary
- A. E. Matthews as Gen. Bristow
- John Longden as Mortimer Digby
- Ronald Frankau as Tex Farnum
- Wilfrid Hyde-White as Staff Captain
- Wally Patch as Foreman
- Esme Percy as Vizier
- Mary Jerrold as Lettie
- Martin Miller as Professor
- Diane Hart as Minette (uncredited)
- James Hayter as Capt. Dodds(uncredited)
- Edward Lexy as Brigadier (uncredited)
- Aubrey Mallalieu as Butler (uncredited)
- Strelsa Brown as Amazon Attendant (uncredited)
Production
Vernon Sewell who directed said he liked the film "very much" adding that:
I thought it was very funny. I had a terrific cast, terrific cast! All the best actors there were in England in it, and it had five periods of changes of costume. I wanted to make it in colour and I wanted to make it on exterior... But they wouldn't agree, they wouldn't agree. Well the studio roof had to be raised twenty feet to build the faade of Berkeley Square at the studio. We made the film and of course, the terrible storms in the middle of it, the scene wall blew down and, oh, all that sort of trouble! But anyhow, I thought it was a very funny film and all the critics did, but you had to know a bit about English history to understand it. You had to know there was a Boer War, there was a Queen Anne and there was a Prince Regent, you had to know they - you had to have the very, very basic knowledge, which people apparently didn't have, and people didn't understand it.[4]
See also
References
- ^ a b BBFC: The Ghosts of Berkeley Square (1947) Linked 2013-08-31
- ^ 50 Berkeley Square - The most haunted house in London Archived 22 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine Walks of London. Retrieved 21-08-2010
- ^ Vernon Sewell (1903-2001) BFI Screen Online. Retrieved 21-08-2010
- ^ Fowler, Roy (8 July 1994). "Vernon Sewell". British Entertainment History Project.
External links
- The Ghosts of Berkeley Square at the better source needed]
- The Ghosts of Berkeley Square at IMDb
- The Ghosts of Berkeley Square at BritMovie (archived)