The Ghost Goes West

CinemaSerf

Robert Donat (the younger "Glourie") is on good form in this enjoyably daft ghostly caper that sees the son of the chief of a cowardly Scottish clan condemned to haunt his castle until their sworn enemy the "McLaggen" takes an oath declaring that one "Glourie" is worth fifty of them. This all started in 12th century Scotland, so our hero is somewhat frustrated that he will never find a "McLaggen" let alone get him to make the promise by the time we reach the 20th - until, serendipity takes an hand and his ancestral castle is bought, and relocated to Florida by millionaire ""Joe Martin" (a superb Eugene Pallette), who plans to use it - complete with it's well publicised ghost - to promote his business interests and in so doing attracts a few others from auld Scots landed gentry. Might he have a ghost of chance of release, after all? René Clair keeps it bubbling along nicely, with a couple of fun cameos from Elsa Lanchester and Morton Selten as the original "Glourie" who much preferred his whisky to anything remotely akin to combat. It is whimsical and engaging, spooky (well, not really...) and charming with a script that builds on Scottish traditions in both history and comedy well.