French director René Clair's go at an English-language haunted castle comedy, "The Ghost Goes West," is a delight. I've reviewed several spooky house horror comedies recently, and it's nice to see a place that's actually occupied by a ghost for a change, instead of the whodunit murder mysteries of "The Bat" (1926), "The Cat and the Canary" (1927) and their ilk. The story is pure goofiness. The mockery of Scots as blustering clansmen and Americans as dim-witted robber barons might've been offensive had the satire been blistering, but everything is exaggerated to such absurdity that it's quite funny. Plus, some of the visual effects and style for depicting the ghost impress.
Occupants of the Scottish castle, the father and son of the Glourie clan die on the same day, leaving the younger in a state of limbo, cursed to haunt the castle as a ghost under the guidance of his father's voice until he can avenge the family honor he disgraced in life at the hands of a rival clan. 200-odd years later, the last of the Glourie line (Robert Donat, also as the ghost, in dual roles), to settle his debts, sells the castle to a rich American family, for whom, he also has affections for the daughter, of course. The castle, ghost included, is, then, transported across the Atlantic to Florida, where the spirit is exploited to advertise the Americans' business. Fortunately, frog-voiced Eugene Pallette, one of classic Hollywood's finest comic character actors, plays the American family's patriarch. One of the best gags is when Pallette claims an African-American jazz band playing jazz as real Scots music. Among the decent cast, Elsa Lanchester (whose husband Charles Laughton would appear in the similar "The Canterville Ghost" (1944)) has a minor amusing part as a psychic party guest, although had Clair been more dynamic in his cutting to closer views, I suspect her comedic talents would've been more apparent here.
Otherwise, the sound is creaky, but the soundtrack overall can't help but be effective with Pallette's voice in the forefront. There's also an amusingly-ridiculous scene of images of the United States Capitol and Westminster Palace where politicians debate phantoms. The ghostly trick effects of superimpositions and stop-substitutions had been introduced to cinema by the likes of Georges Méliès in the 19th century, but they remain charming here, and the multiple-exposure shots for Donat's dual appearances in two-shots are effective. The combination of scenes staged for the film and what appears to be documentary ticker-tape parade footage also works. Another nice trick has the apparition appearing in a mirror, and there's some good moving camerawork even when the spectre is unseen, but which simulates his presence effectively. Slight, but haunting hilarity.
Occupants of the Scottish castle, the father and son of the Glourie clan die on the same day, leaving the younger in a state of limbo, cursed to haunt the castle as a ghost under the guidance of his father's voice until he can avenge the family honor he disgraced in life at the hands of a rival clan. 200-odd years later, the last of the Glourie line (Robert Donat, also as the ghost, in dual roles), to settle his debts, sells the castle to a rich American family, for whom, he also has affections for the daughter, of course. The castle, ghost included, is, then, transported across the Atlantic to Florida, where the spirit is exploited to advertise the Americans' business. Fortunately, frog-voiced Eugene Pallette, one of classic Hollywood's finest comic character actors, plays the American family's patriarch. One of the best gags is when Pallette claims an African-American jazz band playing jazz as real Scots music. Among the decent cast, Elsa Lanchester (whose husband Charles Laughton would appear in the similar "The Canterville Ghost" (1944)) has a minor amusing part as a psychic party guest, although had Clair been more dynamic in his cutting to closer views, I suspect her comedic talents would've been more apparent here.
Otherwise, the sound is creaky, but the soundtrack overall can't help but be effective with Pallette's voice in the forefront. There's also an amusingly-ridiculous scene of images of the United States Capitol and Westminster Palace where politicians debate phantoms. The ghostly trick effects of superimpositions and stop-substitutions had been introduced to cinema by the likes of Georges Méliès in the 19th century, but they remain charming here, and the multiple-exposure shots for Donat's dual appearances in two-shots are effective. The combination of scenes staged for the film and what appears to be documentary ticker-tape parade footage also works. Another nice trick has the apparition appearing in a mirror, and there's some good moving camerawork even when the spectre is unseen, but which simulates his presence effectively. Slight, but haunting hilarity.