The Phantom Light

Last updated

The Phantom Light
"The Phantom Light" (1935).jpg
Directed by Michael Powell
Written by
Based onthe play The Haunted Light
by Evadne Price and Joan Roy Byford
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Roy Kellino
Edited by Derek Twist
Music by Charles Williams
Production
company
Distributed by Gaumont British Distributors
Release date
  • 5 August 1935 (1935-08-05)
Running time
76 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguagesEnglish, Welsh

The Phantom Light is a 1935 British crime film, a low-budget "quota quickie" [1] directed by Michael Powell and starring Binnie Hale, Gordon Harker, Donald Calthrop, Milton Rosmer and Ian Hunter. [2] The screenplay concerns criminals who try to scare a new chief lighthouse keeper on the Welsh coast, in an attempt to distract him from their scheme.

Contents

Plot

Sam Higgins alights at the train station for the Welsh village of Tan-Y-Bwlch to take over the North Stack lighthouse, which is believed by the locals to be haunted. There, he meets Alice Bright. She asks him to take her along to the lighthouse, explaining that she belongs to a "psychic society" and wants to investigate the "legend of the phantom lighthouse". He turns her down.

Sam reports to Harbour Master David Owen, who informs him that Jack Davis, Sam's predecessor, "just disappeared", as did the chief lighthouse keeper before him. Owen confirms there was a major shipwreck a year ago, caused, so he believes, by the phantom light. Jim Pearce tries to bribe Sam to take him to the lighthouse; Sam guesses he is a reporter. Alice later overhears Jim ask about hiring a boat, so she tries her charms on him, but again fails.

When Owen, Dr. Carey and others take Sam by boat to the lighthouse, Carey examines Tom Evans, a mentally disturbed member of the resident staff. Evans tries to strangle the doctor, who decides he cannot be moved in his present state, to Sam's discomfort. Just to be safe, Sam ties Tom up. Sam's remaining assistants are Claff Owen (David's brother and Tom's uncle) and Bob Peters.

Then Jim shows up on a boat that is conveniently out of petrol. To Jim's surprise, he has a stowaway: Alice. Sam starts questioning his unwanted guests. Alice now tells him she is "an actress hiding from the police" because two admirers fought over her with knives.

Strange things start occurring. First a fire breaks out near Tom's bed. Then, Sam overhears Jim plotting something with Alice and admitting he is not a reporter. He fears they may be communist saboteurs. Jim has Alice hang a radio aerial out the window of the bunk room, but Tom (whom Claff has untied) sees her do it and sneaks up behind her. He hears Jim returning, so he hastily retreats to his bunk. When Sam shows up, Jim tells him that he is a naval officer after wreckers out to sink the Mary Fern for the insurance, most of the shares being held by the locals. Then Alice informs him that she is a detective from Scotland Yard.

Jim starts to transmit a warning to the approaching ship, but Bob and Claff are rendered unconscious, the light is sabotaged, and a decoy light is turned on. After Jim sends Alice to fetch Sam, Tom knocks Jim out and disables his radio. When Alice and Sam return, Tom locks them all in. Jim, however, climbs down the side of the lighthouse and swims to the village to alert the coast guard. Claff wakes up and unlocks the door, allowing Sam to set about repairing the light. They overhear Carey talking to Tom and learn that the doctor is the mastermind. The Mary Fern is saved just in time. Then, trapped at the top of the lighthouse, Carey decides to jump.

Cast

Production

The opening scenes were filmed at Tan y Bwlch station on the Festiniog Railway. [3] The station is actually 7.5 miles (12 km) from the coast. The station mistress was based on Bessie Jones, who lived in the station house with her husband at the time and who was famous for dressing up in authentic Welsh costume. However the character portrayed in the film bore little resemblance to Bessie Jones in real life.

Reception

Writing for The Spectator , Graham Greene described the film as "an exciting, simple story" and compared its plot to that of Wilfrid Wilson Gibson's poem Flannan Isle . Specific praise was given to actors Harker (for a "sure-fire Cockney performance") and Calthrop (whom Greene favourably compared to Charles Laughton). [4] In Beacons in the Dark, film historian Robyn Ludwig praises the "suspense-thriller tone... [in which] characters inhabit an isolated, claustrophobic space in which loyalty cannot be assured, and allies and enemies cannot be easily distinguished." [5]

Home media

The film has been released on Region 1 DVD by MPI along with Red Ensign (1934) and The Upturned Glass (1947).

The film has been released on Region 2 DVD by Opening in the "Les films de ma vie" series. The DVD has non-removable French subtitles for the original English soundtrack. A digitally restored version of the film has also been released by Network DVD in Region 2.

Related Research Articles

Horror of Fang Rock is the first serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 3 to 24 September 1977.

<i>Blackmail</i> (1929 film) 1929 film by Alfred Hitchcock

Blackmail is a 1929 British sound all-talking thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Anny Ondra, John Longden, and Cyril Ritchard. Based on the 1928 play of the same name by Charles Bennett, the film is about a London woman who is blackmailed after killing a man who tries to rape her.

<i>Nosferatu the Vampyre</i> 1979 film by Werner Herzog

Nosferatu the Vampyre is a 1979 horror film written and directed by Werner Herzog. It is set primarily in 19th-century Wismar, Germany and Transylvania, and was conceived as a stylistic remake of F. W. Murnau's 1922 German Dracula adaptation Nosferatu. The picture stars Klaus Kinski as Count Dracula, Isabelle Adjani as Lucy Harker, Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Harker, and French artist-writer Roland Topor as Renfield. There are two different versions of the film, one in which the actors speak English, and one in which they speak German.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Albertson</span> American actor (1909–1964)

Francis Healey Albertson was an American actor who had supporting roles in films such as It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and Psycho (1960).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tan-y-Bwlch railway station</span>

Tan-y-Bwlch railway station is the principal intermediate passenger station on the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway, which was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea. The station lies off the B4410 former turnpike road from Maentwrog to Llanfrothen and Beddgelert, which the railway crosses on a fine cast-iron skew bridge.

<i>Eye of the Needle</i> (film) 1981 film by Richard Marquand

Eye of the Needle is a 1981 British spy film directed by Richard Marquand and starring Donald Sutherland and Kate Nelligan. Written by Stanley Mann, it is based on the 1978 novel of the same title by Ken Follett.

<i>The Phantom</i> (serial) 1943 film by B. Reeves Eason

The Phantom is a 1943 15-chapter cliffhanger superhero serial, produced by Rudolph C. Flothow, directed B. Reeves Eason, and starring Tom Tyler in the title role. It is based on Lee Falk's comic strip The Phantom, first syndicated to newspapers in 1936 by King Features Syndicate. The serial also features Jeanne Bates as the Phantom's girlfriend Diana Palmer, and Ace the Wonder Dog as the Phantom's trusty German shepherd Devil.

<i>Rawhide</i> (1951 film) 1951 film by Henry Hathaway

Rawhide is a 1951 Western film produced by Twentieth Century-Fox. It was directed by Henry Hathaway and produced by Samuel G. Engel from a screenplay by Dudley Nichols. The music score was by Sol Kaplan and the song "A Rollin' Stone" by Lionel Newman. The cinematography was by Milton R. Krasner.

<i>Diamond Jim</i> 1935 film

Diamond Jim is a 1935 biographical film based on the published biography Diamond Jim Brady by Parker Morell. It follows the life of legendary entrepreneur James Buchanan Brady, including his romance with entertainer Lillian Russell, and stars Edward Arnold, Jean Arthur, Cesar Romero and Binnie Barnes.

<i>Rome Express</i> 1932 film

Rome Express is a 1932 British thriller film directed by Walter Forde and starring Esther Ralston and Conrad Veidt. Based on a story by Clifford Grey, with a screenplay by Sidney Gilliat, the film is a tale about a European express train to Rome carrying diverse characters, including thieves, adulterers, blackmail victims, and an American film star. The film won the American National Board of Review award for Best Foreign Film. Rome Express was remade as Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948).

<i>The Halfway House</i> 1944 film by Basil Dearden

The Halfway House is a 1944 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Mervyn Johns, his daughter Glynis Johns, Tom Walls and Françoise Rosay. The film tells the story of ten people who are drawn to stay in an old Welsh countryside inn. Location scenes were shot at Barlynch Priory on the Devon/Somerset border.

<i>Brothers</i> (2009 film) 2009 American film

Brothers is a 2009 American psychological drama war film directed by Jim Sheridan and written by David Benioff. A remake of the 2004 Danish film, it follows Captain Sam Cahill, a presumed-dead prisoner of the War in Afghanistan who deals with extreme PTSD while reintegrating into society following his release from captivity. The film also stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Cahill's brother and Natalie Portman as his wife. Both films take inspiration from Homer's epic poem the Odyssey.

<i>Red River Robin Hood</i> 1942 film by Lesley Selander

Red River Robin Hood is a 1942 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander with a screenplay by Bennett Cohen and starring Tim Holt. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milton Rosmer</span> British actor

Milton Rosmer was a British actor, film director and screenwriter. He made his screen debut in The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1915) and continued to act in theatre, film and television until 1956. In 1926 he directed his first film The Woman Juror and went on to direct another 16 films between 1926 and 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Lomas (actor)</span> English actor

Herbert Lomas was a British actor who appeared in more than forty films in a career lasting between 1931 and 1955. He was born in Burnley, Lancashire and made his first film appearance in an early sound version of Hobson's Choice (1931).

<i>Always Goodbye</i> (1938 film) 1938 film by Sidney Lanfield

Always Goodbye is a 1938 American romantic drama film directed by Sidney Lanfield and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Herbert Marshall, and Ian Hunter.

<i>The Light Between Oceans</i> (film) 2016 romantic drama film by Derek Cianfrance

The Light Between Oceans is a 2016 romantic drama film written and directed by Derek Cianfrance and based on the 2012 novel of the same name by M. L. Stedman. An international co-production between the United Kingdom, the United States, India and Canada, the film stars Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, Bryan Brown, and Jack Thompson. The film tells the story of a lighthouse keeper and his wife who rescue an infant girl adrift at sea and raise her as their own. Years later, the couple discover the child's true parentage and are faced with the consequences of their actions.

Phantom of the Plains is a 1945 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander starring Wild Bill Elliott in the role of Red Ryder and costarring as Little Beaver, actor (Bobby) Robert Blake. It was the ninth of twenty-three Red Ryder feature films that would be produced by Republic Pictures. The picture was shot on the studio’s back lot along with outdoor locations at Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

<i>Her Husbands Secret</i> 1925 film

Her Husband's Secret is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Antonio Moreno, Patsy Ruth Miller, and Ruth Clifford.

<i>The Star</i> (2017 film) 2017 American film

The Star is a 2017 American computer animated biblical comedy film co-produced by Sony Pictures Animation, Walden Media, Affirm Films, and The Jim Henson Company. The film was directed by Timothy Reckart, from a screenplay written by Carlos Kotkin, and a story by Kotkin and Simon Moore, based on an original concept by Tom Sheridan. Inspired by the Nativity of Jesus, the film stars the voices of Steven Yeun, Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Keegan-Michael Key, Kelly Clarkson, Patricia Heaton, Kristin Chenoweth, Tracy Morgan, Tyler Perry, and Oprah Winfrey.

References

  1. Dave Kehr (29 September 2008). "Early British Cinema". The New York Times .
  2. The Phantom Light at IMDb
  3. "Home". festrail.co.uk.
  4. Greene, Graham (12 July 1935). "St Petersburg/Paris Love Song/The Phantom Light". The Spectator . (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome . Oxford University Press. p.  7. ISBN   0192812866.)
  5. "Beacons in the Dark: Lighthouse Iconography in Wartime British Cinema"