The Ghost of Greville Lodge

There is a strange feel about this film, and as I watched it I thought more of L. P. Hartley and E. M. Forster. There is an aching love story at the heart of this film, and the love is there between two young men and one of the young men's sister. A lot is not made explicit, as if that love was more of a ghost in their lives than any outer occurrence. It is I believe the viewer's right to interpret film, because unlike a book a lot can be read in the actor's faces and their unspoken words and their gestures. It is not a great film, but it is a very good one marred slightly by the stupid fault of green leaves everywhere at Christmas and a slight feeling that the direction could have been slightly better. Prunella Scales says more in a glance than a thousand words and she is a great actress. But it is Billy Smith who steals the film, and he was perfect casting. I found George Cole to be the weakest element and the lead actor took a while to engage me. That said I think the film will last the years, and despite it being ostensibly a ghost story it is the lasting memory of a lost love which really haunts the film. It is well worth watching, more than once for the nuances, and fortunately in the UK the indispensable Talking Pictures Channel has it in its repertoire. Watch it if you can and like ghosts it depends very much on subjective interpretation.