User reviews

In his Hay-Day Will Hay seldom put a foot - or a tonsil – wrong, the Ghost Of St. Michael's was no exception, proving to be yet another classic. Set in a haunted castle on the Isle Of **** (in case Jerry wanted to know the direction to Skye) I've seen this so many times now that I find it sometimes hard to remember they were all really in Ealing's studios even though it was cheaply and simply made. Such is the power of auto-suggestion!

Because of the War an English boarding school is evacuated en masse to a castle in Scotland, of which the wild eyed porter John Laurie informs the scoffing new science master Hay and forward pupil Charles Hawtrey that it is haunted with the ghost of a phantom piper. Hay strikes up a friendship with fellow silly master Claude Hulbert, but doesn't impress the weird Head Felix Aylmer and incurs the derision of nasty senior master Raymond Huntley – which doesn't matter as these two don't last very long. So many favourite bits: the lesson in the draughty classroom on What Goes Up Must Come Down – with a disinterested Gerald Campion (the future TV Billy Bunter) sat behind Hawtrey – where Hay is taught a lesson; the dormitory feast where Hay gets tight on some jolly good lemonade to the delight of the boys; displaying his deep knowledge of gases to the boys in the science lesson; the denouement which could so easily have ended flat; but especially the delicious inquest in the barn, of which you must already know I'm going to say all I can say is Fiddlesticks!

In the decades before it got out onto DVD it was my most borrowed or copied tape by friends, which is why it's surprising to me that there have been so few commenters here so far. It's always been one of my favourites, a totally un-nasty un-cynical non-violent harmless old fashioned piece of fluff and a, no, the classic of its kind.

Will Hay is back as a hapless teacher, this time he is William Lamb, who is hired to teach on the remote Scottish Isle of Skye. Whilst there, Lamb is informed that the school is haunted by a legendary ghost and that with each sighting, and the sound of the eerie bagpipes, comes death to a member of staff.

This was Will Hay's second film for Ealing Studios and the significant leap in production quality from his Gainsborough Pictures works is very noticeable. Once again Marcel Varnel gives his tight and steady directing to a Hay picture, but the once golden team of Hay, Moffatt and Marriott had become no more. Feeling that as a trio they had gone as far as they could, Hay split the scene, leaving Moffatt and Marriott working at Gainsborough with the likes of Arthur Askey.

So in this first comedy for Ealing, Hay was effectively breaking in new comedy sidekick in the form of Claude Hulbert {Hulbert would make one other film with Hay, the darkly humorous My Learned Friend}, while Charles Hawtrey was making his third appearance of the four films he made with the erstwhile Hay. Tho the absence of Marriott and Moffatt is sorely felt, The Ghost Of St. Michael's stands up on its own two feet as a comedy of note. The writing from John Dighton and Angus MacPhail is lean and resplendent with comedic moments, whilst Ealing have really managed to capture that creepy comedy setting with John Croydon's production team on tip top form. Full of secret rooms and mysterious goings on, and even offering up a nice who done it finale, it's a film for all the family to enjoy. 8/10

I thoroughly enjoyed this Will Hay comedy, which successfully combines the school story and the requisite nod to wartime concerns with the spoof haunting theme that had featured in some of his most successful earlier work. The old team of Graham Moffat and Moore Marriott are here absent, but Hay is teamed very effectively with chinless Claude Hulbert and a young Charles Hawtrey as a precocious schoolboy. Hay's protagonist treads a skilfully effective line between annoying (we relish watching him get taken down a peg, rather than wincing) and sympathetic, while Hawtrey's gadfly-like persistence as a boy far brighter than his teachers is equally well judged, and Claude Hulbert makes ineffectuality likable.

The film has its share of broad comedy (watch for what Hay does with that piglet...) but often avoids obvious expectations, and is the funnier for it. The suspiciously Teutonic teacher is not, of course, what he seems; the ghost is, of course, not what it seems either; and the motivation which ultimately enlists the boys on the side of their erstwhile petty dictator is certainly not the type customary in school stories!

Overall "The Ghost of St Michael's" is a blend of guffaw-rich visual humour with accomplished misdirection to produce a very appropriate vehicle for its star. The beginning is a little hit and miss, but the film is still full of laugh-out-loud moments.

Many of the other reviewers here seem pretty well versed on the star and these kind of films, but I'm approaching both Hay and British comedies from this era in general as a newbie. Judging from the plot synopsis written here, I was expecting a merging of comedy with old dark house horror along the lines of HOLD THAT GHOST (made the same year in the States), but this is pretty much just a straight comedy that happens to take place in a spooky setting. During WWII, St. Michael's school for boys has to move to a more secure location - a large, gloomy, remote, rat-infested castle located in Isle of Skye in Scotland. Staff and students show up and get settled in, and uppity, bumbling, fast-talking teacher Will Lamb (Will Hay) is immediately assigned the position of science teacher despite being grossly incompetent to handle the position. Lamb is quickly befriended by a goofy colleague (Claude Hulbert) and, because of his unconventional approach and manner, manages to win over the boys in his class. But soon enough, multiple problems arise for our hapless hero. For starters, nasty teacher Mr. Humphries (Raymond Huntley), who seems a little overly eager to climb the professional ladder, tries to convince the school headmaster (Felix Aylmer) to fire him. Secondly, because of its sordid history, the creepy castle caretaker (John Laurie) seems dead certain that the castle is haunted by a malignant spirit. Third, several people end up getting killed, with the ominous "phantom pipes" (bagpipes) signaling each death. Who's responsible; a vengeful human or a centuries-old ghost?

One noticeable difference between this and concurrent comedies from the States is the presentation of Hay's character. You didn't too often see (in American movies from this period) an authority figure/bumbling hero who flagrantly lies, is incompetent in his line of work, drinks whiskey with a bunch of underage students and acts like he's going to haul off and slap or kick his pupils when they say something he doesn't like. Yet somehow, Hay manages to come off as utterly charming and likable. You can see why the pupils take a liking to him. The entire supporting cast; particularly Aylmer and Charles Hawtrey, as the brainy and outspoken student Percy, was excellent. As far as this functioning as a murder-mystery, it does a fairly good job of that as well. There's a lively finale making good use of trap doors and secret passageways. When the killer's identity is revealed it's also a genuine surprise. Though obviously a low-budget and set-bound production, it's fairly well staged and has a decent screenplay with plenty of amusing dialogue and good comic situations to put our heroes in. All in all, it's a pleasant and entertaining way to spend 78 minutes of your time.

Just a couple of points: the school is moved to Skye in the Hebrides, Scotland, NOT the Channel Islands.

Also, I would not say it is a take on The Ghost Train: that would be Oh Mr Porter, surely.

But certainly one of the most watchable of Will Hay's films.

It is amazing to see people like John Laurie, who went on to play Private Frazer in Dad's Army on TV, and, of course, Charles Hawtrey.

Did any of the other schoolboys go on to feature or star in other films?

Anybody know?

If you do, let us know

I like all of Will Hay's films, but apart from 'Oh, Mr Porter,' this is my favourite. It is jam packed with funny one-liners and comic situations and gives Hay full reign to play his seedy music hall schoolmaster. A wee gem of a film.

I'm giving this seven out of ten, back as a kid it would have been a ten but this time round, well, I suppose you know you're getting old when you find yourself sympathising with Will Hay's incompetent teacher, and rather hoping the obnoxious, snotty school kids get a slap; Charles Hawtrey's smart alec schoolboy in particular seems a nasty piece of work. Otherwise the absence of Moffatt and Marriott are keenly felt, because they allowed Hay to be both blustery incompetence but also sarcastic - here he doesn't get anyone to be sarcastic or superior to, so it's a relatively one-note performance. In his earlier roles you never knew if he'd be the fool or the sarcy one at any given time, it kept you on your toes.

Huntley and Laurie would appear in the war movie The Way Ahead of course. Personally I'm not sure the plot machinations of St Michael's stand up. Was it Huntley's ink on the forged suicide note? What gives? Still, the ending has a few surprises and some genuinely sinister moments.

Dithering teacher Will Hay gets a job at a Scottish castle where pupils have been evacuated to. The castle is said to be haunted and indeed teachers start to be bumped off.

Usual silly Hay and co nonsense which tends to grow on you as the film progresses and turns into a fairly fun comedy thriller. Hawtrey is annoying for the most part but the film gains some dignity from the presence of Huntley and Aylmer.

Hay was running short of ideas when this below-par comedy was released, and he appears to be harking back to earlier and better movies with this comedy set in a war-time boy's school that has been evacuated to a remote Scottish castle. Carry On regular Charles Hawtrey has a larger role than his billing suggests, and looks just like he has stepped out of the pages of The Beano.

I've just got this Will Hay film on video for the princely sum of 25p from a charity shop. (That's about 50c in US currency to all you American devotees). I'm on my way home to see this glorious film. Things like this are seldom shown on the telly. A great shame. I haven't seen it for years! I'm getting excited already! Then again, I'm easily pleased. Actually, I was quite surprised to see comments about Will Hay films from American fans. Although I shouldn't be surprised at all as most of his films are hilarious, although he did make a couple of duff ones. It's another great shame the Americans have such a stranglehold of British cinema as it stops the youngsters of today being exposed to this type of comic genius. If only I could now get hold of a copy of The Black Sheep Of Whitehall my collection of his best films would be complete, but alas they're like gold dust!

Will Hay was too old to serve in the armed forces during World War II, but he did his part to ease the tension in England with some comedy films until he retired in 1943. "The Ghost of St. Michael's" isn't his funniest movie, but it is a fair comedy mystery that just incidentally has to do with the war.

Again, the comical Hay takes to the classroom where he is a teacher of questionable credentials (and abilities). He plays Will Lamb. This was all shot in the Ealing Studios near London, but the setting is of a castle somewhere on the coast of Scotland. It has been converted to a school for boys (high school age) whose school has been closed during the bombing of London.

The funniest part of the film is the scene of a court being conducted in a barn. Animals keep coming and going to the consternation of the presiding judge. Ducks, pigs, a goat, a chicken and a cow all have cameo appearances. The best lines are from this scene. Here are my favorite lines.

Procurator Fiscal (played by Hay Petrie), "I put it to you, Mr. Lamb. Either you are grossly incompetent to teach chemistry, or you're making a puerile attempt to avoid an accusation of having caused the death of Mr. Humphries."

Procurator Fiscal, 'You couldn't possibly have known that I would say what I've just said." Will Lamb, "Listen, if you're trying to say that I wouldn't have said what I said I'd say, if you said what you said you would've said, well all I can say is fiddle sticks."

Will Hay was adored by British audiences who saw his seedy, doddering con man character as preferable to the brash American comics they were offered. However distribution patterns make it seems unlikely that his reputation will outlast those who grew up with it.

This is an excellent example of the cycle with the shift to Ealing providing production values - settings that are just a fraction removed from real, superior character actors and Hulbert and Hawtrey a fair swap from his old Moore Marriot and Graham Moffat sidekick team.

The film is spun off THE GHOST TRAIN with enough variation to get attention. Aylmer's school is moved to the Channel Islands during WW2 and finds itself in a castle reputedly haunted by a bagpipes blowing, homicidal phantom. Hay, doing his incompetent school teacher character, proves a hit with the boys and blunders into solving the mystery.

The film is short on the great gags you might find in a W.C. Fields movie of the kind which must have served as a model for these but the lead trio are endearing and the pacing sharp enough to keep attention. The set pieces, the police inquiry held in the local dairy at milking time and a pursuit through the castle's secret passages, are more than adequate.

Ealing comedy set in a boys boarding school located in an apparently haunted Scottish castle on the Isle of Skye. Two headmasters die in mysterious circumstances, is it murder or the work of an ancient ghost? I was looking forward to watching this, I had hoped for a good old spooky romp. Sadly there is very little of the supernatural, really just a creepy castle with a curse, which is well explained by John Laurie, whom I fondly remember from the BBC comedy "Dad's Army". Another familiar face to me in the cast was Charles Hawtrey, who appeared in many Carry On movies. Trouble is here he was a 26 year old playing a school boy, the rest of the "boys" look like they were in their 20's too. Like I have already said I wish the film had more spooky shenanigans and the humour did wear a little thin towards the end, so slightly disappointing for me, but still good fun.

Classic Ealing comedy, starring Will Hay. The staff and pupils of St Michael's public school are evacuated from England to a remote Scottish castle, said to be haunted by ghostly bagpipes which warn of an imminent death. Sure enough the pipes are heard - and the headmaster is found dead. As the pattern repeats itself for his successor, science master Hay, a colleague, and some of the pupils, try to get to the bottom of the mystery before the legend claims a third victim.

Hay still raises laughs, despite the whole thing being understandably dated. His friend and frequent collaborator Claude Hulbert co-stars as a fellow teacher. Veteran character actors Raymond Huntley and Felix Aylmer provide strong support, alongside John Laurie (Dad's Army), and a young Charles Hawtrey (Carry On films). Given that this was shot and takes place during wartime, the solution to the mystery won't come as any surprise; but it's enjoyable getting there. 7/10.

A personal favourite that few people today know in England, let alone America, where this will likely feel very strange and foreign indeed. Will Hay was a huge comedy star in Britain in the 1930s and 40s, usually playing sly, seedy and incompetent authority figures - most often a schoolteacher, as he does in this.

Evacuated from England to Scotland because of the Second World War, Hay and the boys take up residence in an old Scottish castle, where they encounter murders and strange, banshee-like noises in the night.

The film has a great spooky atmosphere for a comedy film, and the mystery is a good one, but it's mostly just very silly fun, and far-and-away Hay's best film, in my opinion.

This is the kind of thing that is given to a beaten people by the victor. It is an Anglo-Ssxon take on the spirituality of the Celt - a "comical" ghost story.

I have managed to sit through several Ealing films set in Scotland, but this is one of the worst offenders. It is a look at a foreign country, from another prrspective.

If you don't mind seeing a countryside taken over by another people, this is the film for you. It is a proto-Hollywoof look at Europe's oldest culture (without the benefit of modern hindsight).

Enjoy!