The Ghost of St Michael’s **** (1941, Will Hay, Claude Hulbert, Felix Aylmer, Raymond Huntley) – Classic Movie Review 8392

Director Marcel Varnel’s 1941 vintage British black and white comedy thriller The Ghost of St Michael’s stars Will Hay again as a tatty teacher called William Lamb involved with spies once more. Hay takes on comedian Claude Hulbert as his new sidekick and they returned together for My Learned Friend two years later.

This time Hay is evacuated with his daft pupils (Charles Hawtrey among them as mischievous know-all schoolboy Percy Thorne) to a grim school in Scotland, where they investigate a ‘haunted’ castle inhabited by a bagpipe-playing ‘ghost’, who is really a Nazi secret agent.

[Spoiler alert] Heads start to roll as headmasters Dr Winter (Felix Aylmer) and Mr Humphries (Raymond Huntley) meet untimely deaths and Hilary Tisdaile (Claude Hulbert) is appointed in their place.

Will Hay stars in The Ghost of St Michael’s (1941).

Hay is on top form in this consistently entertaining movie, and he is backed up by a funny script that owes something to The Ghost Train, and by a smashing cast, including especially the treasurable Hulbert, Aylmer and Huntley, who make up for the regrettable absence of Hay’s regular stooges Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt, dumped after Where’s That Fire? (1939). Admittedly, there may be plenty of daft, mickey-taking material here in this Ealing Studios comical ghost story to make serious-minded Scots very offended.

Also in the cast are Elliott Mason, Hay Petrie, Roddy Hughes, Manning Whiley, Derek Blomfield, Brefni O’Rorke, Charles Mortimer, Clive Baxter, John Laurie, David Keir, Ben Williams, Bryan Herbert, Lawrence Hanray, Gerald Campion and Jack May.

The original story and screenplay are by Angus MacPhail and John Dighton.

The Ghost of St Michael’s is directed by Marcel Varnel, runs 82 minutes, is made by Ealing Studios, is released by Associated British Film Distributors (1941) (UK), is written by Angus MacPhail (original story and screenplay) and John Dighton (original story and screenplay), is shot in black and white by Derek Williams, is produced by Michael Balcon (producer) and Basil Dearden (associate producer), is scored by Ernest Irving and is designed by Wilfrid Shingleton.

St Michael’s also crops up in the 1938 Convict 99 as the school Will Hay’s Dr Twist is dismissed from his job as headmaster.

Hay came to fame with his theatrical sketch as a jocular schoolmaster, known as Doctor Muffin. His schoolmaster sketch acts became known as The Fourth Form at St Michael’s.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8392

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