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Little Gems - The Ghost Train by Arnold Ridley

This fantastic little black and white film was made in 1941. The original play "The Ghost Train" was actually written by Arnold Ridley who you may know better as Private Godfrey in Dad's Army. Hard to believe that old gentleman produced such great works of writing. Some scans of the original play are shown below:

The Ghost Train, Produced at the St. Martin's Theatre, West Street, Cambridge Circus, Westminster, London, England on the 23rd November 1925 was a huge hit which then moved to the USA where it did not fair as well.

The Ghost Train by Arnold Ridley - set stage locations for the above book

The Ghost Train play characters were:

The Ghost Train by Arnold Ridley - different copy for the American market.........................Cast Listing Copyright 1931

Photograph of the above cast for the play

The Ghost Train play characters above were:

It is interesting to note that the character Miss Bourne was played by Gladys Ffolliott on both sides of the pond. She starred in "The Ghost Train" as Miss Bourne on August 25th 1926 until October 1926 with a total of sixty one performances at the Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre. Sadly she died in 1928 and I am unsure about later performances or indeed who took over the role of Miss Bourne but it is strange that the play book above is copyright 1931 with her name still amongst the cast.

The Ghost Train Film Details

Arthur Askey, Richard Murdoch and Kathleen Harrison were the main stars of the film version although Saul Hodgkin as the station master played a great role in setting the atmosphere for the group. The story concerns a group of mismatched train passengers who end up getting stranded at lonely country railway station called Fal Vale. The next train to Truro is not for another nine hours and to make matters worse, the weather is terrible. They soon learn a local tale of mystery and fear concerning a phantom train that is sometimes heard and seen rushing down the track. The train carries the dead passengers, victims of a train crash that happened many years previously. One of the best lines in the film was by the station master:-

“Whatever it is, it never starts out at Truro, and it never runs into St. Anne’s. If it be a natural thing – where do it come from... where do it go?"

The story was filmed in several locations around Devon and Cornwall. I actually went looking for the real Liskear Station in Cornwall (my Grandmother lived in that neck of the woods for a short time) but discovered I needed to get another train and that it would be a long wait before it arrived - decided not to wait. Truro is about 35 miles West and a little South from Liskeard - both being in Cornwall.

Hope you like the material, seemed such a shame that very little is on the Internet concerning the film and it played such a large role in my growing up (not that I have quite managed yet). Comments, thoughts etc. to the usual address at the top of the page.

Characters

Tommy Gander	Teddy Deakin	Miss Bourne
R.G. Winthrop	Jackie Winthrop	Dr. Sterling
Edna	Herbert	Saul Hodgkin
Price	Julia Price	Ted Holmes
Ticket Inspector	Train conductor	Ghost Train Driver
Train Crew (start)	Polly the parrot	Original Ben Isaacs

The Ghost Train
	Main Page	The Story

Credits