''The Ghost Train'' (german: Der Geisterzug) is a 1927 German-British
crime comedy
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
film directed by
Géza von Bolváry and starring
Guy Newall
Guy Newall (25 May 1885 – 25 February 1937) was a British actor, screenwriter and film director. He was born on the Isle of Wight on 25 May 1885. He began his film career by acting in the 1915 film '' The Heart of Sister Ann''. In 1920 he dire ...
, Ilse Bois and
Louis Ralph
Louis Ralph (born Ludwig Josef Musik; 17 August 1878 – September 1952) was an Austrian film actor and director.
He was born Ludwig Musik in Graz, Styria, Austria-Hungary (now Austria), and died in Berlin at age 68.
Selected filmography
* ''D ...
.
BFI.org
/ref> It is an adaptation of Arnold Ridley
William Arnold Ridley, OBE (7 January 1896 – 12 March 1984) was an English playwright and actor, earlier in his career known for writing the play '' The Ghost Train'' and later in life in the British TV sitcom ''Dad's Army'' (1968–1977) as ...
's play '' The Ghost Train''. The film was a co-production between Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...
and Phoebus Film and was shot at the latter's Staaken Studios in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
. The film was released in France as ''Le Train Fantome''.
Some sources have reported over the years that the film was directed by famed Hungarian director Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz ( ; born Manó Kaminer; since 1905 Mihály Kertész; hu, Kertész Mihály; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed cla ...
but, according to critic Troy Howarth, "he's not credited on the prints, nor is the title attributed to him in any reputable source".
The story was filmed again (with sound) in 1931.
Plot
Some strange supernatural phenomenon starts to occur in a railway station, leading members of the public to avoid the place. It turns out some criminals are faking the strange events to keep people away from the station to protect their smuggling operations.
Cast
References
Bibliography
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External links
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1927 films
1920s ghost films
Films of the Weimar Republic
British crime comedy films
British silent feature films
German crime comedy films
1920s crime comedy films
Films directed by Géza von Bolváry
1920s German-language films
1920s English-language films
British films based on plays
Films set in England
Rail transport films
Gainsborough Pictures films
Phoebus Film films
Films produced by Arnold Pressburger
Films shot at Staaken Studios
German silent feature films
British black-and-white films
German black-and-white films
1927 comedy films
Silent crime comedy films
1920s multilingual films
1920s British films
Silent horror films
1920s German films
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