ghosts

[loppylugs 8,429]

123.  Maybe our foreman back at the EMEB had it right when he would say of someone, "If Ee worra ghost Ee wouldn't give yer a fright."  

[Chulla 4,946]

 

One of the most prolific British screen actors of the 1940s was James Mason, with his lovely voice. I still think he was our greatest screen actor before he went to America. In the late war years and the early post-war period he played roles that cast him as 'Mr Nasty'. If he wasn't thrashing good-looking women with his riding-crop, he was crashing the piano keyboard lid down on their fingers as they were playing. To the misogynists he must have been a hero.

   This film, however, is completely different, and in it he has been aged - so not this time the dashing heart-throb devoid of gentlemanly manners. It is a ghost story, hence I have put it in this thread and not in a film thread. He is joined by Margaret Lockwood, who seemed to appear in every British film of that period, and Barbara Mullen. Remember her? She played Janet the housekeeper in all 191 episodes of Dr Finlay's Casebook between 1962 and 1971. And for once there is Denis Price not playing a smooth-talking cad.

   This is not a ghost film that will frighten you to death, or make Wolverhampton women go 'oo-er' (but it might at the end). I won't give the plot away but it is about a house that is haunted (or is it?) by a woman who died there 40 years previously. Strange things happen that cause the residents, none of which believe in ghosts, to think again. It has a slow first half but after that it gets interesting and ends rather like one of my ghost short stories, which in itself is interesting seeing that I have never seen the film before.

   One for carni, Margie, Crankypig and maybe loppy.  I'd be interested to hear what you think happened at the end.

[Jill Sparrow 10,305]

There's also the rarely seen, The Uninvited, starring Ray Milland or Reginald Truscott Jones, if you prefer. A very scary film which can still hold its own today.

[Chulla 4,946]

 

 

Sadly, the film is only on YT if you pay for it. This is a good review of it.

 

[Jill Sparrow 10,305]

It is based on Dorothy  McArdle's novel Uneasy Freehold which is a good read although probably now out of print. 

[MargieH 7,600]

7 hours ago, Chulla said:

 

   One for carni, Margie, Crankypig and maybe loppy.  I'd be interested to hear what you think happened at the end.

Just watched the film but couldn't get the sound loud enough to hear everything (the tennis was on TV!). She was obviously 'possessed' for a while by the dead Elizabeth, who met her beloved doctor at last (even though he was dead) and this was sufficient to let her now R.I.P.  Fairly interesting plot but I thought the acting was very stiff and too carefully 'staged'. However,this is true of many old films - it's what makes them charming in a way...  quite enjoyed it although didn't find it riveting.

Thanks for posting it, Chulla

[carni 10,094]

#127 Chulla, we have been out all day and just catching up on NS. Will look forward to watching the film, and let ya know what I think about the ending.

[Chulla 4,946]

 

Accepted by many film buffs as the most scary film ever made, I am not going to disagree with that. When I saw it my blood ran cold numerous times. This is not a film for those with a dicky ticker, and if you do watch it (you have to pay to watch on Youtube) then make sure you have been to the lav first! This is a typical scary scene.

[2mortar1 5]

my wife saw my Dad rise up from my back as l was fiddling with the television    , and he  then walked into the corner of the room and disappeared, and l completely believe what she says she saw...

[catfan 14,793]

This was one of my favourite ghost films based on a true story. The Enfield Haunting.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4036886/

 

Back in the junior school  days backing on to the school playground was this house & I  clearly remember this bloke sitting in the garden on a nice sunny day., I would have been about 9 years old at the time.

 

https://silentthrill.wordpress.com/tag/bilborough/

 

[Jill Sparrow 10,305]

I remember my auntie Emily talking about the Denewood Crescent ghost.

 

After their house in Garden Street was CPOd by the council, they were offered the tenancy of number 123 Beechdale Road, Bilborough. The house stood almost opposite the lower entrance to Denewood Crescent. All the neighbours were aware of the story as it was in the NEP and even some of the national papers.

 

Auntie Emily was quite accepting of ghosts. She often hinted at peculiar goings on at Garden Street which wouldn't surprise me because as a very young child, I also had an experience there which I've never forgotten.

 

After the passing of uncle George in 1969, Emily often mentioned that her mother visited each night. Annie had passed on in 1942 but according to her daughter, she turned up each evening with a smile.

 

All this talk put the wind up my mother, who attributed Annie's visits to the tot of Johnny Walker Auntie Emily quaffed at bedtime!

[mercurydancer 1,104]

I do battlefield and cemetery tours to eke out a little money. I do specialist tours to trace specific individuals and get them to a specific cemetery and if necessary at a specific time as the case may be. 

 

One cafe owner near me desperately wanted to go to her Great Grandfather's grave not far from Ypres in Belgium. She had told me before the journey that she had a customer in her cafe who could "see things" and described a soldier in WW1 uniform in the cafe. I never scoff at these things as I an old enough to know that strange things can happen. I dont scoff at the cafe either. 

 

The day came, a beautiful day in May, and we visited the grave. She had time for some private time and to put a photo on the grave. Although the graves are impeccably kept, I always do a bit of tidying. mostly to give the relatives time for a cry. At this time, I said, gently, and inaudibly, "Stand down now lad. "

 

Weeks passed and the lady approached me and said, "What does it mean? An officer told me to stand down?" I couldnt come out with a coherent sentence at the time for sheer astonishment, although I did later explain. I found that my words had given some comfort, but to whom, I have no idea.