Growing up in England during the seventies meant three television channels – BBC1, BBC2 and Southern (in the days when independent TV was very regionalised).
Saturdays meant two of those three precious channels were taken up with sports. BBC1 hosted Grandstand whilst on Southern it was World of Sport. Both comprised of several hours of wrestling, horse racing, football, motor racing etc. I guess it wasn't all so corporate big money back in those days!
All this meant that BBC, for me, not being a sports fan, was the go-to place and usually Saturday afternoon meant a film.
It was here that I discovered my love of the Ealing comedies, of Laurel and Hardy, of Gene Kelly musicals, of Powell and Pressburger.
My favourite films though, were the ones that had a bit of the supernatural about them. I just loved ghosts. Not scary ones but romantic, comedy, spine-tingling ghosts.
To celebrate the upcoming publication of my next novel HIGH SPIRITS, I'm going to take you on a tour of my favourite ghostly films from those lazy Saturday afternoons.
Today, it's The Ghosts of Berkeley Square
For me, this is the one that most inspired the ideas behind High Spirit.
Starring Robert Morely as General 'Jumbo' Burlap and Felix Aylmer as Colonel 'Bulldog' Kelsoe, in this 1947 whimsical comedy about two 18th century officers who end up killing themselves after an elaborate plan to capture the Duke of Marlborough (and stop a war) goes terribly wrong.
Incurring the wrath of Queen Anne, the two hapless ghosts are condemned to haunt the house in Berkeley Square until a monarch crosses the threshold.
Both, naturally, blame each other for the whole thing and for many years refused to speak to each other. Realising that the only way to break the curse is to get another monarch to visit, they resolve their quarrel and set about hatching a plan.
Over the decades the house changes use and occupants including a French bordello, home to a harem, a theatre, a hospital and an officers' club.
Finally, when the house is bombed during an air raid, Queen Mary visits the damaged property and the two ghosts are released to take their place in the afterlife.
I think what I loved about this film was the affection that the two characters had for each other. Despite spending 66 years not speaking, it was clear that they couldn't be without each other even if they do communicate by writing notes!
The Madam who runs the bordello is aware of her guests and is not afraid of them and they have a ball with the girls and playing cards.
With each new tenant the unfortunate pair believe that a royal visit will happen and each time it is the ghosts themselves that cause the problem. The pair bicker and fall out, try and scare off newcomers and, every now and then they materialise to mingle with the tenants – such as the men in the Officer's Club (until they get rumbled). This ghostly Odd Couple play for laughs as they watch the times change in their old home whilst manipulating the lives of the tenants to get a Royal Visit.
The Ghosts of Berkeley Square is a film of its time so, rather sadly there is casual racism and a lot of jingoism.
Excerpts from High Spirits:
Page 27-28
'Through the quiet of the evening, Billy did his rounds, checked that all the doors and windows were secure, that nothing was inside that shouldn’t be, and read his paper. The occasional noise reached his ears – a tap, a knock, a thump, and he shook his head and smiled to himself. Some nights the noises were louder and more frequent, and he thought that maybe there was another spat going on.'
Page 107-108
Seventy-odd years had elapsed since that momentous night when Alec and Jean had lost their lives, and for them, the time had passed slowly. A minute was still sixty seconds and sixty minutes still formed an hour. They witnessed the sun rise and set and the summer pass to autumn and onto winter and into spring - the eternal rhythms of the world. For them, however, it was like the slow ticking of a clock in an empty room, and sometimes it felt as loud. They could ‘see’ the world as it came to them, although the tones were muted, like an old photograph. They could ‘hear’ the excited chatter of schoolchildren who visited on an almost daily basis with their harassed helpers and dog-eared workbooks. They could even ‘smell’ the accumulation of time and arrested decay in the stores or the ‘perfume’ of old books as the paper, ink and glue broke down. Nevertheless, they were completely alone.
Page 58-59
“Well, well, well, old boy. This is going to be interesting.”
“I hope he has a good word to say about me. He was a right little so and so when he was a boy.”
“I wouldn’t know. I never met him!”
“You didn’t miss much!”
“Come on, let’s go and enjoy the character assignation.”
“If we must.”
“Do I have too?”
“Yes, you can come and hear what Alec was really like!”
“I’ve always been charming, Pol, don’t you listen to her!”
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