Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Ricardo Daly The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Delight Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

JohnHowardReid Never theatrically released and never broadcast in the U.S.A. U.K. release through Gaumont British: February-March 1935. Australian release through Gaumont British: 26 June 1935. 75 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A new lighthouse keeper has to contend with wreckers, zombies, superstitious locals, a pushy girl and a mysterious yet overly persistent "reporter".COMMENT: Binnie Hale's performance may be a bit over the top so far as theatricality goes - as some critics have complained - but you must admit she's a most fetching heroine just the same. And she isn't in the movie all that much anyway. Gordon Harker has the star part, and a sterling job he makes of it, delivering his sharp Cockney lines with his usual witty relish and amusingly expletive exasperation. Yet he can be seriously practical when the going gets rough. It's a tailor-made role which will delight his fans. The fine support cast includes Herbert Lomas (a "must" for this sort of spooky affair), Donald Calthrop, Milton Rosmer, many others, and last and certainly least Ian Hunter - though even he is bearable.A lighthouse of course is an ideal setting for murder, mystery and mayhem. Director Powell not only makes the most of his setting, but he has done more. The background not only becomes an integral part of the action, not only an atmospheric adjunct, but a fascinating vista in itself. Powell's eye for the pictorial effectiveness of his real locations and the dramatic possibilities of real people employed as background extras, is constantly apparent. In fact it's not going too far to say that the movie is often semi-documentary in approach, effectively anticipating this 20th Century-Fox style of the middle and late 40s. Aided by superlative camerawork, The Phantom Light is a most entertaining comedy-chiller, limited only by a few obvious budgetary constraints during its action climax

MartinHafer "The Phantom Light" is a pretty ordinary British thriller. It starts off very slowly but the second half works very well and the film was quite interesting. The story involves a supposed phantom lighthouse. However, this might NOT be a case of the supernatural but someone with more devious motives. After all, a false lighthouse light MIGHT prove beneficial if you want to make an insurance claim. So, disguised like ordinary folks, Ian Hunter (working for the Royal Navy) and the rather annoying Binnie Hale (working for Scotland Yard) row out to the old lighthouse. The problem is that IF someone there is involved in some conspiracy, which one of the people working at the lighthouse is responsible and how do they force ships onto the rocks? If this film had been made in the States, I might think it was a B-movie--a relatively cheaply made film made as a second film in a double-feature. This isn't necessarily a complaint--more just a comment about the style of film--breezy and entertaining though not especially deep or fancy. Worth seeing as a time-passer.

morrison-dylan-fan After being extremely enchanted by the brilliant films that I have seen of Michael Powells highly acclaimed work with Errnest Pressburger,I was thrilled to find out that one of the few surviving films that Michael Powell made before joining forces with Pressburger,had come out on DVD in France.Using Google to check that the DVD had an English soundtrack,I began to really look forward,at seeing how Michael Powell was,in his early,solo work. Whilst I feel that the films pre-..."And Then There Were None" style lighthouse-mystery plot was done in a much stronger way,in the surprisingly thrilling 1942 film Back Room Boy,the early, energetic,directing and editing from Michael Powell and D.N. Twist always the films small settings a good amount of energy.The plot:Discovering that a secret attack is being planned for a cargo ship,undercover Police Officer David Owen,decides that he has to do everything possible to get aboard a near by lighthouse,which is meant to help guide the ships to the near by shore.When Owen arrives to a small village in Wales to meet the new main leader of the lighthouse crew (Sam Higgins),he is stupidly told by Higgins that he is banned from ever setting foot on the lighthouse,due to Higgins suspecting that Owen is trying to hide something (which,unknowingly to Higgins,is that he is an undercover cop)Feeling terrified at the risk of the ship being attacked,Owen is surprised,when a woman called Alice Bright offers him the chance to come along with her to the lighthouse,on her boat.When they have eventually get onto the lighthouse,Bright and Owen find out that Higgins is now scared half to death,due to his crew disappearing into thin air one by one.Whilst Higgins believes that this is being caused by a ghost on the lighthouse,Owen and Bright suspect that it is someone who wants to make sure that the oncoming cargo ship disappears,into the ocean forever. View on the film: Although it takes a bit too much time for the mystery side of the movie's plot to really kick in,Michael Powell and editor D.N. Twist give the film a very snap pace,which most film makers would have struggled to build into the films gradual mystery.Whilst his directing is not as smooth and elegant as it would be in his later work,the rough edges to Michael Powell's very early style,actually helps the film massively,with the use of jump-cuts by Powell and Twist allowing a eerie sense of terror to enter the film,as each person on the lighthouse starts to fear that they will be the next one to "disappear".As well as the movie having a fun performance from Gordon Harker as the crusty old sea dog Sam Higgins,and Binnie Hale putting some extra excitement into the film as Alice Bright,who whilst fighting back in a very entertaining way,is also able to wear a very a head of its time short short skirt.Along with his fast-paced directing and fun cast,Powell also uses some brilliant real locations for the film,with the first half of the film showing a small country side area of Wales,and the second half of the film having a great claustrophobic fearful feel,with Michael Powell cleverly using a real lighthouse for each of his characters to disappear from,one by one. Final view on the film: A slightly disappointing slow screenplay is saved by some terrific locations,a fun cast and interestingly rough-edged speedy directing,from the great Michael Powell.

tedg Superficially, this is just another of the many British comedy/dramas from the era. It has a characteristic manner: a fellow with a humorous take on life, a pretty girl, some intrigue and danger.What sets this apart are two things. The first is the setting in Wales, or more precisely among the Welsh. Its an odd sort or layering for me since I think the 30's era English are as different, strange, quaint to me as the Welsh are shown here from the English. The language is emphasized in the setup, first half of the movie. They surely are depicted as alien. At the end, there's a clear balance between evil Welsh and noble ones that come to the rescue. The chief villain of course, the ringmaster, is English of course. That Imperial undercurrent!The second interesting thing is that the action, about 3/5s of the movie, takes place in an actual lighthouse, most at night. What an amazing challenge this must have been; there are no studio shots that I could discern. Its a small, curved structure with no opportunity to anchor the frame against a wall. There's lots of movement across different levels, as there must be, and some clever (from a staging point of view) movement from inside to outside. I suppose the director made up much of how this appears as he went along.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.