''The Phantom Light'' is a 1935 British

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

, a low-budget "

quota quickie The Cinematograph Films Act 1927 ( 17 & 18 Geo. 5. c. 29) was an act of the UK Parliament designed to stimulate the declining British film industry. It received royal assent on 22 December 1927 and came into force on 1 April 1928. Description T ...

" directed by

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company Powell and Pressburger, The Archers, they together wrote, produced ...

and starring

Binnie Hale Beatrice "Binnie" Mary Hale-Monro (22 May 1899 – 10 January 1984) was an English actress, singer and dancer. She was one of the most successful musical theatre stars in London in the 1920s and 1930s, able to sing leading roles in operetta ...

Gordon Harker William Gordon Harker (7 August 1885 – 2 March 1967) was an English stage and film actor. Harker was one of the sons of Sarah Elizabeth Harker, née Hall, (1856–1927), and Joseph Harker (1855–1927), a much admired set painter for the ...

Donald Calthrop Donald Esme Clayton Calthrop (11 April 1888 – 15 July 1940) was an English stage and film actor. Born in London, Calthrop was educated at St Paul's School and made his first stage appearance at eighteen years of age at the Comedy Theat ...

Milton Rosmer Milton Rosmer (4 November 1881 – 7 December 1971) was a British actor, film director and screenwriter. He made his screen debut in ''The Mystery of a Hansom Cab'' (1915) and continued to act in theatre, film and television until 1956. In ...

and Ian Hunter. The screenplay concerns criminals who try to scare a new chief

lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

on the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

coast, in an attempt to distract him from their scheme.

Plot

Sam Higgins alights at the train station for the Welsh village of Tan-Y-Bwlch to take over the North Stack

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

, which is believed by the locals to be haunted. There, he meets Alice Bright. She asks him to take her along to the lighthouse, explaining that she belongs to a "psychic society" and wants to investigate the "legend of the phantom lighthouse". He turns her down. Sam reports to Harbour Master David Owen, who informs him that Jack Davis, Sam's predecessor, "just disappeared", as did the chief lighthouse keeper before him. Owen confirms there was a major shipwreck a year ago, caused, so he believes, by the phantom light. Jim Pearce tries to bribe Sam to take him to the lighthouse; Sam guesses he is a reporter. Alice later overhears Jim ask about hiring a boat, so she tries her charms on him, but again fails. When Owen, Dr. Carey and others take Sam by boat to the lighthouse, the doctor examines Tom Evans, a mentally disturbed member of the resident staff. Evans tries to strangle the doctor, who decides he cannot be moved in his present state, to Sam's discomfort. Just to be safe, Sam ties Tom up. Sam's remaining assistants are Claff Owen (David's brother and Tom's uncle) and Bob Peters. Then Jim shows up on a boat that is conveniently out of petrol. To Jim's surprise, he has a stowaway: Alice. Sam starts questioning his unwanted guests. Alice now tells him she is "an actress hiding from the police" because two admirers fought over her with knives. Strange things start occurring. First a fire breaks out near Tom's bed. Then, Sam overhears Jim plotting something with Alice and admitting he is not a reporter. He fears they may be communist saboteurs. Jim has Alice hang a radio aerial out the window of the bunk room, but Tom (whom Claff has untied) sees her do it and sneaks up behind her. He hears Jim returning, so he hastily retreats to his bunk. When Sam shows up, Jim tells him that he is a naval officer after wreckers out to sink the ''Mary Fern'' for the insurance, most of the shares being held by the locals. Then Alice informs him that she is a detective from

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

. Jim starts to transmit a warning to the approaching ship, but Bob and Claff are rendered unconscious, the light is sabotaged, and a decoy light is turned on. After Jim sends Alice to fetch Sam, Tom knocks Jim out and disables his radio. When Alice and Sam return, Tom locks them all in. Jim, however, climbs down the side of the lighthouse and swims to the village to alert the coast guard. Claff wakes up and unlocks the door, allowing Sam to set about repairing the light. They overhear Dr. Carey talking to Tom and learn that the doctor is the mastermind. The ''Mary Fern'' is saved just in time. Then, trapped at the top of the lighthouse, the doctor decides to jump.

Cast

as Alice Bright *

as Sam Higgins *

as David Owen *

as Dr. Carey * Ian Hunter as Jim Pearce * Herbert Lomas as Claff Owen *

Reginald Tate Reginald Tate (13 December 1896 – 23 August 1955) was an English actor and a veteran of many roles on stage, in films and on television. He is remembered best as the first actor to play the television science-fiction character Professor ...

as Tom Evans *

Barry O'Neill Barry O'Neill is an Irish sports broadcaster, producer and a retired politician from County Donegal. Career He is a producer with ''Sunday Sport'' on RTÉ Radio 1. He regularly presents bulletins on RTÉ Radio 1 and RTÉ 2fm. He was electe ...

as Capt. Pearce *

Mickey Brantford Mickey Brantford (26 March 1911 – 18 October 1984) was an English actor and film production manager . Mickey Brantford was born Michael Richard Henry Comerford into a theatrical family, in London. He began his career in the silent film era as ...

as Bob Peters * Alice O'Day as Mrs. Owen *

Fewlass Llewellyn Fewlass Llewellyn (5 March 1886 – 16 June 1941) was an English actor, playwright and theatrical producer. Previously an engineer, he made his stage debut in 1890, and appeared in various film roles, often as authority figures. A play he co-wro ...

as Griffith Owen * Edgar K. Bruce as Sergt. Owen * Louie Emery as Station Mistress

Production

The opening scenes were filmed at Tan y Bwlch station on the

Festiniog Railway The Ffestiniog Railway () is a heritage railway based on Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia#Snowdonia National Park, Snowdonia National Park. The ...

. The station is actually from the coast. The station mistress was based on Bessie Jones, who lived in the station house with her husband at the time and who was famous for dressing up in authentic Welsh costume. However the character portrayed in the film bore little resemblance to Bessie Jones in real life.

Reception

Writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'',

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

described the film as "an exciting, simple story" and compared its plot to that of

Wilfrid Wilson Gibson Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (2 October 1878 – 26 May 1962) was a British Georgian poet, who was associated with World War I but continued publishing poetry into the 1940s and 1950s. Early work Gibson was born in Hexham, Northumberland. His parents ...

's poem ''

Flannan Isle "Flannan Isle" is an English language poem by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, first published in 1912. It refers to a mysterious incident that occurred on the Flannan Isles in 1900, when three lighthouse-keepers disappeared without explanation. Text Th ...

''. Specific praise was given to actors Harker (for a "sure-fire Cockney performance") and Calthrop (whom Greene favourably compared to

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (; 1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British and American actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play wi ...

). In ''Beacons in the Dark'', film historian Robyn Ludwig praises the "suspense-thriller tone...

n which N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

characters inhabit an isolated, claustrophobic space in which loyalty cannot be assured, and allies and enemies cannot be easily distinguished.""Beacons in the Dark: Lighthouse Iconography in Wartime British Cinema"
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Home media

The film has been released on Region 1 DVD by

MPI MPI or Mpi may refer to: Science and technology Biology and medicine * Magnetic particle imaging, a tomographic technique * Myocardial perfusion imaging, a medical procedure that illustrates heart function * Mannose phosphate isomerase, an enzyme ...

along with ''

Red Ensign The Red Ensign or Red Duster is the civil ensign of the United Kingdom. It is one of the British ensigns, and it is used either plain or defacement (flag), defaced with either a Glossary of vexillology#Flag elements, badge or a Glossary of v ...

'' (1934) and ''

The Upturned Glass ''The Upturned Glass'' is a 1947 British film noir psychological thriller directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring James Mason, Rosamund John and Pamela Kellino. The screenplay concerns a leading brain surgeon who murders a woman he believ ...

'' (1947). The film has been released on Region 2 DVD by Opening in the "Les films de ma vie" series. The DVD has non-removable French subtitles for the original English soundtrack. A digitally restored version of the film has also been released by Network DVD in Region 2.

References

External links

* *
Reviews and articles
at th
Powell & Pressburger Pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phantom Light British black-and-white films British crime thriller films British mystery films 1930s English-language films British films based on plays Films by Powell and Pressburger Films directed by Michael Powell Films set in Wales Quota quickies Films set in lighthouses 1930s British films Films scored by Charles Williams (composer)