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DVD Description
From stalwart Ealing director Basil Dearden (The Blue Lamp, Pool of London) comes this enjoyable yet creepy wartime tale of a group of strangers driven to rake shelter at a remote Welsh inn during a storm. What they don’t know is that the inn was bombed by a German plane a year ago and their hosts were killed in the blast. Starring Mervyn Johns (A Christmas Carol) and real-life daughter Glynis Jones (Mary Poppins), The Halfway House was written by Anghus Mcphail (Whiskey Galore!, It Always Rains on Sunday), Diana Morgan (Went The Day Well?, Pink String and Sealing Wax) and T.E.B. Clarke (Passport to Pimlico, The Titfield Thunderbolt) from the stage play by Dennis Ogden.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
68 of 69 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A wonderful, magical film imbued with all the atmosphere typical of the period. Superb performances and story backed with peerless cinematography (that jack Cardiff would have been proud of) and atmospheric music.
During the latter part of the second world war, a group of disparate travellers end up at a remote Welsh Inn that was supposedly blown up and subsequently burnt down by a stray German raider. Yet, the pub still stands and its host and his daughter, played by real life father and daughter, Mervyn and Glynis Johns, are still there. The whole place has an other worldly feel and all of the troubles that the customers bring with them are confronted by the ghostly proprietors. Odd things are noticed by the travellers - the hosts cast no shadows and the newspapers and radio broadcasts are all a year out of date.
This is nothing short of superb and ranks alongside the very best of the war's cinematic output and remains one of my favourite films of all time.
During the latter part of the second world war, a group of disparate travellers end up at a remote Welsh Inn that was supposedly blown up and subsequently burnt down by a stray German raider. Yet, the pub still stands and its host and his daughter, played by real life father and daughter, Mervyn and Glynis Johns, are still there. The whole place has an other worldly feel and all of the troubles that the customers bring with them are confronted by the ghostly proprietors. Odd things are noticed by the travellers - the hosts cast no shadows and the newspapers and radio broadcasts are all a year out of date.
This is nothing short of superb and ranks alongside the very best of the war's cinematic output and remains one of my favourite films of all time.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This film was made as morale boosting propaganda during WWII, along with films like 'Went the Day Well?', 'The Day will Come' etcetera. If pushed I would say that this was my favourite of the bunch. We are presented with a set of characters alienated from the struggle against Germany by circumstances - loss of a son, a sea captain wrongly blamed for abandoning his ship, a citizen of the Irish republic. Their gradual reengagement in the war effort is nicley tied in with a mild ghost story, introduced so gradually and gently that it does more in the line of adding atmosphere than powering the plot, but none the worse for that.
It is basically the redemption theme found in 'A Christmas Carol', 'The Singing Detective' etcetera, but applied to the wartime situation. Highly recommended - the sort of film you can watch repeatedly because atmosphere is as important as plot.
It is basically the redemption theme found in 'A Christmas Carol', 'The Singing Detective' etcetera, but applied to the wartime situation. Highly recommended - the sort of film you can watch repeatedly because atmosphere is as important as plot.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a pleasant Ealing whimsy set in wartime deepest Wales. The war is not far away but people's troubles are the focus. A handful of strangers turn up at a pub in June 1943, the `Halfway House', for a short break. We know the pub was bombed flat a year before and would not be there at all were this not a mysterious time-shift story of a kind seen previously in J.B.Priestley's plays. The hotel register's entry for 20 June 1942 is followed by the one for 21 June 1943. The publican (played by Mervyn Johns) appears from nowhere while his daughter (Glynis Johns) casts no shadow. The guests include a famous orchestral conductor who is dying (Esmond Knight, whose near blindness from injuries got in HMS Prince of Wales' fight with the Bismarck in 1941 in undetectable). Among others are an amusingly discordant couple with their scheming teenage daughter, a cashiered army officer ( Guy Middleton), and a merchant navy captain and his spiritualist wife. It's undeniable to the guests that something curious is happening when the 9 o'clock news on the wireless tells them "Tobruk has fallen", exactly a year out of date. It's not long before we hear a bomber and machine gun fire and see an incendiary bomb. Past events are repeating themselves. The hosts, who should know about these things, have been gently telling the guests they can take charge of their futures in all essentials, and, anyway, eternity is not too bad when you get there. Watch - and re-watch.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
good but not great
A good film but not a great one, I bought it expecting it to be a lot better than it actually was.
Published 27 days ago by goatboy
The Good Older Films
The DVD has not been viewed yet because like another DVD I purchased, its for a pressy for my husbands birthday in May. Read more
Published 1 month ago by jean
The Halfway House...An Ealing classic.
I had not heard of this film before but I am a keen fan of Ealing films. I was looking through and came across this film & read the reviews & brought it. I am so glad I did! Read more
Published 3 months ago by G. K. Ellis
Lacks internal logic
Made in 1943 and released in 1944 (in february, before D-Day), this film bears close comparison to "Thunder Rock" (1942). Read more
Published 3 months ago by J. Rottweiller Swinburne
The half way house
This film is a compelling ghost story that has a message still relevant to today, to live life to the full and not to let things bog you down also that it is never too late to make... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Frank John
Excellent WW2 Ealing.
While this film has been consigned as some sort of DEAD OF NIGHT also-ran for a long time, THE HALFWAY HOUSE now in what is a pretty damn fine
DVD transfer shows itself as a... Read more
DVD transfer shows itself as a... Read more
Published 3 months ago by P. Edwards
A classic!
I recall seeing this film only once before, many years ago on TV, so was delighted to find it available on DVD. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Steve
The Halfway House
For you good people who love a forgotten gem, this ones for you! I personally found it a great ghost story and I think you would enjoy it as well!!!!
Published 4 months ago by Richard Ekstedt
Halfway House Very Rare
[...] This site was the very first to give this what was a very rare film a real boost to show all those out there the locations as they are today. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. Cw Corway
The Halfway House
My daughter and I watched this film on tv several years ago, and really loved it.I have been looking for it ever since then,but had forgotten the title. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mrs. S. L. Pooley
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