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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable, despite technical inadequacies., 17 May 2008
Alas! If this old charmer has been on your "once seen never forgotten' list, and you hope that remastering will bring it to you in improved quality, then you'll be disappointed. I didn't expect anything could be done to improve the stagey, static camera work, but I had hoped for improvement in the sound track. Ah, well, if you can get past these inadequacies, there is much to enjoy. It has an engaging story-line with similarities to Oscar Wilde's "The Canterville Ghost". René Clair, Alexander Korda and Mischa Spoliansky contribute in various ways, and Robert Donat in kilts, sporrans, ghillies, cloaks and broached berets makes a credible Scot and an endearing, re-locating ghost.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the greatest films of all time!, 23 July 2000
By A Customer
Robert Donat is in fine form in this classic comedy about a displaced ghost trying to keep ownership of his family's castle from straying to rivals of his clan.The humour is quick witted and stylish, the acting first rate and the premise fantastic! As they say - they don't make them like this anymore!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ghost for Sale, 22 Oct 2009
Like so many Alexander Korda productions, The Ghost Goes West (rather appropriately retitled Ghost for Sale in France) is one of those curious films that never makes nearly enough of its premise or potential yet still somehow comes out the other end as rather likeable. Its plot, with Robert Donat cursed to haunt a Scottish castle through the centuries until he can prove to the head of a rival clan that he is no coward only to find himself Stateside when brash American Eugene Pallette transports the castle stone by stone across the Atlantic offers fertile ground for culture clashes (both national and generational) and romantic misunderstandings as the millionaire's daughter mistakes the ghost for the current louche laird. Yet as a romantic comedy fantasy, there's not much romance, few laughs and little fantasy while even less is made of the culture clash until the last couple of reels. Not that there aren't inspired moments: Donat's creditors acting as servants at a meal where he's trying to sell the castle, keeping a running tab as they go, or a great gag with the orchestra Pallette hires to play "traditional Scotch music" at his party. Not nearly as much anarchic fun as Clair's later I Married a Witch, it's easy to see its influence on Neil Jordan's misfired High Spirits some five decades later along with the similar flaws that keep it from reaching its full potential. The result is a slight pleasure rather than a genuine classic, which didn't stop it being a huge UK hit in 1935 (the biggest of its year, in fact) but may account for the way it seemed to disappear from circulation for years. Certainly the print quality and sound recording haven't fared well over the years, though Network's UK DVD is probably as good a copy as you're likely to see and does include a PDF of the original screenplay.
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