Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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.

Neil-117 There's a nice undercurrent of comedy running through this otherwise standard mystery story. Set in a "haunted" lighthouse on the supposedly lonely Welsh coast, there seems to be a remarkable crowd of characters bumping into each other at every turn. The plot starts out promisingly with much talk of ghostly terror, but settles into a rather lame and predictable conclusion.The local Welsh villagers are mercilessly satirized as dim-witted, inbred provincials, in contrast with the smarty pants Londoners who've dropped in to sort out this here ghostly nonsense. An apparently nymphomanic young blonde with no relevance to the story other than removing various items of clothing as things progress, adds to the sly humour.There's lots of excellent location cinematography of craggy Welsh rocks and crashing waves to provide a suitably moody background. Taking all these elements together, I came away mildly entertained, although not mentally stimulated. Good late night fun.