Der Geisterzug

Michel Curtiz was rumored to have begun this late silent version of the Arnold Ridley standard and that might account for the change of tone between the atmospheric rain swept exteriors and the comic studio indoors material.

The film is spotted with striking images - the Felixtowe passengers scurrying across to the London connection, the station master slumped over the revolving bridge controls, a Guido Seeber style fantasy with multiple eyes. The camera is used inventively and the unfamiliar players inhabit stock types effectively. How this meshes with Bois transformed into Mary Poppins by her umbrella is questionable.

The film is a presentable enough entertainment but absence of the train sounds which make the climax commanding when played in a theatre undermines the work. The dream sequence flashing lights are no substitute.

The film's railway background, eccentric comedy and police intrigue show up here before they will become familiar in the British films of Hitchcock.