Thark (1932)

Aldwych farce. Acting as legal guardian of Kitty Stratton, Sir Hector Benbow sells the titular country house to Mrs Frush - who then complains that it is haunted. Various investigators and occupants spend a night searching for the ghost.

Director:

Tom Walls

Writers:

Ben Travers (play), Ben Travers (screenplay)

Stars:

Tom Walls, Ralph Lynn, Mary Brough

Cast

Credited cast:
Tom Walls	...	Sir Hector Benbow
Ralph Lynn	...	Ronald Gamble
Mary Brough	...	Mrs. Todd
Robertson Hare	...	Hook
Claude Hulbert	...	Lionel Todd
Joan Brierley	...	Cherry Buck
Gordon James	...	Death
Evalyn Bostock	...	Kitty Stratton
Beryl de Querton	...	Lady Benbow
Marjorie Corbett	...	Warner
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Miles Malleson

Storyline

Aldwych farce. Acting as legal guardian of Kitty Stratton, Sir Hector Benbow sells the titular country house to Mrs Frush - who then complains that it is haunted. Various investigators and occupants spend a night searching for the ghost.

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Plot Keywords:

based on play | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 1932 (UK)

Filming Locations:

British and Dominions Studios, Elstree, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Herbert Wilcox Productions,British & Dominions Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Mikä yö! (1945)

User Reviews

What you might say when you see a ghost

Yes, THARK is an exclamation by a person who sees a ghost in this delightfully dippy haunted house comedy...and so you can easily see the risqué joke in the title. Today of course they just bellow F**CK. There were many haunted house comedies of this period generally between versions of the Cat And The Canary and right up to Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein or even Francis in a Haunted House. One of my favorite British scare comedies is The Haunted Lighthouse from about 1934. THARK (say it out loud) borrows also from The Cat Creeps, The Bat Whispers and any other films post 1927 lifted from plays about specters and weird butlers and stormy nights in a mansion, a burglary and perhaps a murder. See also THE PHANTOM OF CRESTWOOD. As far as rude movie titles go, it is a beauty and not bettered until THE AMAZING DR CLITTERHOUSE (clitoris) of the 40s. Hilarious!