Running time: 80 minutes
Language: English
William Porter, a hapless railway worker makes an honest mistake and empties the water tower onto the Minister of Transportation and his wife during the ceremony of introducing Class A4 locomotive to the railway. Such mistake would mean dismissal on the spot in most of the cases, but Porter instead is given a promotion. He is relative of the Minister’s wife and she insists that he is given a better job or he will move to live with them. Under pressure the manager of the railway agrees to give Porter a position as stationmaster in secluded town in Ireland. Porter sets out to Buggleskelly, but the locals he met on the bus warn him that the station is haunted by the ghost of One-Eye Joe and no one would come close the building during the night. When Porter finally arrives to Buggleskelly it is already dark and as he soon learns his deputy, Harbottle, is also afraid to walk after dark. Nevertheless Porter is keen to start his job in the morning, but the reality of Buggleskelly train station is far from his expectations - first of all the staff was not payed for months, so they begun to take the their wages from cargo boxes that travel through the station and to make things worse they were exchanging tickets for food, which means there are a lot angry people, who demand refund...
Classic Will Hay comedy set in the secluded Irish train station, where new stationmaster struggles to put the place on the map - even passing trains do not stop here anymore, the locals are angry, the staff doesn’t care anymore and even his superiors think his job is a joke. Will Hay’s comedies were mixture of gags and slapstick, not unlike other 1930s comedy, and in today standards could be considered outdated, but it is nice piece of entertainment, especially for the railway buffs.
Our rating
6.8
/ 10
Film value
7
/ 10
Train scenes
4
/ 5
Adventure
3
/ 5
Scenery
3
/ 5
Oh, Mr. Porter! |
Can you solve this mystery?
Can you solve this 50 years old unsolved case?