The Ghost Goes West Review: Silly, bagpipe-filled 1930s fun

If you have got an hour and a half to spare on a quiet Sunday, The Ghost Goes West is a pretty fun watch. It is perfect for anyone who loves old-fashioned British comedies with silly ghosts, but if you want actual horror or fast pacing, you will probably hate it. 🏰

The whole setup is wonderfully ridiculous. A wealthy American businessman buys a haunted Scottish castle, packs it up brick by brick, and moves the whole thing to Florida.

Robert Donat plays both the broke castle owner and his ghostly ancestor, Murdoch Glourie. He does this funny thing with his eyes where he looks constantly confused by the modern world, which made me chuckle a few times.

There is a scene where the ghost first appears on the ocean liner during the trip to America. The way the passengers react is so weirdly calm, like they just saw a slightly odd tourist instead of a literal spirit. 🚢

The movie does not take itself seriously at all, which is its saving grace. It reminds me a bit of the lightheartedness in Sadie Goes to Heaven, though this one has way more bagpipes.

Some of the jokes about Americans being loud and obsessed with money feel a bit repeated. Eugene Pallette plays the American millionaire, and he basically just yells most of his lines.

Still, his raspy voice is always kind of comforting to hear. I found myself smiling whenever he started arguing about plumbing.

I noticed a background extra in the castle reconstruction scene who looks like he has absolutely no idea how to hold a hammer. He just taps a wooden beam for like three seconds and then walks off frame. 😂

It gets a little slow in the middle when they focus too much on the romance. I kind of just wanted to get back to the ghost floating around and causing mild trouble.

It is a silly, harmless piece of 1930s fantasy. You probably won't remember much of it next week, but it leaves a warm feeling.