Synopsis
Old Mother Riley gets involved in a plot to steal an invention
1941 Directed by John Baxter
Old Mother Riley gets involved in a plot to steal an invention
John Baxter’s British comedy horror in which Mother Riley inherits a haunted castle and takes in a homeless inventor. Starring Arthur Lucan, Kitty McShane, John Stuart and John Laurie.
This entry in the Old Mother franchise, which is the 8th, concentrates on secret agents who use mystical shock tactics on the Irish charwoman (Arthur Lucan) while trying to steal an inventor’s notes.
Arthur Lucan gives an unconvincing performance in his role as the title character Old Mother Riley, the woman who shows no determination in terms of what to do with her character and the attempts to scare her spectacularly fail.
Elsewhere, Kitty McShane, John Stuart and John Laurie are all poor in their respective parts as Kitty, John Cartwright…
For the first thirty minutes or so Old Mother Riley's Ghosts is so dull and so little funny it hurts. After they arrive at the "haunted" castle things get slightly better, mainly because they're in a "haunted" castle and we get to see a couple of skeletons and a brief glimpse of a ghost. The only one of the lot even remotely funny is John Laurie as the crooked castle-keeper, the rest is idiotic and uninspired. I've obviously watched this because it was supposed to have something to do with horror, and I watched it even though I was pretty sure it didn't. To think that there are 16 more films featuring Mother Riley makes me shiver a bit, and to think that I'll have to watch Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (in due time) makes me shiver even more. Damn you Bela Lugosi.