In the early 1700’s, General “Jumbo” Burlap (Robert Morley) and Colonel H. “Bulldog” Kelsoe (Felix Aylmer) are soldiers in Queen Anne’s army. After they retire, they purchase a townhouse on Berkeley Square in London. The two decide to give a housewarming party and invite an array of titled people and fellow soldiers. In conversation concerning the war the two former soldiers learn that the Duke of Marlborough has battle plans that they believe will result in extended war. Jumbo and Bulldog believe that the duke must be stopped. To do this they plan on kidnapping him and keeping him captive. Instead, the two end up killing themselves which prevents a scheduled visit from Queen Anne. They are then court-martialed in absentia.
Now that they are ghosts the men receive a book of rules and regulations concerning their place in the afterlife. The book tells them that they must remain in the house until it is visited by a member of reining royalty. At that time, that would be Queen Anne. Lady Mary (Martita Hunt) visits the now empty house with the idea of purchasing it. Jumbo and Bulldog know that Lady Mary and Queen Anne hate each other so, knowing that Anne will never visit if Mary is the owner of the house, they scare her away. This labels the house as haunted, and no one is interested in living in a haunted house.
Some fifteen years later, the next tenant is Madame Millie (Yvonne Arnaud) who turns the house into a gambling and prostitution establishment. Things go along fine for a while and the ghosts join in enjoying the activities. Now the reigning monarch is a king. Madame Millie knows the king and expects that a visit from him is forthcoming. Unfortunately, the ghosts cause a riot in the house, Madame Millie and her girls are arrested, and the king doesn’t show. The house is once again empty until it is bought by a circus owner, T.B. Farnum. Once again, the ghosts cause problems.
Over the years others come and go. The house is sold and resold to different people and used for various purposes. Kings and queens come and go throughout history. Every time royalty is expected, something happens that prevents the royal visit. Jumbo and Bulldog begin to lose faith that they will ever be able to break the curse and ascend to heaven.
“The Ghosts of Berkeley Square” was released in 1947 and was directed by Vernon Sewell. It is a British comedy fantasy film. The film was based on the book “No Nightingales” by Caryl Brahms and S.J. Simon.
The movie contains lots of racist tropes, including Robert Morley in brownface. It is a rather dated film that I found wasn’t all that funny or interesting. It does have a lot of really good British character actors, but the story wasn’t up to par with the acting.
It is a fanciful tale using a supposedly real-life haunted house as a backdrop. The real townhouse in question, 50 Berkeley Square, is reported to be the most haunted house in London. Although the movie has a couple ghosts in it, it is far from scary.