While filling in for injured supersleuth Bulldog Drummond (Atholl Fleming), world-class cricket player Jack Pennington (Jack Hulbert) attempts to foil a criminal mastermind’s (Ralph Richardson) impending heist that’s targeting a valuable jewel necklace held within the British Museum. This comedic 1930s mystery features daring rescues, intense fistfights and an exciting edge-of-your seat finale aboard a runaway train.
British director Walter Forde started his show-business career on the stage of the music halls of northern England. He entered the film business as a screenwriter but became an actor in 1920, in a series of two-reel comedies he wrote himself. He spent some time in Hollywood, but not much happened and he came back to Britain in 1925. He went to work for Gainsborough and began directing. The studio was impressed with the results, and began to hand him its “A”-list projects. Several of his films, such as The Ghost Train (1931) and Der Würger kommt um Mitternacht (1931), were well received by critics. He worked in a variety of genres, most comedies, but he turned out the occasional thriller or mystery. His star began to wane during the war years, and his post-war films didn’t live up to his pre-war ones. He made his last film in 1949. He died in 1987 at age 84 in Los Angeles, California. —IMDb
Yeah, I know--it isn't very good. You're right, of course. But, I'll bet you can't stop watching it. It sucks out all our sophistication, pats us on the back and says "welcome, relax and take a seat." Then somebody turns off the lights, an old carbon arc projector starts up with a whirr and light floods the screen . . . you're a goner.