Night Train to Murder (1984)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Excellent but underrated film

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

There are those who say the comedy of Morecambe & Wise did not translate well to the big screen. People who know about this sort of thing tend to disagree. The 1983 romp "Night Train To Murder" was actually made for TV; it stars the guys as themselves, and is set in the aftermath of the Second World World. Eric's niece turns up out of the blue followed by a dodgy solicitor who tells her she is one of the heirs to a £10 million estate. That was when £10 million was worth £10 million! So off they all go to Scotland where someone doesn't want her or any of the other heirs to get their hands on the money.Forget about the silly plot, the gags come fast and furious, and not only from Eric. You may not understand the in-jokes, like the lawyer Mackay played by Fulton Mackay, but quite a few of Eric's jokes are near the knuckle.Does it have a happy ending? Sadly, Eric died the following year too young at just 58; Mackay three years later at 64. Ernie Wise lived to a reasonable age of 73, but their legacy will live forever.

Frankly, by the extremely humble standards of Thames TV, I don't think this TV movie is half as bad as everyone else does – particularly Morecambe and Wise, both of whom were somehow under the impression that they were making a theatrical feature. Frankly, you might well ask that with a money-wise, save-the-lights director like Joe McGrath on board, how could you possibly imagine you were making a theatrical feature? True, by the extremely bumble standards of TV, the movie has been lavishly produced and maybe this largess contributed to Morecambe and Wise's misunderstanding. It's also true that the screenplay could have been a whole lot wittier and punchier, but by the exceptionally low standards of TV, it's actually quite acceptable. And the movie does boast some stylish credit titles and some agreeable songs. And as for the script, I'm always a sucker for a Cat and the Canary spoof, and this one has some lively moments despite very obvious, hasty shooting. All told, it's a rather good effort by the exceptionally abysmal standards of British TV.

This was the last film of the wildly popular in Britain comic duo of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. Personally I'm not very familiar with them (having seen only one of their movies - "The Intelligence Men" - and none of their TV shows), so I was drawn to this film mainly because it is sold as a murder mystery spoof. The first 30 minutes or so are rather poor, and probably only the most dedicated Morecambe & Wise fans will get more than a couple of laughs out of them (when they adjust to the cheap shot-on-video look). But the film improves when the action moves to the old-dark-house-full-of-secret-passages Austin Hall for the reading of a will, where we also meet some good supporting characters like the sexy (and horny!) Pamela Salem and the butler with the echoing voice! The ending is a successful homage to / parody of those incredibly far-fetched and thus surprising climaxes often employed by mystery writers of the Agatha Christie school. First half gets a *1/2 out of 4, the second gets **1/2, so ** overall.

In 1977, Morecambe and Wise were at the top of their game. Their Christmas Show of that year was watched by a staggering 28 million people. They had become a national institution.So what made them quit the B.B.C.? Money? No, there was more to it than that. Thames Television had a feature film division - Euston Films - and Eric and Ernie, unhappy with their earlier big screen offerings, wanted a second bite of the celluloid cherry.The result was 'Night Train To Murder' which, astonishingly, was made on videotape. Set in 1946, it stars our heroes as two down on their luck entertainers. Catherine, Eric's niece, turns up at the theatre where they are performing. Hiding in the wings is a masked assassin...Sensing a chance to make some money, the lads appoint themselves her 'guardians'. Sinister lawyer Mackay goes with them to Scotland and here we get one of the film's few funny scenes as Eric and Ernie's Poker hands change each time their train enters a tunnel.At Austin Hall, they encounter a cast of likely victims/suspects, amongst them battle axe Lady Flora, Velda the vamp, a Lurch-style butler and Kenneth Haigh in a variety of roles. Before you can say 'Cluedo', bodies fall out of closets, windows fly open, lightning flashes across the sky, and rats scurry in the basement.On paper this all must have looked good. Alas, instead of being another 'The Cat And The Canary', it has more in common with Gene Wilder's 1986 turkey 'Haunted Honeymoon'. Eric and Ernie ( who co-wrote the script with director Joe McGrath ) made a mistake in trying a parody a genre exhausted through over parody. Everyone from The Two Ronnies to Frankie Howerd and Michael Palin has had a go at this subject matter at one time or another. With mostly greater success. Besides, Eric and Ernie were getting a bit long in the tooth by 1983; Eric in particular looks tired, which isn't surprising as he had recently undergone a heart operation.But what really sinks the film is Joe McGrath's inept direction. His misjudges the mood of every scene; the scary bits don't scare, the funny bits...well, work it out for yourself. Despite the odd amusing moment, this misfires on all levels. Eric thought so too; it wasn't screened until well after his death. It was only sympathy for the loss of a great comedian that stopped this from being torn to pieces by the critics and public.