Night Train To Murder

Night Train To Murder
DVD cover for Night Train to Murder
Directed by	Joseph McGrath
Produced by	Thames Television
Written by	Eric Morecambe Joseph McGrath
Starring	Eric Morecambe Ernie Wise
Distributed by	Thames Television
Release date(s)	1984
Running time	89 min.
Language	English

Night Train To Murder is a 1984 British comedy film directed by Joseph McGrath and starring Morecambe and Wise. It was the last work that Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise worked on together before Eric's death in 1984. It was written as a pastiche of the works of various writers including Agatha Christie and Edgar Wallace and is set in 1946, featuring Morecambe and Wise ostensibly 1940s versions of themselves.

The film is interesting in several ways; the duo's move from the BBC to Thames in 1978 was a much publicised media event, and one of the main reasons for their move was to make films and move away from the format of the Morecambe & Wise Show that had proved so popular in the last decade. It is ironic then, that it took six years (during which time they basically re-hashed a lot of their BBC material) for this film to come to fruition. It was completed in late 1983 but not shown until after Morecambe's death the following year. It was originally made with a laughter track but when shown, and later released on both VHS and DVD this was absent.

The film features an overly-complicated plot of family members dying in strange circumstances and the two leads are drawn into this when Eric's niece Kathy (Lysette Anthony) is visited by the family's lawyer, played by Fulton Mackay. There are several well-known character actors mixed into the story, but this does nothing for the creaking plot. As a swansong of a glorious career, it is a very disappointing affair, but as an historical document of the final work of Britain's greatest double act it remains valuable. The fact that their popularity had peaked during their ten-year tenure with the BBC as their "flagship act" had been over for several years is evident in this film. Their later work for Thames Television had been littered with material re-hashed from their BBC years, owing in part to the fact that their regular writer Eddie Braben had remained under contract and could not immediately follow them to Thames where they were to see out their days as a double act.

The film was made largely on location and produced on video tape, which in some cases does little to enhance the quality look of the finished product; it is clear that Morecambe's heart is not really in the production and despite having some reasonable lines, they are not delivered with the "spark" that he was associated with. Indeed, this is a hallmark of many of their later shows. Wise, on the other hand is still in the peak of health, and gives his usual brisk performance, but the act's energy was always attributed to Morecambe who at the time of making the film was in poor health. The closing moments of the film see Eric and Ernie walking off together, onto the next gig which is a quietly touching moment given that it was their final screen image together.

Rarely shown on television, the film remains on sale on both VHS and DVD formats.

Cast

• Eric Morecambe as Eric Morecambe
• Ernie Wise as Ernie Wise
• Margaret Courtenay as Dame Flora
• Kenneth Haigh as Cousin Milton / Cousin Homer
• Fulton Mackay as Mackay
• Pamela Salem as Cousin Zelda
• Lysette Anthony as Kathy Chalmers
• Roger Brierley as Chief Superintendent Rivers
• Edward Judd as Knife Thrower
• Ben Aris as Theatre Manager
• Tony Boncza as Joe
• Frank Coda ... Stage Manager
• Mike Crane ... Big Jim (as Big Mike Crane)
• Robert Longden ... Vicar
• Penny Meredith ... Mrs. Manzini
• Tim Stern ... Tiny Big Jim
• Richard Vernon as Uncle Felix

References

External links

• Morecambe & Wise website
• Eric And Ern - Keeping The Magic Alive **Book, Film, TV Reviews, Interviews**
• Night Train To Murder at the Internet Movie Database