| Night Train to Murder | |
|---|---|
DVD cover for Night Train to Murder  | |
| Written by | Eric Morecambe Ernie Wise Joseph McGrath |
| Directed by | Joseph McGrath |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | 89 minutes |
| Production company | Thames Television |
| Distributor | FremantleMedia |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release | 3 January 1985 |
Night Train to Murder is a 1985 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 Morecambe's death in 1984 (the comedian being in poor health at the time of filming). 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 as 1940s versions of themselves.
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 previous decade. The film 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 It was originally made with a laughter track, but this was absent when broadcast, and again so when later released on both VHS and DVD.
The film features a 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. It was made largely on location, produced on videotape, and was originally broadcast on ITV on 3 January 1985. The closing moments of the film see Eric and Ernie walking off together, onto the next gig, making it their final screen image together.
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 as Stage Manager
- Mike Crane as Big Jim
- Robert Longden as Vicar
- Penny Meredith as Mrs. Manzini
- Tim Stern as 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 IMDb