WHISTLE AND I’LL COME TO YOU

Director:  Jonathan Miller

Starring: Michael Hordern

A curmudgeonly academic on holiday unwittingly summons a spirit.

Another excellent release liberated from the vaults of the BBC by the BFI, this forty-two minute 1968 Omnibus presentation, based on M R James’ wonderful story Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad, is as good a ghost story as has ever been filmed in the UK. Michael Hordern gives a tour de force performance as an eccentric professor, ably supported by Jonathan Miller’s Spartan direction. The eerie Norfolk settings are perfectly captured by Dick Bush’s stark black and white 16mm cinematography, here presented in an almost faultless new transfer. The mono 2.0 sound (at 192kbps) is perfectly serviceable. The disc comes with an introduction by novelist Ramsey Campbell, which sketches a brief history of James’ life and works (15m), and a reading of The Guide, his own short story inspired by James (26m). Both of these are poorly shot, and the sound is boomy and quickly wearing. More rewarding is an audio recording of James’ original story, read by Neil Brand (41m).