Castle in the Air

David Tomlinson - Earl of Locharne
Helen Cherry - Bess Trent
Margaret Rutherford - Miss Nicholson
Barbara Kelly - Mrs. Clodfelter Dunne
A.E. Matthews - Blair
Patricia Dainton - Ermyntrude
Ewan Roberts - Menzies
Brian Oulton - Phillips
Clive Morton - MacFee
Gordon Jackson - Hiker

Based on a play by Alan Melville, Castle in the Air was a lacklustre farce from reliable second-feature director Henry Cass. Despite a reasonably strong cast including a miscast and not-very-Scottish David Tomlinson and the ever dependable dotty Margaret Rutherford, the plot of Castle in the Air fails to bond its many strands into a coherent story and finale. Some elements of the film just feel tossed in, for example the family ghost, which despite breezing around the house has no major bearing on the story. Despite its failings, Castle in the Air is not without its charm and a minor addition to the pantheon of gentle British comedies.

The impoverished Earl of Locharne (David Tomlinson) is the overdrawn laird of Locharne Castle, the Scottish ancestral home with an overgrown moat, leaky plumbing, tradesmen calling with writs and bailiffs threatening to evict him.

The Earl shares the castle with butler Menzies (Ewan Roberts), genealogy expert Miss Nicholson (Margaret Rutherford), cook and maid Bess Trent (Helen Cherry), and lodgers Blair (A.E. Matthews), Mrs. Thompson (Esme Beringer) and Miss Miller (Winifred Willard). The castle is also inhabited by Ermyntrude (Patricia Dainton) – the family ghost!

The Earl must find capital to pay his creditors and HM taxes and his only hope appears to be Denver divorcee Mrs. Clodfelter Dunne (Barbara Kelly) who believes she may be a descendant of the Locharne’s and is interested in purchasing the castle. Simultaneously, Arthur Phillips from the National Coal Board visits with an interest in purchasing the property as a hostel to provide miner’s with recreation time – but the Earl is shocked to hear that the NCB intend to requisition the castle with the offer of slight compensation. The Earl’s outside chance of wealth is Miss Nicholson, who mistakenly believes he may be the rightful King of Scotland.

Mr Philips of the NCB and American Dunne move into the castle whilst both consider whether they wish to acquire the property; the Earl must dissuade Philips and convince him the castle is a ramshackle dump – whilst convincing Dunne that it’s the home of her dreams. Mrs Dunne decides to buy the castle, and before heading to Aberdeen to seal the deal with the Earl’s solicitors, she makes it known to Bess that both women may also be competing for Locharne’s love.

Having sold his residence the Earl books a slow boat to Cuba… for two!