Watch Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It For Free

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Memorable, crazy movie

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

This film, "Mail Train", is also known as "Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It". The Inspector (Gordon Harker) is a very talented but very serf-assured member of Scotland Yard. Through much of the film you doubt his competence (since he's so self-assured you can't but think he's a bumbler), but through the course of the film he proves himself to be a very capable and intelligent officer. He is assisted by Sergeant Bingham (Alastair Sim)--a more bumbling sidekick I cannot recall! The film begins with the two being assigned to a rather dull case involving tracking down missing supplies from the army--stuff that's gone missing and probably found its way to the black market. However, along the way the case diverges to a ring of so-called 'fifth columnists'--spies working for the Nazis. At this point in the film, Hornleigh uses his wits and through some good detective work is able to learn about an ingenious German method for smuggling information out of the country. About that time, bumbling Bingham is captured by the enemy and Hornleigh rises to the occasion--in a rousing ending to this exciting film."Mail Train" rather surprised me. At first, I wasn't all that impressed by the film but through the course of it, good writing, an excellent mystery and a nice blend of comedy (Sim) and action made this a very good WWII propaganda film. Very nice....I just hope I can find copies of the other two Hornleigh films Gordon Harker made.

The third and final film in the series, "Inspector Hornleigh Goes To It" (trade shown 4 March 1941 and generally released in the U.K. on 5 May 1941) is often described as not quite up to the standard of "On Holiday", but I thought it equally entertaining. True, the plot tends to side-step its noirish elements to concentrate on thrills rather than shivers, and Alastair Sim fans will be unhappy their hero doesn't figure in the great mail train climax (which starts with a flourish but actually finishes up rather lamely); but the support players, led by the lovely Phyllis Calvert in an unusual role as the heavy (which she handles with amazing skill) and the ever-reliable Raymond Huntley (whose suavity masks a heart of ice) more than make up for these little disappointments. It's also good to see competent character impersonators like Betty Jardine (Sims' girl), Percy Walsh (the crowing Blow), O. B. Clarence (the candidate Harker leans on), Bill Shine (the school porter who partners Harker in a delightful exchange), and Edward Chapman (an insistent patient who fastens himself on Sim) in such well-written roles that do full justice to their talents. The movie was again most skilfully directed by Walter Forde who made the most of both the comic and suspense elements in the Val Guest/Major "Joc" Orton screenplay (based on an original story by Frank Launder). For its American release, 20th Century-Fox altered the title to "Mail Train", an inappropriate change because the mail train only figures at the climax (and, as said, somewhat disappointingly brief the sequence is too).

Like the other films in the Hornleigh series this is breezy with a nice touch of humor. The plot has Hornleigh working for the British army to find out who has been pilfering army supplies. He finds this work beneath his talents and is glad to shift his interest to a case involving the radio transmission of messages by German spies in England. The radio transmission is sent from a different location each time and Hornleigh digs to finds out how they are doing it and who is behind it. The joy of the film is the teaming of Harker and Sim. A first rate team from British film history.

Having never seen the other 'Inspector Hornleigh' flicks I was unsure what to expect here, which sure made it all the more exciting. Harker was splendid as the droll Hornleigh but definite kudos go to Sim, his side-kick Bingham, who blunders his way through to heroics each time. The plot is your average war-spy-drama - who is sending the secret code to the Germans and how are they doing it? - but this is easily one of the better of the genre. It was also fascinating to see sweet little Phyllis Calvert playing an out-and-out bad girl. It's a shame she didn't get to play more of the same type of role!