The Ghoul

Directed by: T Hayes Hunter

The Ghoul is a 1933 British Horror film starring Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke, Ernest Thesiger and Ralph Richardson, whose debut film this was. The plot centres around a Professor (Karloff) who is to be buried with an Egyptian jewel in order to attain eternal life. When the jewel is stolen by his servant, the professor rises from the dead to reclaim it. The film, based on the play and novel by Dr. Frank King and Leonard J. Hines, was once considered to be a lost film since the original nitrate negative had succumbed to decomposition and no prints of the film were known to exist. However, an incomplete and partly decomposed Czech release print was discovered which was the only available print for several decades. Then, finally, an excellent quality print was discovered in the archives of the British Film Institute. *****NOTE ABOUT COPYRIGHT STATUS OF THIS WORK***** This version is the Czech print. This item was public domain in the US due to the ommission of a copyright notice and failure to fulfill other copyright formalities. The item remains in the US public domain due to it's public domain status under UK law at the relevant date of GATT/URAA (1 January 1996) rendering it ineligible for restoration of copyright. Transitional terms of UK Copyright legislation stipulate that the copyright term for this film continues to be calculated under the terms of the 1911 UK Copyright Act. This film was released in the UK in 1933. Under the terms of the law at the time, Cinematograph Films were protected as a series of "Photographs" with a term of 50 years copyright from the date of publication, a "sound recording" with a copyright term of 50 years from recording or publication and a dramatic work of collective authorship with a copyright term of 50 calendar years from the death of the first deceased principal author or the passing of the actual calendar year of the death of the last surviving principal author. The first principle author to die was director T Hayes Hunter (1884-1944). All other principle authors died within 50 years of T Hayes Hunter. As such, under UK Copyright law the film entered the public domain at midnight on 31 December 1994.