I first saw Blithe Spirit a few years ago and was immediately taken with it. It’s a fun ghost story that is more comedy than scare. This movie was released in 1945 and stars Rex Harrison, Kay Hammond, Constance Cummings and Margaret Rutherford.
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Synopsis:
Mystery writer, Charles {Harrison} and his second wife, Ruth {Cummings}, invite mystic Madame Arcati {Rutherford} into their home to perform a seance. He intends to use this experience to help write his latest book. Instead, they unintentionally summon the ghost of his first wife, Elvira {Hammond}, back into their home.
The Players
Rex Harrison
The first time I watched this, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Harrison. He’s about 36/37 in this movie and I’m so used to seeing him in My Fair Lady when he’s about 20 years older. It was a treat to see one of his earlier movies.
Kay Hammond
First of all, I love the way they did her clothing and makeup to make her appear ghostly. She looks so great and you know that in 1945 they had to be creative to achieve this effect. Her costume, makeup and wig were florescent green and she wore bright red lipstick and nail polish. They also shined a special light on her to help her glow.
I also love her portayal of Elvira. She is so sassy and has great chemistry with Harrison.
Constance Cummings
This is my first time seeing Cummings and she does a great job as Ruth.
Margaret Rutherford
Rutherford is really fun to watch in her movies and this one is no exception. She’s eccentric and perfectly cast as Madame Arcati.
Background Trivia
The Play
The movie was adapted from Noel Coward’s successful play. Every studio wanted the rights, but he ended up taking it to his friend, David Lean. Coward ended up unhappy with the film and thought that Lean ruined the best thing he ever did. It was a box-office failure, but is now considered a classic.
Spoiler****
One of the things he was most upset about was the ending. In the play, it ends with Charles driving off after taunting his former wives. The movie takes things a step further and Charles dies and joins his wives as a spirit. I have a problem deciding whether I actually like the ending or not. It is certainly ironic and sort of brings things full circle, but on the other hand, him getting away would have been a much happier ending.
The Remake
In researching for this article, I discovered that a remake of the movie is coming out in February of 2021. I’m not usually a fan of remaking classic movies, but the trailer definitely intrigued me and I do want to see it. It stars Judi Dench as Madame Alcarti, Leslie Mann as Elvira, Isla Fisher as Ruth and Dan Stevens as Charles. It looks really fun and I’m interested to see what they will do with the ending! Will they follow the play or this movie or do something different?
What If…?
Cary Grant had played Charles?
They had used the original ending from the play?
If you like alternative history or biographical/historical fiction, I write that as well under the pen name Dottie Fray.
Great review! I love this film so much! It made me like Rex Harrison a little more than I used to (because don’t really like him in My Fair Lady lol). A lot of people associate David Lean to Lawrence of Arabia or The Bridge on the River Kwai, but I consider this one an essential as well. Concerning region 1 dvd of this film, well, it is actually part of the Criterion collection (so region 1) which is great. However, it is only available in the David Lean Directs Noel Coward box set. I think I’ll watch it again this weekend!
Ha yeah, I’ve contemplated that collection, but didn’t really want to shovel out nearly $60.. I’ve only seen this one movie out of that collection.. so it seems like a lot. I did think about it though! 🙂
I like Rex much better here too! In My Fair Lady, he’s really kind of a jerk for most of the movie!
I LOVE Margaret Rutherford! She’s delightful as her not at all accurate rendering of Miss Marple! I may have to rent this one, it looks like such fun. I’ve never been much of a Rex Harrison fan, but I don’t mind him in the 1940s so much.
I’m with you! I don’t really care for him that much in My Fair Lady… but I like him in this one! I actually just rewatched Miranda, which has Margaret Rutherford in it too and stars Glynis Johns as a mermaid! Have you seen that one? There’s also a sequel that I want to watch this week.
I actually have seen Miranda and its sequel! I can’t remember much about them, but they were very cute. It’s been several years since I last saw them. Glynis Johns was lovely and I think she was the main reason I watched them since I love her in Mary Poppins.
Both of these versions look like a lot of fun. I might make it a double-header one snowy weekend!