Blithe Spirit

source: Blithe Spirit

Trailer—Blithe Spirit

Blithe Spirit

This is the second of three collaborations in film done in the mid 1940's between David Lean as a Director and playwright Noel Coward including This Happy Breed and Brief Encounter. This is an early film in Lean's directorial career who would of course go on to make such major films as Doctor Zhivago, The Bridge on the River Kwai and A Passage to India. Coward produces and narrates this film as well. A great cast with Rex Harrison as a novelist, Constance Cummings as his second wife, Kay Hammond as his first wife and Margaret Rutherford as the medium Madame Arcadi. This is a fun fantasy/comedy/romantic story. I haven't seen this in years. I would give it an 8.0 of a scale of 10.

Has David Lean made a bad film? Not to my knowledge, no! This one is quite fun, I revisited the picture recently and even though I don't like it as much as the masterpiece Oliver Twist, Blithe Spirit is excellent fun for the whole family. The acting is tremendous, it's mindblowing. Although the dialogue is rather upper class, I quite enjoy it. Margaret Rutherford as Madame Arcati is the star of the film, perfect, perfect and perfect. The direction is sublime as usual by Lean. There's plenty to enjoy here, a nice film for everyone.

A couple is haunted by the spirit of the man's deceased first wife. Coward adapted his own play for the screen with the help of Lean and Neame. This was Neame's last credit as cinematographer before becoming a director. This was the third of Lean's first four films as director where he worked with Coward. It is an enjoyable farce with witty dialog, but never quite rises above the silliness of the subject matter (ghosts). Harrison and Cummings are fine as the couple, with him becoming bemused and her becoming exasperated after the appearance of the ghost of his first wife, a green-faced Hammond. Rutherford seems to be having the most fun as an incompetent medium.

Noel Coward wrote this play whilst holidaying in Wales with Joyce Carey. Originally produced in 1941 at London's Piccadilly Theatre this screenplay follows closely the original dialogue and both Margaret Rutherford and Kay Hammond reprise their West-End roles. N.B. Rex Harrison never played Charles Condomine on stage and was criticised severely by Noel Coward for not having the required comic timing and being too 'straight'. However, the feeling of the original play comes over well, although the main change happens at the end where Charles also dies to join his wives. Margaret Rutherford is the real star here putting in a performance which was completely overlooked at the 'Oscars' which in those days American actors were normally the nominees. The role of Madame Arcati made her a star and 'Blithe Spirit' is now engraved on her tombstone. A fitting tribute to one of Britain's greatest comediennes.

I really enjoyed this film! My middle daughter is a big Margaret Rutherford fan and she really excelled in this. Constance Cummings was also brilliant in her part and I think it is sad that she did not excel in film afterwards for whatever reason. I only heard about this film a number of months ago and since buying it on DVD I have watched it a number of times and still enjoy it. Its a film from a "bygone" era so to speak as they really don't make films like these anymore. I would highly recommend this film and would have no hesitation in giving it a 10 out of 10!!

This film was shot using the original 3-negative Technicolor system. Sometime in the 50's/60's when TV was buying up old movies, the negs were called up from the vaults in Denham to make new prints, only then was it discovered that one entire set (the magenta ones) had gone missing. The re-issue prints were cobbled together extracting the magenta element of the picture using old prints and a sort of optical subtractive process. It was not wildly successful as anyone who watched the movie on TV in the 60's or bought the early VHS can attest. It has a sort of ethereal, greenish, washed-out look to it. I suspect the optical soundtrack master was also missing for the 1st 2 reels (22 mins) The current TV release (2007 on TCM) and the DVD is a perfect Technicolor print, so either the magenta negative has been unearthed or (more likely) the magic of digital wizardry has recreated the missing component.

Noel Coward wrote Blithe Spirit in 5 days during Britain's darkest days of the Second World War. The play completed 3 decades as Britain's longest run in West End for a comedic play. The film which was adapted from the play was directed by David Lean and incorporated some of the most sophisticated special effects yet seen in a movie. The film tackles some dark themes such as death and falling in and out of love. The characters themselves are on the face of it unsympathetic. Elvira is a siren, Ruth is shrewish and Charles a misogynist. Despite this the film works well as a comedy because of the quick and clever dialogue between the characters and the scene stealing performances of Margaret Rutherford's Madame Arcarti. You end laughing at and sometimes with the characters as one would do a Shakespeare comedy. Never has a film about death been so funny