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Blithe Spirit
1945 Comedy / Fantasy
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Credits
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Director: David Lean
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Script: Noel Coward
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Photo: Ronald Neame
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Music: Richard Addinsell
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Cast: Rex Harrison (Charles Condomine),
Constance Cummings (Ruth Condomine),
Kay Hammond (Elvira Condomine),
Margaret Rutherford (Madame Arcati),
Hugh Wakefield (Dr. George Bradman),
Joyce Carey (Violet Bradman),
Jacqueline Clarke (Edith),
Marie Ault (Cook),
Noel Coward (Narrator)
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Country: UK
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Language: English
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Runtime: 96 min
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Aka: Noel Coward's 'Blithe Spirit'
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Summary
To gather material for his next book, writer Charles Condomine invites a local mystic,
Madame Arcati, to hold a séance at his house, in the presence of his wife Ruth
and two guests. Sceptical of Arcati’s powers, Charles is surprised when the image
of his dead wife Elvira appears before him. Apparently, the dead woman has returned
to him, against her will, and can only be seen by him. Convinced that Elvira intends
to murder him so that she has someone to harangue for eternity, Charles appeals to Madame
Arcati to send her back to where she came…
Review
The only film comedy from David Lean, one of England’s greatest filmmakers, is this "spirited"
adaptation of a popular stage play by Noel Coward. Lean and Coward collaborated
on three other films: In Which We Serve (1942),
This Happy Breed (1944) and Brief
Encounter (1945), all classics of British cinema. Blithe
Spirit is something of an oddity, an eccentric drawing room farce which was hugely
successful in its day but whose appeal has waned considerably since. Whilst the
film is attractively shot, in Technicolor, its special effects were pretty basic even
for its time and now look positively prehistoric. The photography and overall visual
design are far less inspired than in Lean’s later films, suggesting a director who wasn’t
overly enthusiastic about the project. Coward himself was far from impressed
with the result.
The film relies too heavily on its author’s brilliant (albeit dated) scripted dialogue
and, if any thing, feels under-directed. It’s staged more as a conventional
theatrical production than a piece of cinema. With a lesser cast, this would probably
have been fatal, but what prevents the film from falling flat is its glorious ensemble
of talented actors. Rex Harrison relishes his lines and is perfectly cast as the
aloof, totally unflappable writer (Coward in all but name). As Harrison’s ghostly
former wife, Kay Hammond comes close to earning a special place in madhouse, and again
she makes the sour upper middle class repartee sparkle, in spite of being covered from
head to toe in unflattering green makeup.
The thing that sells the film however
is none of the above. There is one other ingredient which makes it a real treasure,
something to be relished and savoured, earning a place in any self-respecting film enthusiast’s
DVD collection. That ingredient is of none other than Margaret Rutherford, that
indefatigable dowager of British eccentricity in its fullest bloom. In every
one of her screen appearances, the great, unsurpassed Margaret erupts from the screen
like a juggernaut in full throttle, knocking a kindly Wagnerian force into even the most
trite piece of comedy. Here, as the ludicrously inept medium Madame Arcati, she
is simply magnificent. If there was just one reason for watching Blithe
Spirit, it is simply to enjoy seeing Margaret Rutherford doing what she does best
– bringing down the house, with the effortless grace and demonic power of a battalion
of manically possessed bulldozers. Heaven.
© James Travers 2007
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