Well Deserved Praise

Not even bad in a good way

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Basically, a filmed stage-play of the Noel Coward 1941 classic. In high school, decades ago, I was involved in a production of this play and "The Man who Came to Dinner", as well as "Arsenic and Old Lace". Although not all written by Coward, all appeared on stage before they were filmed. Crisply filmed on Technicolor Nitrate Stock; impeccably restored as a joint UK-U.S. project, the film is literally transparent, and leaps off the HD screen. Charles' first wife Elvira is summoned from the spirit world 7 years after her untimely death. The green body makeup of Elvira (and later Ruth) is beautifully done. Look for the "goof" when the wind blows and Elvira's skin above the knee is not green. Minor camera tricks, such as Ruth running through Elvira as she is "perched" on the staircase, things levitating, doors opening and closing, cars taking off without a visible driver, are done sparingly and quite well. It is Margaret Rutherford's comic triumph, as the amusing and irascible "spiritual guide and good witch". Charles reacts strangely unaffected when his 2nd wife Ruth dies in a fatal car accident meant for Charles. SPOILER: Elvira and Ruth get the last laugh as they crash Charles's car into a wall and he joins them at the end. Noel Coward wrote a different ending wherein Charles drives off and leaves both ghosts trapped in the house forever. He was not happy, but it is a glorious finish, changed by David Lean. A great film which may be too slow or "stagy" for younger viewers, it retains the "acid wit" that was Noel Coward in all his 1940's "glory". Rex Harrison (Charles, the mystery writer) is a delight, as well.

Blithe Spirit is a great play. I also remember enjoying it on TV in the very old black and white days. As a fantasy in glorious technicolor, it actually loses something. I don't think that fantasies work that well in color. In this case, the color is an actual problemAs I get older and older And totter toward the tomb Movies ghosts in florescent green Fill my heart with morbid gloomRex Harrison usually played a comedic role Of an arrogant, entitled, self centered cad. In real life, Rex was all of this and much, much worse So now Rex's antics aren't funny. They are sad.Sure, Margaret Rutherford was funny, but she kept doing the same shtick for the rest of her career, so her antics were quite predictable. The green ghosts were bilious. Kay Hammond kept fluttering her arms in a way which was incongruous with her lines. It was painful to watch her. Rex Harrison was supposed to be a sympathetic character harassed by his ghostly wives, but he was annoying. Perhaps the reports that he was an absolute boor in real life colored my judgement.

This is a movie version of Noel Coward's play by the same name. Apparently Coward thought this film from David Lean was simply awful (actually, that's an understatement--see the IMDb trivia for what he actually said), but I enjoyed it nevertheless and don't know what upset him so. It seemed like all good fun.Charles (Rex Harrison) is married to Ruth (Constance Cummings). Seven years earlier, he'd been married to Elvira (Kay Hammond) but she died of pneumonia, so not surprisingly he remarried. However, when the wife invites a goofy psychic (Margaret Rutherford) to the house to have a séance with some friends, VERY unexpected things result. It seems that Charles' old dead wife has now somehow returned and no one other than Charles seems to think she's there. In fact, Ruth thinks he's crazy! But, when Elvira is able to throw things about the house, Ruth is finally convinced. At first, it's just an odd annoyance. However, when Elvira decides to kill Charles so that he can join her in the afterlife, things get VERY strange and unexpected consequences result. I'd say more, but it might spoil all the fun.The film is quite fun and the acting is nice. It's simple, silly fun--and perhaps Coward wanted more out of the film, but I think for me that's quite enough to make it worth seeing.

Blythe Spirit has been written about by so many viewers here that it would seem redundant to go in to its entire plot summary or the performances of the entire cast. I agree with most reviewers particularly about Margaret Rutherford's performance as the spiritual medium; Rex Harrison has never been one of my favorite performers but he has appeared to good effect in several of my favorite films such as Unfaithfully Yours, My Fair Lady, and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. He was probably the best thing about Cleopatra (1963). On the other hand if you can watch Harrison playing a man bent on driving his wife,(Doris Day)insane with a straight face (his shenanigans include a series of tape-recorded death-threats delivered in a sing-song semi-falsetto that are not to be missed for laughs) in Midnight Lace (1960), than you're stronger than me. In Harrison's defense,most of that film's problems are due to its script, but still... In Blythe Spirit,he is his usual irascible self, and he plays his part well. I would like to make a few comments about the performance of Kay Hammond as Elvira, Mr. Condimine's first (deceased) wife. To me, she is a revelation in this film. She's a knock-out: extremely funny, and timelessly warm. She manages to be ethereal and down-to-earth in her acting while playing the part of someone who possesses both of those qualities.There is a poignant aspect to Ms. Hammond's performance, a tender touch that is slightly heavier than the material calls for. If played by someone else this might have detracted from the humorous nature of the part; Ms.Hammond makes it work by blending it seamlessly within her characterization. One is genuinely touched by her interpretation and we can believe that she indeed pined away for her husband from the "other side". We can also see why Rex Harrison's character would have found her Elvira fascinating and lovable. Then there is the comic side of her performance which effortlessly finds its target and never misses a mark throughout. The emphasis she places on Noel Coward's dialog is letter perfect in its suggestive nuances and she employs a slight slur in her voice that is both whimsical and realistic at once. More than that, her indolent line- delivery using the same 'upper crust' British accent employed by the other main players turns it faintly trashy-sounding, as if in life she wouldn't be bothered to speak with perfect diction (her character would have found that tiresome.) She never uses a staccato or sharp tone; instead she lets the dry observations and criticisms flow from her mouth languidly; they sound pleasantly lilting even as the words are acerbic to the point of acidity! Listen to her murmur "The way that woman harps on bed", "to have me exorcised, of course", "really she's quite bad tempered, I can't see why you married her" or "Look at that awful picture and that terrifying dress". Note – all of these lines are directed towards the character of Ruth, the second Mrs. Condimine. I've never encountered this style of underplaying before which I suppose is what inspired me to write this review. I think Kay Hammond was wonderful! I wish she had appeared more frequently on film.