Just perfect...

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

As Good As It Gets

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

There is exactly one reason to see this movie--and it's not because of the Noel Coward play or David Lean's direction. Margaret Rutherford, whom few movie goers are likely to remember, steals the movie completely out from under the rest of the cast with her performance as Madam Arcati, the medium who stirs up the spirit that transforms the life of the other characters. Margaret Rutherford was a splendid actress in her day, and this is a wonderful performance. This, I must say, is the least lively performance of "Blithe Spirit" I've ever seen, and David Lean's direction is hugely disappointing because it is so static. It displays none of the visual imagination that has earned Lean his rank among the greatest directors of all time. (He's also credited as one of the writers of the screenplay.) There is also some interest in seeing Rex Harrison when he was young and exceedingly handsome. But I can recommend only to people who've never seen Ms. Rutherford or who are so madly in love with Noel Coward or David Lean that they are willing to endure a turkey.

Noel Coward's brand of comedy has never really appealed to me, and much of the comedy and incidents in this film are too predictable to be truly amusing. Where it does score is by having the wonderfully dotty Margaret Rutherford in the role of Madame Arcati, a crackpot medium who inadvertently calls Rex Harrison's first wife (Kay Hammond) back from the dead, much to the annoyance of his second wife (Constance Cummings).I found Harrison to be quite annoying throughout this film. Not only did his voice grow increasingly irritating as the film went on, but his character seemed to be very poorly developed. One moment he seems happily married to second wife Ruth while also eventually being delighted to be re-united with Elvira, the next he can't seem to wait to be rid of the pair of them so that he can enjoy some newly-found bachelorhood. Perhaps I was missing something, my concentration wavered at times as the film struggled to hold my attention.The production values are quite high for a mid-forties British film, and Hammond's simple but effective ghost make-up is quite impressive. It's just a shame that, by the end of the film you can't help feeling they all deserve to be stuck with each other for eternity

When Noel Coward wrote Blithe Spirit it was to give British audiences something to laugh at during the blitz. Odd that he picked a subject like spiritualism which became popular in the United Kingdom after the first World War when people tried to contact loved ones left dead on the Western front. It was a serious thing back in the Twenties, yet Coward managed to find a whole lot of laughs in it.Blithe Spirit concerns a skeptical mystery writer who was twice married, his first wife dying of illness and he's now married to the second one. The husband here is Rex Harrison and he wants to write another novel with the background being spiritualism. He invites a well known spiritual medium in Margaret Rutherford for dinner with the express purpose of seeing how she operates.Well we can't say that Rutherford didn't warn Harrison about the unintended effects that eating red meat can have. The London broil that he was serving did look superb. She has her séance with the usual rappings, but when its over it turns out that Rutherford has managed to materialize Harrison's first wife Kay Hammond who only Harrison can see.Having two wives even if they exist on a different plane is a bit much for the household. The ghostly Hammond who looks fetching in that green tint she's photographed in wants to assert herself in what was her home. But that kind of gives current wife Constance Cummings a bad attitude because she's come to feel this is her home now.I can't go any farther, but simply to say that Coward gives us a whole lot to think about maybe leaving the dead alone. Also just what will the arrangements be in a next life?Blithe Spirit debuting in London in 1941 in the height of the blitz ran for 1997 performances there and Kay Hammond and Margaret Rutherford recreated their roles for this film. The other stars were Cecil Parker and Fay Compton. When it got to Broadway, the male lead was taken by Clifton Webb and I can certainly see Mildred Natwick in the part of the medium. The wives were Peggy Wood and Jacqueline Scott. Coward who narrates this film off screen also played the husband in touring companies.Coward's wit is certainly present in the play, but the accent here is on the physical comedy and the whole absurdity of the situation. Rex Harrison on the strength of the popularity of this film on both sides of the pond got a contract from 20th Century Fox studios in America. And the role of Madame Arcati the spiritualist became the most well known one that Margaret Rutherford ever essayed until the Miss Marple films of the Sixties and her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for The VIPS.If Blithe Spirit does anything it will make you think about just what kind of arrangements one will have in a next life. Coward provides excellent food for thought.

I recently saw the Broadway revival of "Blithe Spirit" starring Angela Lansbury, Rupert Everett, Christine Ebersole, and Jayne Atkinson. It's a terrific production, and shows what good actors can do with a play that is less than perfect. Angela Lansbury is extremely funny as Madame Arcati.It was probably a mistake, then, to check out the film version of the play starring Rex Harrison. The movie does not have the energy or the laughs of a good stage production."Blithe Spirit" is probably one of those plays that works better with a live cast, in an audience full of people who have come to laugh. The actors can improvise, give touches and nuances to their performance and delivery of the lines, and involve the audience on a personal level that you can't get in a movie house, or with a DVD showing, where the audience is separated from the story by the "Fourth Wall." The story: Charles Condomine (Rex Harrison), a successful writer, lives with his wife Ruth (Constance Cummings) in a house in the English countryside. Seeking information for his next book, a book dealing with the supernatural, Charles invites Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford, reprising her role from the original 1941 London production), a local spiritual medium, over to his house to conduct a séance. Charles believes that spiritism is a sham, but hopes to pick up "the tricks of the trade." But then Madame Arcati brings back the ghost of Elvira (Kaye Hammond), Charles's first wife, who died of pneumonia seven years ago. Elvira refuses to leave, and develops a spitting rivalry with Ruth over Charles (complicated by the fact that only Charles can see or hear Elvira).On stage, the actors can give performances that invite laughs in this situation. But on the screen, the actors in "Blithe Spirit" tear through the lines as if they don't know that anyone is listening to them. They mumble lines that were designed to get laughs on the stage. The performances by Harrison, Cummings, and even Kaye Hammond are flat and lifeless. Only Margaret Rutherford seems to have retained her spark and humor as Madame Arcati.The Oscar-winning visual effects in the film are unimpressive -- not just by today's standards, but by the standards of 1946! They consist mostly of Kaye Hammond walking around in fluorescent green outfits and makeup, being photographed in special lighting to make her look like a glowing ghost.The cinematographer deserves some credit for creative lighting. But compare the dull visual effects of "Blithe Spirit" to the truly groundbreaking effects in Disney's "Song of the South" -- which was eligible for awards the same year. In "South," humans and animated characters share the screen seamlessly for minutes at a time. Compared to "South," the Oscar that "Blithe Spirit" received for special effects was completely undeserved.At any rate, I can only encourage you to catch the Broadway revival of this play with Angela Lansbury before it closes. As for the movie with Rex Harrison, skip it.