I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Widower Gene Tierney (Lucy) is looking for a house so she buys a haunted one! Of course. Well, you would, wouldn't you? The house is haunted by crusty sea dog Rex Harrison (Daniel) and he doesn't want anyone meddling on his property. However, he likes Gene so she can stay on and they form a friendship. He gives her an idea for an income before disappearing from her life as she finds a mortal love in George Sanders (Miles). Hold on, Sanders is always a cad, isn't he? This is a romantic film that mixes real life with the next world and the ending ties up things nicely. And of course this is actually what happens – love goes on forever. If you are a romantic, you'll enjoy this film. There is comedy and also a young Natalie Wood who gets to deliver ominous dialogue about liking the sea…….A lot of tragedies tied up with the cast of this film. Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, George Sanders and Natalie Wood all have an unfortunate or scandalous story attached to them.Back to the film, it's easy-going and stays with you after it has finished.

What's not to like in this film that covers so many categories and comes on top of all of them? The story, of course, is hyper-romantic but it's held in order by an under-stated treatment it so much needs. The music by Bernard Hermann is absolutely perfect in every way, unapologetically romantic and dreamy at the same time and never, never over-stated or saccharine. The leads are perfectly cast and feed off each other beautifully as if they were inventing the script as the events happened, which leads me to the point in particular that surprised me the most: so many writer-directors make films that are labored with verbose scripts which lack anything else but words on paper. Mankiewicz is guilty of this on a number of occasions in other films he's directed but here he is ideal and even memorable in his role as virtuoso director. This is a film to treasure.Curtis Stotlar

In 1900, a young widow (Gene Tierney) finds her seaside cottage is haunted...and forms a unique relationship with the ghost (Rex Harrison).While not the most celebrated film of its era, "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" has a few accolades to its name. The film received a 1947 Academy Award nomination for Cinematography, though it did not win (and rightly so). The American Film Institute (AFI) has included it among its lists, including "100 Passions" and nominations for "Film Scores" and "Fantasy Film".The horror aspects are very light, despite taking place in a haunted house. A realtor and some nosy in-laws are scared off, but for the most part the ghost of the captain is just salty, not actually violent or malicious. He is somewhat possessive, though, forcing Mrs. Muir to go decades without any romantic pursuits.In some ways, this film might be dated and may not appeal to today's audiences. Whether or not Mrs. Muir is a strong woman is hard to say, and the way the maid is treated is rather insulting. But it is not a bad movie, and a good example of the early directing talents of Joseph Leo Mankiewicz, who would go on to make "All About Eve" (1950). (Incidentally, Mankiewicz had previously directed Gene Tierney in "Dragonwyck" alongside Vincent Price.)

Fell in love with Ghost as a pre-teen long ago and for many of the reasons cited by many of the favorable reviews here at IMDb. Just archived it to disc (hadn't seen it for years) and was a little shocked at how very, very good it is. Tierney and Harrison clicked, driving the movie, and every other aspect, from script to cinematography, was equal to their performances; a 'little' movie, like The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca, that is flawless.Reviewing to point out one aspect that stood out for me as a kid and still resonates today: Lucy Muir is written and performed as a strong, independent and unapologetically individualistic women. Particularly liked her use of the term 'Male conceit' in response to on of the few sexist remarks made by the Captain (he was actually expressing jealousy, not sexism). One of the last in a long line of such women just as Hollywood succumbed to the 50s.My childhood experience was limited to after school movies from the 30s and 40s so I can't say anything about the 20s but there were tons of 'little' movies from the 30s that featured similar characters, women who refused to buckle under to any kind of male domination whatever the cultural context.As a kid never ran into overt sexism and didn't pick up on any of the subtler versions extant so I interpreted those characters as individuals demanding to be recognized as individuals. In fact, wasn't til many years latter, well after college, that I did encounter bred-in, institutional and beaten-over-your-head-bloody sexism in, of all places, San Francisco. Yes, I was aware of the wage gap and glass ceilings and a few other general trappings, but had never seen any of them in action personally til I hit the city.So now I understood and came to value that sub-genre of little movies that much more. Unfortunately, can't remember any of the titles but do remember Betty Davis being in a lot of them. And that is the point of this review, the existence of a large body of these type of movies and the suggestion that they receive the attention they deserve.Ghost, itself, rises high above any particular genre. Tempting to pile on chapter and verse. Pick a scene, any scene, and wax poetic. It's like any you pick is worthy of a full film-school lecture.Especially one that stood out for me: the Captain's leave-taking; a long, slow, intimate parting, heartbreaking but vital. I've seen most of Harrison's films but never saw him equal it in any of them. Or come close.