Silver Screen Standards: Blithe Spirit (1945)

Blithe Spirit (1945)

Supernatural comedy is one of my favorite movie genres
any time of year, but I’m especially drawn to it once the first Halloween
decorations start to materialize. After a recent viewing of The Ghost and
Mrs. Muir (1947), I remembered that its leading man, Rex Harrison, also
experiences a haunting from the other side of the veil in the 1945 adaptation
of Noël Coward’s hit play, Blithe Spirit. In addition to Harrison,
director David Lean’s British film version boasts a quintessential performance
from one of my favorite character actresses, Margaret Rutherford, and visual
effects that won the Oscar in 1947. While it’s neither a perfect movie nor a
completely faithful adaptation of the play, Blithe Spirit offers plenty
of fun if you’re in the right mood to appreciate its dark comedy and unlikable
characters.

Harrison plays author Charles Condomine, a widower who
seems happy enough with his second wife, Ruth (Constance Cummings), until he
decides to research a new book by inviting a medium to give a séance in his
home. Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford) accidentally conjures the spirit of
Charles’ first wife, Elvira (Kay Hammond), who initially charms Charles with
her amusing conversation but upsets the territorial Ruth. Marital bliss among
the living is soon shattered, and Elvira’s interference makes matters even
worse. When Madame Arcati returns to perform an exorcism, Charles discovers
that getting rid of either of his wives is a lot more trouble than he expected.

If you’re looking for truly sympathetic characters
here you won’t find them, although I rather like the goofy and free-spirited
Madame Arcati, especially as she’s played by Rutherford. Hers is the plum role
of the piece, which Rutherford originated in 1941 on the London stage. In later
versions Madame Arcati has been played by great performers like Mildred
Natwick, Angela Lansbury, and Judi Dench, but Rutherford has a unique physical
energy that gives her version a lot of appeal. Charles and both of his wives
are shallow, selfish creatures, witty at best but never wise, which ensures
that we don’t much care what happens to them. The film ending, which I won’t
spoil, is markedly different from the original play and infuriated Coward with
its alterations, but I think the movie ending has a better sense of poetic
justice. Some of the elements that remain faithful to Coward’s original haven’t
aged well, including persistent misogyny passed off as comedy and some racist
dialogue no actor would want to repeat today.

What still works to great effect is the presentation
of the ghostly Elvira, whom Kay Hammond invests with fey gaiety. The
Technicolor cinematography allows her to appear an otherworldly shade of green
from head to toe, and unseen breezes blow her clothing in the stillness of the
house. Her red lips and nails stand out against her eerie green skin, making
her look even stranger. Stage productions of the play have represented Elvira’s
ghostly nature in different ways, but the film’s method makes her absolutely
mesmerizing to behold. The film is able to include scenes where Elvira is
invisible but active, and these are also delightful. Because Elvira can only be
seen by Charles, scenes alternate between showing both of them and showing only
what other characters would see. These are especially amusing when Elvira takes
the wheel on a country drive, so that it looks like Charles is riding in a
self-driving car. Most ghost comedies use these tricks to varying degrees, but
it’s always a pleasure to see them so well done in movies that predate CGI
effects by many decades.

Most classic movie fans already know to look for Rex Harrison in Cleopatra (1963), My Fair Lady (1964), and Doctor Doolittle (1967), and Margaret Rutherford is best remembered today for her role as Miss Marple in films like Murder, She Said (1961), Murder at the Gallop (1963), and Murder Most Foul (1964). David Lean won Academy Awards for his direction of The Bridge on the River Kwai (1958) and Lawrence of Arabia (1963), but if you want another comedy I’m particularly fond of Hobson’s Choice (1954). Like Rutherford, Kay Hammond originated her role in Blithe Spirit, and she was primarily a stage actress. Constance Cummings also spent most of her career on the stage, but you’ll find her dealing with more mysterious business in The Mind Reader (1933) and Haunted Honeymoon (1940). I haven’t seen the 2020 film adaptation of Blithe Spirit that stars Judi Dench as Madame Arcati, but it only has a 27% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so be forewarned if you decide to see it for yourself.

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— Jennifer Garlen for Classic Movie Hub

Jennifer Garlen pens our monthly Silver Screen Standards column. You can read all of Jennifer’s Silver Screen Standards articles here.

Jennifer is a former college professor with a PhD in English Literature and a lifelong obsession with film. She writes about classic movies at her blog, Virtual Virago, and presents classic film programs for lifetime learning groups and retirement communities. She’s the author of Beyond Casablanca: 100 Classic Movies Worth Watching and its sequel, Beyond Casablanca II: 101 Classic Movies Worth Watching, and she is also the co-editor of two books about the works of Jim Henson.