A Reel Retro Review: BLITHE SPIRIT (1945)

With the 93^rd Academy Awards approaching, this month’s Retro Reviews will look back at Oscar nominees and winners from the past. 

 

As this Blogger and every other film historian has noted before, no director in history had a three-film streak like David Lean; directing the Oscar-winning classics THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957), LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962), and DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965). His trifecta of epics were, and still are breathtaking. But every journey has a first step, and some of Lean’s earlier, smaller works are always worth a look. Here now is Lean’s BLITHE SPIRIT from 1945. 

Novelist Charles Condomine (Rex Harrison), invites eccentric medium Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford), to a dinner party to perform a séance which brings about the ghost of Charles’ dead wife Elvira (Kay Hammond). 

Based on the 1941 play of the same name by Noel Coward, BLITHE SPIRIT begins innocently enough, with the skeptical Charles and his wife Ruth (Constance Cummings), inviting the good medium over to do her spiritual thing. Both Charles and his wife are dis-believers, and are only hosting the séance for material for Charles’ next novel. When the séance summons the ghost of Elvira, comedy ensues as Charles is the only one who can see or hear her. This leads to more shenanigans as Ruth becomes convinced that Charles is either trying to pull an elaborate prank, has gone mad, or is simply very drunk. 

Ruth eventually comes around to the fact that Charles is indeed speaking to a ghost, and this leads to Elvira getting into a competition with her. It moves into a love triangle and is effective enough, although the script feels like it could go deeper into the relationship that Charles once had in his first marriage. Director David Lean, who relied a lot on the original stage-play, utilizes the complicated dialogue very well…and times the laughs and confusion nicely. 

With a ghost or two lurking about causing trouble, BLITHE SPIRIT uses visual effects which were trail-blazing at the time. For a 1945 film, the effects of floating objects and people passing through ghosts are done very well. There is also some very clever and effective lighting done to give the ghosts an ethereal glow that really works. 

Acting is charming as the entire cast (ahem) leans into their characters. The dialogue takes a lot from the original stage-play and is very dense, yet fun to listen to. The film belongs to Margaret Rutherford, who chews up the scenery and is a laugh a minute. 

The finale differs from the original stage-play in a huge way (which was a sticking point between Lean and Coward), but it works and is appropriate for all the characters. BLITHE SPIRIT is a tight and fun little romp, playing for good laughs and a little peek at the bigger things that Lean would move on to. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: See it. 

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Reel Facts: BLITHE SPIRIT would win an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Margaret Rutherford’s stage and film career would span four decades, and she would win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her part in THE V.I.P.’s in 1963. She passed away in 1972 at the age of 80. Rex Harrison would win an Oscar for Best Actor for his part in MY FAIR LADY in 1964. He passed on in 1990 at the age of 82.