Memorergi
good film but with many flaws
Reptileenbu
Did you people see the same film I saw?
SteinMo
What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.
preppy-3
"Comedy" about novelist Charles Condomine (Rex Harrison) and his second wife Ruth (Constance Cummings) inviting spiritualist Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford)to their house. It seems he's writing a book dealing with the supernatural and wanted to see firsthand what happens at a seance. They have one and think nothing happens. However Charles starts seeing the ghost of his first wife Elvira (Kay Hammond). However no one else can see or hear her. Her wants her to go...but how? I saw a restored print with a crystal clear picture, great sound and strong color...but I hated it. It's supposed to be funny but I didn't laugh let alone smile once. I heard the jokes but they just weren't funny. It was more whimsical than funny and I hate whimsical films. It was reasonably well-acted and directed and had great set design but I was bored. I actually dozed off towards the end! The only saving grace was Rutherford. She was GREAT in her role and tears into it with gusto...but she wasn't funny either. Good-looking but unfunny. Also this won an Oscar for Special Effects which are very dated in this day and age.
paultreloar75
This is the absolutely epitome of a Sunday afternoon movie, a lovely way to spend a couple of hours marvelling at some gorgeous verbals, which sound so beautiful and funny, as well as a very good story to boot. Noel Coward works wonders with his writing, creating some proper deluxe dialogue that made me laugh my socks off.David Lean's production is witty, invigorating and really well done, Rex Harrison is as poised as can be, and Constance Cummings and Kay Hammond are completely haunting in their respective roles. And that's before we get onto Margaret Rutherford who plays the thing just right, a mixture of hyperbole, hysteria and yet some deep credibility underneath it all.Elvira's appearance is where it all takes off, the special effects are well funny and are what reminded me that I was watching a play scripted by someone who was a master of the imagination. Gently brilliant movie.
gelman@attglobal.net
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.
PicturegoerMagazine
This is a conscientiously photographed replica of Noel Coward's highly successful stage play, and as such demands full commendation. But I feel that a good deal better entertainment would have ensued from a freer use of the pictorial medium. Dealing as it does with the return of departed spirits it inevitably invites comparison with Topper, not, I am afraid to it's advantage. However, Noel Coward's dialogue - sometimes a little difficult to catch - keeps you well amused, and the acting generally is on a high level, and while the camera is allowed no great scope, photography is of excellent quality. The film is in Technicolour, which is presumably one reason why no liberties were taken with the stage play. Rex Harrison is easily natural as the harassed husband whose first wife's spirit appears disconcertingly and later kills his second wife. She, too, is conjured up from the dead and the pair of them see to it that their husband is involved in a fatal accident and is forced to join them in the spirit world, just as he had hoped he had got rid of them. Kay Hammond, in a somewhat terrifying green make-up with scarlet fingernails, is sulkily cynical as wife number one, and Constance Cummings scores too as wife number two. The hit of the show is the hearty fooling of Margaret Rutherford, the medium responsible for all the bother.Note - This review originally appeared in Picturegoer Magazine, 12 May 1945. Written by Lionel Collier.
