BLITHE SPIRIT

 "BLITHE SPIRIT" (1945)

This is a British supernatural comedy film directed by David Lean. The screenplay was based on Noël Coward's 1941 play of the same name, the title of which is derived from the line "Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! Bird thou never wert" in the poem "To a Skylark" by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The song "Always", written by Irving Berlin, is an important plot element in "Blithe Spirit". The film features Kay Hammond and Margaret Rutherford, in the roles they created in the original production, along with Rex Harrison and Constance Cummings in the lead parts of Charles and Ruth Condomine. While unsuccessful at the box office and a disappointing adaptation for the screen, according to Coward, it has since come to be considered notable for its Technicolor photography and Oscar-winning visual effects in particular and has been re-released several times, notably as one of the ten early David Lean features restored by the British Film Institute for release in 2008. Although it received positive critical reviews, the film was a commercial disappointment on both sides of the Atlantic, but it is now widely regarded as a classic. It was my first time ever watching this movie and I enjoyed it a great deal!! Tom Howard won the 1947 Academy Award for "Best Visual Effects." It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation but lost to The Picture of Dorian Gray.

SYNOPSIS: "Skeptical novelist Charles Condomine (Rex Harrison) invites self-proclaimed medium Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford) to his home for a séance, hoping to gather material for a new book. When the hapless psychic accidentally summons the spirit of Condomine's late wife, Elvira (Kay Hammond), his home and life are quickly turned into a shambles as his wife's ghost torments both himself and his new bride, Ruth (Constance Cummings). David Lean directed this adaptation of Noel Coward's hit play."