The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

A few days ago, and due to the nearing proximity to Halloween someone posted a satirical article about how it was (those idiotic) men's fault that movie families stayed in haunted houses despite the obvious problems.

Well, in addition to the fact that the article was comprised solely of fake quotes from the men characters it was obviously a joke, but one that got taken (at least partially) seriously by the comments.

What it did illustrate was the screen writer's problem of keeping a group of people inside the haunted house in order to experience the paranormal phenomena and actually be able to tell a story about a haunted house.

The typical solutions are generally either scientific curiosity (The Haunting) or economy (The Amityville Horror.)

The screenwriter for The Amityville Horror goes into detail in interviews if one cares to look into it (for a full interview refer to The Projection Booth Podcast.)

In this case we have both romantic curiosity and economic need.

A widow, hoping to gain some independence leaves the dead husband's family and rents a haunted house by the seaside for herself, her daughter and the help.

The manifestations are initially sinister (in beautifully shot, deep chiaroscuro) but the film very quickly switches gears once it reveals the character of the seaman ghost (Rex Harrison.)

The film's paternalistic vibes won't win any feminist points, because she is immediately adopted by the male ghost who then proceeds to take care of the woman's economic needs by proposing to dictate an autobiographical book and have it ghost written by her (pun fully intended.)

As in many other film projects (Oh, God! (1977), Harvey (1950), etc.) one could bother making a case that the supernatural being is actually a manifestation of her own subconscious mind which does this, (in attempting to keep with a feminist message,) but really, why bother?

The in-story reality of the ghost is fairly well established.

To make things worse, the main character spends a lifetime waiting for a man after having her heart broken by another one.

I guess this is fine if a lifetime can be summed up in ninety minutes and the important bits are the ones with the ghost, but it just doesn't work for real life empowerment purposes.

It's weird that the movie is about a woman with a dead husband, who finds solace in a different dead man (...where is the ghost of the husband, and how does he feel about this?)

She can't be touched (or 'hurt') by her fantasy man, and yet he solves her problems and is able to take care of her from beyond. He even warns he about the man who is to break her heart.

And all this from a woman who claims to want something real.

I wonder what psychoanalysis would make of it.

It can't possibly be healthy, but it certainly is no worse than The Babadook, which (along with The Entity) would be the Horror side of the coin.

And one last thing, ...that problematic kiss of Lethe from Superman II?

This is probably where it originated.

And it's just as problematic here.

Gene Tierney is lovely, and the film is generally pleasurable. This is, after all, a romance of sorts.

There is some raciness as the potential peeping tom aspects are actually addressed, and the handling of the harmless, pseudo-salty language is funny as it is transferred from the seaman to the widow.

I don't really think it fully qualifies as a classic film fantasy.

It is probably somewhat forgotten nowadays, even when it did inspire a television series at the time and has been influential in other intangible ways.

Does Truly Madly Deeply (1990) count as a late influence?

Possibly. That would be the mature and healthy version of this film.

Amazing Bernard Herrmann score.