| Blithe Spirit | |
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DVD release cover |
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| Directed by | David Lean |
| Produced by | Noël Coward |
| Screenplay by | David Lean Ronald Neame Anthony Havelock-Allan |
| Based on | Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward |
| Starring | Rex Harrison Constance Cummings Kay Hammond Margaret Rutherford |
| Music by | Richard Addinsell |
| Cinematography | Ronald Neame |
| Editing by | Jack Harris[1] |
| Studio | Two Cities Films |
| Distributed by | General Film Distributors (United Kingdom)United Artists (United States)[2] |
| Release date(s) | 14 May 1945 3 October 1946 |
| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Blithe Spirit is a 1945 British fantasy-comedy feature film directed by David Lean. The screenplay by Lean, cinematographer Ronald Neame and associate producer Anthony Havelock-Allan is based on producer 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 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 not very successful at the time and a disappointing adaptation according to Coward himself, it has since come to be considered notable for its Technicolor photography and Academy Award-winning visual effects in particular[3] 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.[4]
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Seeking material for his fictional exposé of a criminal psychic, novelist Charles Condomine (Harrison) invites eccentric medium Madame Arcati (Rutherford) to his home to conduct a séance. As Charles, his wife of five years, Ruth (Cummings), and their guests the Bradmans restrain their laughter, Madame Arcati performs peculiar rituals and speaks with a propensity for clichés. Upon its conclusion, Arcati obviously is concerned about an unexpected turn the session has taken, although the author and his guests are dubious anything extraordinary occurred.
Unknown to everyone, Madame Arcati has accidentally summoned the spirit of Charles' first wife Elvira (Hammond) during the séance, whose voice Charles can now hear, and Arcati faints during her trance. After Madame Arcati and the Bradmans have left, and Ruth has retired for the night, Elvira takes visual form. Charles, who is the only person capable of seeing Elvira, becomes both dismayed and amused by her sudden and unexpected presence. Complications ensue when Ruth becomes aware of the presence of the ghost; Elvira behaves as a poltergeist.
Eventually, the author’s fascination wanes — especially when he learns Elvira has been plotting his early demise. But the spirit miscalculates and ends up dispatching Ruth instead, after which Charles is haunted by both wives.
Though initially unable to help, and offended when Ruth tells her of Charles' motives, Madame Arcati uncovers a means to rid his household of both spirits. She appears to be successful, with the aid of the maid Edith, who turns out to be psychic and can see both deceased women. It soon becomes obvious one or both spirits have remained in the house. He quickly decides to escape the premises, but the plot to bring Charles into the spirit world has continued; his escape fails and he joins Elvira and Ruth as a spirit.
Coward had turned down offers from Hollywood to sell the film rights, stating that previous American versions of his plays had been "vulgarized, distorted and ruined".[5] The rights were instead sold to Cineguild, one of the independent companies supported by the Rank Organization. The film was shot in Technicolor and marked Lean's first attempt at directing comedy after working on two straight films In Which We Serve and This Happy Breed. The film was shot at Denham Studios in the spring of 1944.[6]
The play had been a major success, and Coward advised Lean not to jeopardize this with the adaptation, telling him "Just photograph it, dear boy".[7] In spite of this, Lean made a number of changes such as adding exterior scenes, whereas the play had been set entirely in a single room, showing scenes like the car journey to Folkestone which had only been referred to in the play.[8]
As with most of Coward’s work, Blithe Spirit is renowned for its dialogue. During an argument with Ruth, Charles declares, "If you're trying to compile an inventory of my sex life, I feel it only fair to warn you that you've omitted several episodes. I shall consult my diary and give you a complete list after lunch." The line, considered extremely risqué by censors, was deleted from the US release.[9]
Although it received positive critical reviews, the film was a box office failure on both sides of the Atlantic, but it is now widely regarded as a classic.[9]
Variety observed, "Inasmuch as this is largely a photographed copy of the stage play . . . the camerawork is outstandingly good and helps to put across the credibility of the ghost story more effectively than the flesh and blood performance does. Acting honors go to Margaret Rutherford as Mme Arcati, a trance medium who makes you believe she's on the level. There is nothing ethereal about this 200-pounder. Her dynamic personality has all the slapdash of Fairbanks Sr in his prime."[10]
Daniel Etherington of Channel 4 rated it 3½ stars out of five stars and commented, "Like a quintessentially English, supernatural take on the contemporaneous American screwball comedy, Blithe Spirit is a joy, sharing with its US counterparts fast, witty dialogue that has its origins in stage performance. Although the theatricality arguably hampers the film . . . the verve of the performances, in tandem with the striking Technicolor cinematography Oscar-winning special effects, elevates it . . . Rutherford almost steals the show, playing the kind of charismatically eccentric grand dame that would define her career."[11]
Tom Howard won the 1947 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Although the film is primarily a comedy, it was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation but lost to The Picture of Dorian Gray.
On 7 September 2004, MGM released the film on DVD in the US as one of eight titles included in the David Lean Collection. Playable in all regions, it is in fullscreen format with subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.
In the UK, the rights are owned by ITV and the film has been released three times, with the last release containing a newly-restored film and audio.
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