Blithe Spirit (film)
Encyclopedia
Blithe Spirit is a British fantasy comedy film
directed by David Lean
. The screenplay by Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan
, Ronald Neame
, and Noël Coward
is based on Coward's 1941 play of the same name
. Its title is derived from the line "Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! Bird thou never wert" in the poem "To a Skylark
" by Percy Bysshe Shelley
.
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 cliché
s. 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.
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.
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". 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.
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.
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."
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."
. 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
.
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.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by David Lean
David Lean
Sir David Lean CBE was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best remembered for big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , Lawrence of Arabia ,...
. The screenplay by Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan
Anthony Havelock-Allan
Sir Anthony James Allan Havelock-Allan, 4th Baronet was a prolific and successful British film producer and screenwriter whose credits included This Happy Breed, Blithe Spirit, the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet and Ryan's Daughter.Havelock-Allan was born at the family home of Blackwell Grange...
, Ronald Neame
Ronald Neame
Ronald Elwin Neame CBE, BSC was an English film cinematographer, producer, screenwriter and director.-Early career:...
, and Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
is based on Coward's 1941 play of the same name
Blithe Spirit (play)
Blithe Spirit is a comic play written by Noël Coward which takes its title from Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "To a Skylark" . The play concerns socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to...
. Its title is derived from the line "Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! Bird thou never wert" in the poem "To a Skylark
To a Skylark
Percy Bysshe Shelley completed the poem "To a Skylark" in late June, 1820, and forwarded it to London to be included among the verse accompanying Prometheus Unbound published by Charles and James Collier in London....
" by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
.
Plot
Seeking material for his fictional exposé of a criminal psychic, novelist Charles Condomine (Harrison) invites eccentric mediumMediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
Madame Arcati (Rutherford) to his home to conduct a séance
Séance
A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
. 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 cliché
Cliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
s. 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
Poltergeist
A poltergeist is a paranormal phenomenon which consists of events alluding to the manifestation of an imperceptible entity. Such manifestation typically includes inanimate objects moving or being thrown about, sentient noises and, on some occasions, physical attacks on those witnessing the...
.
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.
Production
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". The rights were instead sold to Cineguild, one of the independent companies supported by the Rank Organization. The film was shot in technicolourTechnicolour
Technicolour was a rock band from Finland. Their music is pop/rock with influences from U2, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Coldplay, and Bon Jovi. The band also likes music from The Domination Nation, another Finnish band...
and marked Lean's first attempt at directing comedy after working on two straight films In Which We Serve
In Which We Serve
In Which We Serve is a 1942 British patriotic war film directed by David Lean and Noël Coward. It was made during the Second World War with the assistance of the Ministry of Information ....
and This Happy Breed
This Happy Breed
This Happy Breed is a play by Noël Coward. It was written in 1939 but, because of the outbreak of World War II, it was not staged until 1942, when it was performed on alternating nights with another Coward play, Present Laughter. The two plays later alternated with Coward's Blithe Spirit...
. The film was shot at Denham Studios in the spring of 1944.
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". 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
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
which had only been referred to in the play.
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.
Critical reception
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.Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
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
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro....
in his prime."
Daniel Etherington of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
rated it 3½ stars out of five stars and commented, "Like a quintessentially English, supernatural take on the contemporaneous American screwball comedy
Screwball Comedy
Screwball Comedy is an album by the Japanese band Soul Flower Union. The album found the band going into a simpler, harder-rocking direction, after several heavily world-music influenced albums.-Track listing:...
, 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."
Awards and nominations
Tom Howard won the 1947 Academy Award for Best Visual EffectsAcademy Award for Visual Effects
The Academy Award for Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects.-History of the award:The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects to movies at its inaugural dinner in 1928, presenting a...
. Although the film is primarily a comedy, it was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
but lost to The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945 film)
The Picture of Dorian Gray is an American horror-drama film based on Oscar Wilde's 1891 novel of the same name. Released in March 1945 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film is directed by Albert Lewin and stars George Sanders as Lord Henry Wotton and Hurd Hatfield as Dorian Gray...
.
DVD release
On 7 September 2004, MGMMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
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
Pan and scan
Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a standard definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus on the composition's most important aspects...
format with subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.
In the UK, the rights are owned by ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
and the film has been released three times, with the last release containing a newly-restored film and audio.
Cast
- Rex HarrisonRex HarrisonSir Reginald Carey “Rex” Harrison was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.-Youth and stage career:...
: Charles Condomine - Constance CummingsConstance CummingsConstance Cummings, CBE was an American-born British actress, known for her work on both screen and stage.Born Constance Halverstadt in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of Dallas Vernon Halverstadt, a lawyer, and his wife, Kate Logan Cummings, a concert soprano. she began as a stage actress,...
: Ruth Condomine - Kay Hammond: Elvira Condomine
- Margaret RutherfordMargaret RutherfordDame Margaret Taylor Rutherford DBE was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest...
: Madame Arcati - Joyce CareyJoyce CareyJoyce Carey, OBE was a British actress, best known for her long professional and personal relationship with Noël Coward. Her stage career lasted from 1916 until 1984, and she was performing on television in her nineties. Though never a star, she was a familiar face both on stage and screen...
: Violet Bradman - Hugh WakefieldHugh WakefieldHugh Wakefield was an English film actor, who played supporting roles. He was often seen wearing a monocle....
: Doctor George Bradman - Jacqueline Clarke - Edith
- Marie AultMarie AultMarie Ault was a British actress.Born at Wigan, Lancashire, she was a star in many British films of the silent era but is most remembered for her role as Daisy Bunting's mother in The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog directed by Alfred Hitchcock.She also had bit parts in films such as Jamaica...
- Cook - Johnnie SchofieldJohnnie Schofield-Selected filmography:* Lassie from Lancashire * Sheepdog of the Hills * Bob's Your Uncle * Up with the Lark * English Without Tears * The Echo Murders * The Shop at Sly Corner...
- Man Directing Traffic - Noel CowardNoël CowardSir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
- Narrator