Review of Blithe Spirit (1945) by Sean D — 27 Apr 2012

3: I can now officially say that David Lean never made a bad picture. This is without a doubt the lightest Lean film I have seen though. There is little to be serious or grandiose about here. Appropriately, Lean does not treat it as a larger than life story, but instead restricts it to the peculiar little world it was meant to represent.

Granted, he obviously didn't have the kind of artistic control at this stage in his career that he would wield later. This is the third in a series of Noel Coward/David Lean collaborations. It is quite entertaining and very unusual for Lean, but perfectly fits in with what I know of Coward.

It's the closest I've seen Lean come to screwball comedy. Excellent all-around.