Review of Blithe Spirit (1945) by Art S — 01 Nov 2013

According to the IMDb, Noel Coward thought David Lean screwed up his play in translating it to the screen. Probably, it did lose something because it starts out witty and snappy but descends into less funniness.

Nevertheless, Rex Harrison, looking young, is the writer who manages to conjure up his dead first wife from the spirit world (with the help of very wacky medium Margaret Rutherford) much to the consternation of his current wife.

So, the set up is great (bringing to mind that Robyn Hitchcock song) but the current wife, played by Constance Cummings, is too hard and too unsympathetic to keep the comedy alive. The final pay-off doesn't quite bring the chortles either.

Lean was much better in his Dickens' adaptations.