Review of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) by Edith N — 02 Feb 2008

The word traditionally applied to the kind of character Rex Harrison plays in this is "crusty." I assume this refers to the almost visible layer of barnacles--well, metaphorical barnacles--between him and the rest of the world. Especially "land-lubbers," that delightful term that I'm not sure real seamen actually use. Though, of course, I'm not sure I've ever actually met one. Perhaps one of you can fill me in.

Mr. Muir was dead to begin with. Also Captain Daniel Gregg, but Mr. Muir (I believe his first name was Edwin) is a lot less active. And not played by Rex Harrison; indeed, he is not played by anybody. What is important is [i]Mrs.[/i] Muir, who quickly finds her mother-in-law's home stifling after the death of her husband, so she rents a cottage by the sea that used to belong to the Captain. In fact, so far as he's concerned, it still does. In some ways, what follows is a typical Hollywood hate-to-love relationship, though it is compounded by the fact that the Captain is, you know, [i]dead[/i]. However, when she's about to lose her money and have to move back in with the sweet but tedious mother-in-law, the Captain decides that what will happen instead is that he will dictate his life story to her, and she will sell the book and make a fortune. The strange thing is that it works.

Of no small note is Anna Muir, Mrs. Muir's young daughter, played by nine-year-old (and just post [i]Miracle on 34th Street[/i]) Natalie Wood. At least, to begin with; we see a college-age Anna later, and she's now Vanessa Brown, who had a bit of a spotty TV career and was nowhere near as famous. There are few other people of note here, leaving aside Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison (who I guess should be billed the other way 'round, really), though George Sanders had a long career of colourful characters. We've seen him here a few times, here, though almost never in a leading role.

The cottage is actually lovely, and while I couldn't live that far from a real town, it seems the right place for Mrs. Muir to live out the end of her days. Even though, by the end, she cannot explain why she will not leave, it's obvious that at least part of the reason is that she [i]belongs[/i] in that lovely house by the sea, with that portrait of the Captain hanging in her room and that telescope by the French doors. This is at least in part, I think, due to the stateliness of Gene Tierney herself. (She apparently wanted to play the role as a dingbat, but she was talked out of it.) A woman like this looks right growing old alone with her servant in a cottage by the sea, even if her daughter who married into the nobility [i]did[/i] invite her to move in.

This is a mostly funny movie, hence its comedy categorization. However, we do get rather into several characters' feelings. (I suspect that Mrs. Muir's servant Martha [Edna Best] knows more than she says, for example.) Hence, I have added it under drama as well. I think, for example, that Captain Gregg's sacrifice late in the picture is one of the most tender moments in film history, despite the things that occur later to pretty much render it worthless. This is a lesser-known film (only 3761 ratings for it on IMDB right now), but it's worth seeking out.