Blithe Spirit

Great effects for the time, funny lines, seance scene funny. I love Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady) but Kay Hammond, Constance Cummings and Margaret Rutherford are great in this movie as well.

Blithe Spirit is based on the original play written by Noel Coward and starring Rex Harrison and the wonderfully dotty Margaret Rutherford - who, it is documented, the part was written specifically for. This oscar winning 1945 film appears somewhat dated now, however due to it's quirky and well constructed plot along with superb performances from the cast it is still a highly enjoyable film to watch.

Rex Harrison plays recent widower Charles Condomine who along with his new wife Ruth ( Constance Cummings) decide to hold a seance at home to entertain their dinner guests. None of the party actually take the concept of contacting the dead seriously until the wildly eccentric medium Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford) arrives to take control of events. After much chanting and other mumbo jumbo and to the hilarity of the guests she appears to fail in her quest to contact the dead however after everyone has left and the couple prepare to retire for the night Charles' dead wife Elvira (Kay Hammond) makes an appearance. The rest of the film deals with their attempts to get rid of the meddling and hateful Elvira, all kinds of supernatural banishment methods, some bordering on witchcraft are attempted by Madame Arcati but to no avail until finally it is realised how Elvira got there in the first place. A big twist at the end changes everything but I won't spoil it by telling you here. A watchable film with an excellent plot and worth seeing just for Margaret Rutherfords brilliant portrayal of a dotty medium.