Blithe Spirit (1945)

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

David Lean (adapted for the screen by) &
Ronald Neame (adapted for the screen by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

14 May 1945 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy

Tagline:

One Wife Too Many

Plot:

Adapted from a play by Noel Coward, Charles and his second wife Ruth, are haunted by the ghost of his first wife, Elvira. Medium Madame Arcati tries to help things out by contacting the ghost.

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Medium | Author | Ectoplasm | Dinner Party

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Rex Harrison	...	Charles Condomine
Constance Cummings	...	Ruth Condomine
Kay Hammond	...	Elvira Condomine
Margaret Rutherford	...	Madame Arcati
Hugh Wakefield	...	Dr. George Bradman
Joyce Carey	...	Violet Bradman
Jacqueline Clarke	...	Edith (as Jaqueline Clarke)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marie Ault	...	Cook (uncredited)
Noel Coward	...	Narrator (uncredited)
Johnnie Schofield	...	R.A.C. Man Directing Traffic (uncredited)

Directed by
David Lean

Writing credits
David Lean		(adapted for the screen by) &
Ronald Neame		(adapted for the screen by) &
Anthony Havelock-Allan		(adapted for the screen by)
Noel Coward		play (uncredited)
Noel Coward		screenplay (uncredited)

Produced by
Noel Coward	....	producer

Original Music by
Richard Addinsell

Cinematography by
Ronald Neame		(photographed in Technicolor by)

Film Editing by
Jack Harris

Casting by
Irene Howard		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
C.P. Norman

Set Decoration by
Arthur Taksen		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Rahvis		(dresses)

Makeup Department
Tony Sforzini	....	makeup artist
Vivienne Walker	....	hairdresser

Production Management
Anthony Havelock-Allan	....	in charge of production
Norman Spencer	....	unit manager
Sydney Streeter	....	unit manager (as S.S. Streeter)
Herbert Smith	....	executive in charge of production (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
George Pollock	....	assistant director

Art Department
G.E. Calthrop	....	art supervisor: Noel Coward
T. Hopewell Ash	....	draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Cook	....	sound recordist (as John Cooke)
Desmond Dew	....	sound recordist
Cyril Crowhurst	....	dubbing editor (uncredited)
Roy Day	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)
Percy Dayton	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Anthony J. Kay	....	dubbing crew (uncredited)
George Paternoster	....	assistant boom operator (uncredited)
Alan Whatley	....	dubbing crew (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Tom Howard	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Charles Staffell	....	back projection (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
William McLeod	....	camera operator (as Wm. McLeod)
D. Bartlett	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Wilfrid Newton	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Hilda Collins	....	dress supervisor

Editorial Department
Margery Saunders	....	assembly editor (uncredited)
Norah Walsh	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Muir Mathieson	....	conductor: The London Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Isaacs	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Joan Bridge	....	for Technicolor: associate colour director
Natalie Kalmus	....	for Technicolor: colour director
George Minassian	....	for Technicolor: technician
Yvonne Axeworthy	....	assistant continuity (uncredited)
Maggie Unsworth	....	continuity (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Two Cities Films (as A Two Cities Film)
• Noel Coward-Cineguild (as A Noel Coward - Cineguild Production)

Distributors

• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1945) (UK) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1945) (USA) (theatrical)
• Classic Pictures (1952) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• J.Arthur Rank-Film (1946) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Park Circus (2008) (UK) (theatrical) (restored version)
• Carlton Visual Entertainment (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Cinema Classics (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2012) (USA) (DVD) (restored version)
• Filmax Home Video (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
• ITV DVD (2008) (UK) (DVD) (restored version)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• Video Collection International (1993) (UK) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1991) (UK) (VHS)

Other Companies

• BFI National Archive  a restoration by (as the BFI National Archive)
• Cineric  restoration (restored version) (uncredited)
• David Lean Foundation, The  a restoration funded by (as The David Lean Foundation)
• Granada International  a restoration by
• London Symphony Orchestra, The (LSO)  musical score played by (as The London Symphony Orchestra)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | Spain:T | UK:U (video rating) (1991) (1993) (2003) | West Germany:6 (fr 16) | UK:U (tv rating) | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

D&P Studios, Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Two Cities Films

Trivia:

Margaret Rutherford and Kay Hammond played Madame Arcati and Elvira, respectively, in the original West End production. Jacqueline Clarke played Edith in the original Broadway production.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): After requesting, and drinking "Dry Martinis" the liquid in the glasses is distinctly brown instead of clear.

Quotes:

[first lines]
words on a Victorian sampler:"When we are young / We read and believe / The most fantastic things. / When we are older / We learn with regret / That these things cannot be"
Narrator:We are quite, quite wrong!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Screaming Skull (#10.12)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

Always

A comic masterpiece with all the right ingredients

Noel Coward wrote Blithe Spirit in 5 days during Britain's darkest days of the Second World War. The play completed 3 decades as Britain's longest run in West End for a comedic play. The film which was adapted from the play was directed by David Lean and incorporated some of the most sophisticated special effects yet seen in a movie. The film tackles some dark themes such as death and falling in and out of love. The characters themselves are on the face of it unsympathetic. Elvira is a siren, Ruth is shrewish and Charles a misogynist. Despite this the film works well as a comedy because of the quick and clever dialogue between the characters and the scene stealing performances of Margaret Rutherford's Madame Arcarti. You end laughing at and sometimes with the characters as one would do a Shakespeare comedy. Never has a film about death been so funny