I love this movie
This is such a great movie, Margaret is so good in this film,
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MovieChat Forums > Blithe Spirit (1945) Discussion > I love this movie
Margaret Rutherford is always outstanding and never more so than in this film. Absolutely brilliant.
shareI have been in love with old films since i was a little girl, i was quite happy to watch old films over regular tv or modern day films. Blithe Spirit has been one of my favourites for years (i can't remember my exact age when i first saw it, i just remember always loving it and still do now at 30!) Rex harrison is great, as is Margaret Rutherford (one of my grandads faves). I recommend this film or play to anyone. I am delighted that it is finally out on DVD.
shareI was watching this yesterday and noticed the part when Rex Harrison says "Oh My God", they blanked out the God part!!
Aye.
I finally saw this film last night - i tried watching it last year - but i was already tired - so i got about 5 mins in and turned it off.
I had just watched an ep of Goodnight Sweetheart and noel coward was on it - so that made me think of brief encounter - but, i was in a happy mood and didn't feel like a sad film- so i finally pulled this one out and watched it.
I really liked it - alhtough i have to say i absolutely HATED the medium - she was so terribly over the top, i just couldn't watch her - every time she was on screen i had to physically turn away! ack! i find the same with miss marple.
but seriously - i really did enjoy this film.
"Everything in this room is eatable. Even I'm eatable. But that’s called cannibalism."
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Interesting you would enjoy the movie, but "hate the medium." When Noel Coward wrote the play, he envisioned Margaret Rutherford as Madame Arcati...and when he directed his play, he put her in the role...to the delight of both English and American audiences. He groomed the role for her, and later when his play made it to the screen, he produced the picture and again put Rutherford in the role she had already made famous. It was this role that established her as a major screen character actress. Most subsequent screen adaptations have borrowed heavily from Rutherford's performance. But if you dislike her, you probably won't like her Miss Marple films either - even though she was one of Agatha Christie's top choices for that role - along with Joan Hickson who played the role in recent years. Personally, I have never seen one of her performances that I didn't really enjoy.
No doubt, Margaret Rutherford steals the show in this film. I mean Rex Harrison, Kay Hamnond and Constance Cummings are OK, but Mrs. Rutherford is simply superb! Her performance is the best part of the movie!
Rutherford and Hammond are both pure gold. They absolutely make it.
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It's a quirky film. I prefered the section of the film before Ruth died as I enjoyed watching the conflict unfold between herself, Charles and Elvira. The humor disappeared for me once Ruth was killed off.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".
Absolutely agree with you razzatron. Really funny triangle at first, but was appalled at how Charles acted like he was glad to be rid of Ruth.
However I like the line" "I can smell ectoplasm". "What a disgusting thing to say!" (:
Just finished watching this. It had a great start but i thought the character of rex harrison's first wife ruined it for me Margaret rutherford was good in iit and rex and his second wife played it fairly well. I must say though that i found the film terribly frustrating at times with many plot holes and the ending was rushed and ultimately not very satisfying. I did find the idea of seeing and hearing things quite interesting and the parallels it may have with mental breakdowns and suicide. I might check out the original play and see how it compares. 6/10
shareThat's about the way I felt. I couldn't stand Kay Hammond -- either the actress or the character -- and it rather spoiled the movie for me. Once Ruth dies, it all gets rather awkward which spoils the comedy. Clever lines for the most part but it doesn't really hang together.
I just saw it on TCM, and Ben Mankiewicz (sp?) did the intro. He said Coward wrote it in a weekend, so that would explain the plot holes.