MovieChat Forums > The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1968) Discussion > Change of Name

Change of Name

posted 18 years ago by david-879
6 replies | jump to latest

Given that the Captain and Martha the housekeeper kept their original names from the film, why was Mrs Muir's first name changed from Lucy to Carolyn?

[–] The_Master_Reborn 18 years ago

I wish I had an answer, maybe they thought Lucy sounded too old fashion for the show at the time. It did bother me that they changed her name and her daughter's.

[–] ghostfan 18 years ago

I'd have to agree -- too old fashioned a name -- even in the book, she isn't that fond of it herself -- but likes it when the Captain starts calling her Lucia. As for Anna vs Candy, dunno but the both stem from the same root name. and I far prefer Jonathan over Cyril. But Jonathan was a nicer kid. Just my two cents.

[–] melchycat 18 years ago

Lucy is typically English and typically old fashioned and would take away from the fresh feel the producers wanted by updating the movie. And yeah, Jonathan is much nicer and won't grow up to be anything like Cyril.

[–] neil57 18 years ago

I also think they were trying to avoid any comparisons to Lucille Ball who was still on TV back then, even if the shows were radically different. Back then if you said the name Lucy, everyone immediately assumed that you meant Lucille Ball.

[–] Chrissie 8 years ago

That's a really good point! I hadn't thought of that!

[–] ghostfan 8 years ago

What is even stranger, is back in the 60's, I think, they did a one hour adaptation of the movie. For that version, they changed Lucy's name, the Captain's name, Miles Fairley's name, deleted both kids, had Lucy recovering from some illness, she died a year after her book came out... but Martha was still Martha!

How sad, that you were not born in my time, nor I, in yours.