robbie71

I love this film.. Margaret is great in this...

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

To get background for a new book, author Charles and his second wife Ruth light-heartedly arrange for local mystic Madame Arcati to give a séance. The unfortunate result is that Charles' first wife Elvira returns from beyond the grave to make his life something of a misery. Ruth too gets increasingly irritated with her supernatural rival, but M.Arcati is at her wit's end as to how to sort things out.

George Fry

I don't know how it would wear today but it was great in it's time. Margaret Rutherford was absolutely wonderful as Madam Arcarti ( maybe even difinitive) and there are so many quotable lines like Kay Hammond's pouted "little launch".

ChristineCB

I've been watching this twice in the last two days (thanks TQ) and am always amazed at Margaret Rutherford's ability to command scenes and compel me to watch her.

Any idea what year Rutherford stopped riding her bike? She probably still is-!

Marky B

If you mean the year she left us,1972. A great comedy actress. I loved her with Alistair Sim in The Happiest Days Of Your Life.
Ta Ta
Marky B

I am special. The heavens always open for me.

Carmel

Hi bought this film for £2 in HMV last year a bargin i loved it.

Ljelja

Oh, but she surely is riding her bicycle in heaven, patrolling meadows and chasing butterflies! I think this film hasn't aged well, but Margaret is timeless and a true gem! I'd watch her just sitting and knitting for 90 minutes, no problem! Her bicycle-riding psychic persona is surreal, but character which she eternally cemented in my head is Mistress Quickly from Welles'es Campanadas a Medianoche...just too much!

ChristineCB

She was about 52 when she did this role, and invests such a great and wild energy to it.

Margaret's placed up against two lovely women, against handsome Rex, and yet she and that face, those movements (clasping hands behind her back, yo ho ho and a bottle o' rum) - everything she does is Top Of The Charts.

Was she the female equivalent of Charles Laughton? Never the pretty face, but always the scene stealing one?

Santonix

Noel Coward wrote Blithe Spirit whilst enjoying an extended stay at Portmeirion in North Wales. If you visit ask to stay in the "Upper Fountain Suite", the very suite Coward occupied and were Madame Arcati et al came to life.

thirdlady

that's right it is £2 at HMV I bought a copy of that for my man he loves margaret rutherford

A.S.Carroll
"Happiness isn't sold in bottles you have to achieve it in your own lifetime!"

samkydd

The film was repeated at least three times last week on Freeview and so I caught snippets of each showing. The actress who played Elvira, where on earth did she get that accent from? It sounded like a cross between a 1930s working class film character dialect (all that was missing was to end each sentence with "see!" or the occassional "....and no mistake!") and some old baroness who'd been mixing too much gin with her sherry!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

George Fry

Two other memorable Rutherford performances for me were as Miss Prism in that superb "The Importance of Being Earnest", and the wonderful moment when she first saw the Mermaid in "Miranda".

ChristineCB

Back to the heresy thread concept...

I know this sounds heretical, but I think BLITHE's weakness is the poor dialog that prevents Hubby from simply speaking the first name of whichever wife he's addressing. That simple and polite mechanism would have solved much bantering which consumes a good portion of the film. It's the Confused Dialog Tool, and it's used in many comedies.

But I think that's why BLITHE won't be on my Top 10 Favorites list.

However, the film is more important (than good) to me because it shows how a supporting actor can re-energize the story with every scene they're in - and that's Margaret Rutherford.

But it's not so much her dialog - good or bad. It's just her.

She's got other films where she does this - SMALLEST SHOW, IMPORTANCE, MIRANDA. But BLITHE has her as a relatively large contributor to the film's scene number and dialog lines, as well as turning points.

I probably like IMPORTANCE more than BLITHE, and therefore, Margaret's scenes don't stand as such stark contrasts as in BLITHE.

That's why I think I rate BLITHE as a More Important Film than just good or bad.

Ljelja

I was always of the opinion character actors give movie character, weight and add to credibility. Leading men and ladies are, specially nowadays, to attract audience, but smart supporting team will always be the skeleton of a well composed story. It's so frustrating being able to grasp only a few minutes of Jim Broadbent in many movies he does. For example. Meh...

Btw, Christine, how does it feel in telescopic heels? Giddy? :

ChristineCB

I don't see too many modern films where the supporting actors are used as well as they were in decades past. Or maybe I'm so 'telescoped' (ha ha) that I don't notice much beyond the stars.

Or it's an ensemble cast like Scorcese's AFTER HOURS where it's just one parade of supporting actors after another, and the story and the director assemble them into something memorable.

Rutherford is slightly used in MIRANDA, and it's poorer for it. She's such a vital part to BLITHE and I appreciate the differences in both films and what she brings to them.

(And you probably know what it's like! ha ha - our secret.)

penfold

Absolutely...that's one of the many things I love about Powell and Pressburger films, the time and effort spent on the subsidiary characters....how great are Commander Knight in IKWIG, Abraham Sofaer, and the dead crowds in AMOLAD, the villagers in ACT, Hay Petrie in everything...everybody in Blimp....casting is one thing, but the writing and direction have to be spot on too...

Bit of a Bay Window, what??