The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writers:

Philip Dunne (screenplay)
R.A. Dick (novel)

Release Date:

26 June 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Romance

Tagline:

Is Lucy Muir's love really a ghost, or is it a man of flesh and blood she yearns for?

Plot:

In 1900, a young widow finds her seaside cottage is haunted...and forms a unique relationship with the ghost.

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Cottage | Seaside | Widow | 1900s

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Gene Tierney	...	Lucy Muir
Rex Harrison	...	Capt. Daniel Gregg
George Sanders	...	Miles Fairley
Edna Best	...	Martha Huggins
Vanessa Brown	...	Anna Muir as an Adult
Anna Lee	...	Mrs. Miles Fairley
Robert Coote	...	Mr. Coombe
Natalie Wood	...	Anna Muir as a Child
Isobel Elsom	...	Angelica, Mother-in-law
Victoria Horne	...	Eva, Sister-in-law

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:14+ (Ontario) | USA:Approved (certificate #11840) | Canada:G (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

In 1990 there was serious at talk at 20th Century Fox of remaking "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" with Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer in the leads, but the poor box-office for The Russia House (1990) killed it.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Although Capt. Gregg states early in the movie that he is a spirit and has no physical body, he does a very good job of casting shadows on walls, doors, etc.

Quotes:

Lucy Muir: [referring to her romance with Miles Fairley] You said I should see men.
Captain Gregg: I said men, not perfumed parlour snakes!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Cheers: The Ghost and Mrs. LeBec (#8.23)" (1990)

Great performances in an excellent fantasy film

The Ghost and Mrs Muir reunited the Dragonwyck lead actress Gene Tierney, and its director Joseph L. Mankiewicz for an even better film. The Ghost and Mrs Muir, while a little pretentious at times, stands out as one of the finest romance films of Hollywood's golden period, and an interesting and entertaining fantasy film to boot. Over four decades before Demi Moore fell in love with a ghost in the sentimental, sappy trash flick 'Ghost'; Gene Tierney was doing it in far better style with this film. As you might expect from a film that features a woman falling in love with a spirit; there's more than a few plot holes on display. However, the film has this great ability to make the audience believe in it - and that is mostly down to the fabulous performances from all concerned. The plot follows a widow who moves into a house by the sea in order to escape her meddling in-laws. She knows that the house is haunted before she moves in, but the idea of living in a haunted house fascinates her; and she's fascinated further when she finds herself falling in love with the ghost of the previous owner.

It has to be said that, with the characters, what you see is pretty much what you get. Gene Tierney, whom I'm becoming a bigger fan of every time I see one of her movies, is the headstrong widow - while Rex Harrison is the cantankerous seaman. The characters mostly bathe in their own traits, but this helps the film immensely as it means that it's their relationship that always takes centre stage, and that is the biggest draw of the film. The film is very romantic, but it never gets dull or sappy. The ending brilliantly shows the film in its best light, as it's as heart-warming and tragic as the film deserves. Aside from romance, there's a strong comedy element in the film - and the best is often made of that, most notably in the hilarious sequence that sees the in-laws visit our heroine's new house. One thing I love about old films is the way that they show how different things are nowadays - this is best shown here by the fact that, in one scene, Rex Harrison is told off for swearing; after saying 'blast'. Overall, this is an excellent and criminally under seen movie that comes with high recommendations!