The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

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:

One of a small handful of films produced by 20th Century-Fox which does *not* use the fanfare of trumpets with the opening logo. (All About Eve (1950), Sounder (1972), and The Sound of Music (1965) are others.) The moody and lovely opening music is by the film's composer, Bernard Herrmann.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At the beach, a man carves Anna Muir's name into a post buried in the shore and much is made of the fact that every ship passing by will see it forever. But the side of the post he carves her name in faces inland, meaning no one on a passing ship will ever see it. The name wasn't carved into both sides, either - Anna's mother Mrs. Muir has to walk around to inland side to see it.

Quotes:

Captain Daniel Gregg: You must make your own life amongst the living and, whether you meet fair winds or foul, find your own way to harbor in the end.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "My World and Welcome to It: The Ghost and Mr. Monroe (#1.6)" (1969)

I discovered it because of the music, but love it for the story

I discovered this movie when a friend recommended that I listen to a recording of the score - by the vernerable Bernard Herrmann - and his score is indeed fine! But what keeps me coming back to this film is its heart and soul - and it is odd to be able to say that about a very proper Victorian mannered tale. It is a carefully structured story that would really be well suited for the stage. In particular, I love the comic relief in this film and its colourful supporting characters. Our heroine, Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney), is blithely courageous, though naive and against all advice lets a cottage on a bluff overlooking the ocean. The location is eerily remote and I'm continually struck by how spooky the setting is in the plain, bright light of day. The ghost of Captain Gregg (Rex Harrison) is at first brash and frightening but we come to find that he is a salt of the earth man of high principles.

Get over slick and callow modern film making and take a few steps back in time to watch this most charming and romantic of love stories well told on all sides: an ornate confection of a story, carefully and lovingly photographed, acted with aplomb and riding on top of a musical score that is as moving and powerful as the tides that beat throughout this film.

I find a personal connection to this story in that it takes me back to the days I lived on a northern island that was similarly beautiful though tinged with the bittersweet loneliness of a remote place awash in the deep undercurrents of sorrow and melancholy.