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Blithe Spirit [DVD] [1945]
 
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Blithe Spirit [DVD] [1945]

DVD ~ Rex Harrison
4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Customers buy this item with The Ghost And Mrs Muir [DVD] [1947] DVD ~ Gene Tierney

Blithe Spirit [DVD] [1945] + The Ghost And Mrs Muir [DVD] [1947]
Price For Both: £12.06

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Blithe Spirit [DVD] [1945]
52% buy the item featured on this page:
Blithe Spirit [DVD] [1945] 4.8 out of 5 stars (9)
£7.68
Blithe Spirit [DVD] [1945]
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Blithe Spirit [DVD] [1945] 5.0 out of 5 stars (4)
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The Ghost And Mrs Muir [DVD] [1947]
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Product details

  • Actors: Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, Kay Hammond, Margaret Rutherford, Hugh Wakefield
  • Directors: David Lean
  • Writers: Noel Coward, Ronald Neame, David Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan
  • Producers: Noel Coward
  • Format: PAL
  • Language English
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: U
  • Studio: ITV DVD
  • DVD Release Date: 12 May 2003
  • Run Time: 91 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00008YNFZ
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 8,916 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Noel Coward's favourite play, Blithe Spirit, was certainly a departure for David Lean, best known at the time for adapting Dickens. While it's the director's only comedy, the result is a delightful gem. Rex Harrison is an acerbic author haunted by the ghost of first wife Elvira (Kay Hammond), who tries to seduce him all over again. This throws his second wife (Constance Cummings) into a panic, second-guessing her lack of passion. It's a celestial sex romp that hasn't lost its bite. Margaret Rutherford, as always, steals the show as the sardonic medium. --Bill Desowitz

DVD Description

Blithe Spirit is David Lean's 1945 film adaptation of a comical three-act play by Noel Coward. Newly-married mystery novelist Charles Condomine (Rex Harrison) and his second wife Ruth (Constance Cummings) are haunted by the ghost of his first wife, Elvira (Kay Hammond). The film won the Academy Award for Best Effects (Thomas Howard I) in 1947.



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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (2)
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The cheerful dead, 4 Jul 2004
By Sally-Anne "mynameissally" (Leicestershire, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   
This is a film I've loved since I was a child. It only came out on DVD last year, but the film was made in 1945. It must be about 20 years since I last watched it and, I'm pleased to say that it has aged well and I enjoyed it just as much today as I did on all the previous occasions that I watched it. As you would expect in a script created by Noel Coward, it's very clever and very witty. Margaret Rutherford is one of my favourite comic actresses and she's on form in this film, playing a dotty old medium, Madam Arcati, who conjures up the spirit of her client's first wife - and is then quite at a loss to know how to get rid of her. Rex Harrison plays the client: author, Charles Condomine, who arranged for Madam Arcati to have a séance at his home. He's hoping that she's a fraud and he wants to study her methods for the book he's writing. Coward could have written this part for Rex Harrison who plays the part with cool, sharp, intelligent wit. His wives - the first Mrs Condomine, Elvira, played by Kay Hammond and the current Mrs Condomine, Ruth, played by Constance Cummings are both excellent: the naughty, mischievous Elvira taking every opportunity to annoy and upset poor Ruth and get Charles into trouble; the indignant Ruth, in turns angry and exasperated. There's a playful and good natured feel to the film. Elvira's more teasing than spiteful; Ruth is never pushed too far and Charles quite enjoys having both his wives with him - if only they could get on nicely together.

I think it's probably fair to call this film a 'classic' of its kind. I'm so pleased to have found it available on DVD. It's just the thing to cheer up a wet Sunday afternoon. I recommend it.

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33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless classic, 8 Nov 2004
By dragondrums "dragondrums" (Ingleby Barwick, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This is British filmmaking at it's best. No matter that this was made in 1945, it still entertains today.
The movie is based on a play by Noel Coward and centres around an author (Rex Harrison) who, with his second wife (Constance Cummings)invites a medium to perform a seance in his home. His intention is to perform research for a novel he is writing but the medium, brilliantly played by Margaret Rutherford, unwittingly raises the spirit of his deceased first wife,Elvira.
From then on, the unfortunate man is caught between his warring wives. The battle is all played out with humour, as is the hapless authors efforts to get the medium to get rid of Elvira.
This is a movie that is well worth watching and funny for any age group.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Dame Margaret Rutherford at her very best!, 8 April 2007
By FAMOUS NAME (UNITED KINGDOM) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      

Undoubtedly Dame Margaret Rutherford's greatest movie - looking surprisingly young, slim and energetic, and with a waistline of someone half her age! Here she plays the somewhat 'cranky' and eccentric Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's hilarious comedy. Also stars a plummy-voiced Kay Hammond whose voice can get a little irritating after awhile. The marvellous Joyce Carey who was blessed with perennial youth plays the hapless Mrs. Bradman, who is always putting her foot in it! Constance Cummings and Rex Harrison play the unfortunate married couple who are haunted by the ghost of a previous dead spouse - Harrison playing very much himself here, and with an uncannily resemblance to the character 'Higgins' that he was to play some twenty years later in 'My Fair Lady'; conceited and nauseatingly arrogant...

One of the best scenes in this classic that stands out far from the rest with some great dialogue, is when Mrs. Condomine pays a visit to Madame Arcati, demanding she be rid of her husband's previous wife's ghost. This turns into a fiery exchange of some great home truths for both characters! An interesting point is the drama of this - craftily slipped in the middle of an otherwise complete 'comic' movie. Very cleverly done!

This film has some marvellous special effects for its day, in particular, Rutherford's extremely long finger, and the clever shot of Constance Cummings running upstairs, and seemingly passing straight through Kay Hammond's ghostly apparition! All done in glorious Technicolor!

A gem not to be missed!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing and charming!
I watched this film the other afternoon on television and was spellbound. The film quality is good and the story is both hilarious and engrossing, I was shocked to see that it was... Read more
Published 4 months ago by R. Empson

5.0 out of 5 stars HOW TO MAKE A COMEDY
Blithe Spirit [1945]

MARGARET RUTHERFORD IS UNFORGETTABLE IN THE ROLE OF THE MEDIUM MADAM ARCATI BRINGING CONFUSION THE HOUSEHOLD OF REX HARRISON AND CONSTANCE... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. J. E. Thorpe

4.0 out of 5 stars Rex Harrison's Best Film
"You're almost as good as me!" Noel Coward is reported to have remarked to Rex Harrison. There's no way to compare Coward with Harrison in the play now but Harrison was almost... Read more
Published on 14 Jul 2006 by Paul Mason

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Version of This Material Ever Done ( Warning: Plenty of Spoilers)
If nothing else, the film gets the ending right. On stage, BLITHE SPIRIT ends with Charles Condomine's two wives having a catfight beyond the grave while he sweeps out in all of... Read more
Published on 18 April 2006 by Matthew Patton

4.0 out of 5 stars Light and frothy
Having recently acted in an amateur production of Blithe Spirit, I can tell you that it's a whole lot more difficult to pull off with panache than it appears in this filmed... Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2004 by Andy Millward

5.0 out of 5 stars Spookily Splendid! Another Lean Film Classic!
This is a masterpiece of comic genius!

The whole premise is literally out of this world. Read more
Published on 8 Jul 2003 by hmcni

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