Classic 40s Movie: “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”
September is Classic 40s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Annie Wood.
Title: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Year: 1947
Writer: Philip Dunne from the novel by R.A. Dick
Lead Actors: Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Plot Summary: In 1900, a young widow finds her seaside cottage is haunted and forms a unique relationship with the ghost.
Why I Think This Is A Classic 40s Movie
This movie has haunted me since my youth. I think the haunting feeling is not just because of the haunting in the storyline. After watching it again I realize what it was that made such an impression. It was the sea, the house, the music, the feisty free spirited Lucy Muir and because of the romance of it all. (It could also partly be the 1968 TV show, written by Gene Holloway, that followed the film that helped fuel my interest in this tale of an ornery dead sea captain and the beautiful, very much alive young widow.) I’ve since written about spirits in my own scripts and I actually married a sailor in real life, so, go figure. Was it because I was attracted to these things from the get go, thus my love of the film? Or was it the film that influenced my choices in life? I’ll never know. But here’s what I do know… this film has everything that I love about films from the 40s. Witty repertoire, a leading woman with chutzpah and love, sweet love. Not even one minute into the film and our lovely lead, Lucy Muir, played by Gene Tierney, states her plan to leave her clingy, deceased husband’s mother and sister to live a life of her own and I’m already rooting for her. This film is a romance for romantics who enjoy humor mixed with magical elements. It’s also for everyone else.
My Favorite Moment In The Movie
The almost kiss!
Capt. Daniel Gregg: You had a face full of freckles. You still do.
Lucy Muir: Seven of them and I’m told they’re quite becoming.
Cant Daniel Gregg: That they are.
He leans in. She leans in. They’re just about to finally kiss… we can feel what we imagine they must be feeling… the heat, the tenderness, so close and yet… they don’t kiss. Because, well, he’s a ghost, so I guess she would have fallen right through him or something.
My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie
Lucy: Haunted. How perfectly fascinating!
Lucy: If you insist on haunting me you should at least be more agreeable about it!
Being a sailor myself, I’m a sucker for sailing metaphors…
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.
Real happiness is worth almost any risk. But be careful there may be breakers ahead.
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie
Her crazy feather hat on the train. You can’t miss it.
Rex Harrison embraces the occasional over-the-topness brand of acting from the 40s. In this dramedy/romance he manages many subtler moments. His softness in those moments land beautifully. In the middle of act two, after an important back and forth between our leads where they are clearly falling for one another but neither one are admitting it, she says, ‘goodnight and he replies, ‘good night.’ She leaves the room and he whispers to himself ‘my dear.’ It’s perfection.
I care about both the captain and Lucy a great deal. I have no idea how a living person can manage a relationship with a ghost but I want this movie to figure it out.
(Spoilerish Alert) Then… she meets the very forward writer, Miles Fairley and she’s smitten.
Lucy Muir: You’ve been watching me bathe!
Miles Fairley: But always from a respectable distance.
They fall for one another quickly, the captain is jealous but, after all, Miles is, as Lucy puts it, “real.” And that point seems like a crucial component in lasting love. As a viewer, I’m conflicted. I want Lucy, or “Lucia” as the captain prefers to call her (it’s the name of an amazon or a queen, he says) but then again, this Miles guy is kind of cute and interesting, so… maybe this could work. No, no, I love the captain and so does, “Lucia.” Right? (Watch the movie!)
Ah, the ending. The lovely, lovely ending.
The lush musical score by famed composer Bernard Hermann:
The movie’s original trailer:
And the pilot of the TV version of “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”:
Thanks, Annie! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
We already have a set of classic 5os movies, 60s Movies, 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 40s movies. And thanks to the GITS community, we’ve got 30 movies in the works, one for each day of the month!
Those who I put in bold have already sent me their posts. If you haven’t sent yours to me, please do so as soon as you can!!!
Act of Violence — Eric Rodriguez
Arsenic and Old Lace — Katha
Bicycle Thieves — Megaen Kelly
Brief Encounter — Emily Bonkoski
Casablanca — Paul Graunke
Double Indemnity — Susan Winchell
Five Graves to Cairo — Jeff Gibson
Foreign Correspondent — Doc Kane
His Girl Friday — John Henderson
It’s a Wonderful Life — David Laudenslager
Key Largo — Will King
Laura — Melinda Mahaffey Icden
Les enfants du paradis — Brendan Howley
Mrs. Miniver — Traci Nell Peterson
Notorious — Christine Henton
Now Voyager — Melissa Privette
Out of the Past — Brantley Aufill
Rope — Lance Morgan
The Bank Dick — Bob Saenz
The Best Years of Their Lives — Shaun Parker
The Big Sleep — Ipsita Barik
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir — Annie Wood
The Long Voyage Home — Vincent Martini
The Lost Weekend — Liz Warner
The Maltese Falcon — Roy Gordon
The Ox-Bow Incident — Clay Mitchell
The Philadelphia Story — Kristen Demaline
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock — David Joyner
The Third Man — Harry Cooke
To Have and Have Not — Felicity Flesher
Thanks to everyone who steps up for this ongoing project!
For the original post explaining the series, go here.
For all of the 40s movies featured in the series, go here.
Click REPLY and see you in comments about today’s classic 40s movie!