Product Details

• Actors: Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, Kay Hammond, Margaret Rutherford, Hugh Wakefield
• Directors: David Lean
• Producers: Blithe Spirit
• Format: Import, PAL
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Carlton
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000LQN1BI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #386,182 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Mono ), English ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Black & White, Interactive Menu, SYNOPSIS: The Noel Coward/David Lean combination which turned out such dramas as Brief Encounter and This Happy Breed sets its sights on the viewer's funny bone with Blithe Spirit. Rex Harrison plays a novelist, newly married to straight-laced Constance Cummings. While researching a book on spiritualism, Harrison is teased and tormented by the mischievous ghost of his first wife, Kay Hammond. Believing that Hammond wants to ruin his marriage, Harrison enlists the services of local medium Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford in her funniest performance). When Arcati fails to exorcise Hammond's spirit, Harrison decides to kill himself so that he can be reunited with her and spare wife number two the aggravation of being haunted. But Harrison's plans go awry: His second wife is killed, and now he has two playful spirits on his hands! Technicolor is used throughout Blithe Spirit, with the ghosts' shimmering paleness providing contrast to the plain, everyday colors of Harrison's conservative country home. Blithe Spirit was later transformed into the Broadway musical High Spirits, with the original script bent out of shape to turn the character of Madame Arcati (played by Beatrice Lillie) into the leading role. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Oscar Academy Awards, ...Blithe Spirit

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classy Noel Coward Classic, December 14, 2001

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blithe Spirit [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Noel Coward's popular stage comedy BLITHE SPIRIT comes to the screen with considerable charm and notable performances from Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, and Margaret Rutherford in this fantasy of a married man whose seance party inadverdently summons up the ghost of his first wife--who promptly moves in, turning him into an "astrial bigamist."

The Coward script, which zips along with cool one liners, is well played in the best British 'throw-away' tradition, quick, light, and more than a little acid. Harrison is neatly cast as the hag-ridden husband, Cummings is particularly charming as the terse second wife, and Dame Margaret Rutherford steals the show as the slightly dotty medium who conjures up the ghost of Harrison's first wife and then can't get rid of her. Fans of cool English comedy will enjoy it considerably; others, however, may find it all a bit too restrained for their tastes.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect, January 16, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Blithe Spirit (DVD)

This is a review of the script, acting and direction; not of the DVD. This is vintage, brittle Coward. It will obviously not appeal to young, brash kids, who will not be able to believe that English people between the two World Wars actually spoke, thought and behaved like this. However, they did. Or some of them did. In fact, I can remember them doing it: they were just exactly like the older members of my own family. The writing is brilliant, precise and accurate. Strange as it may seem, there actually were people like Madame Arcati: eccentric English spinsters repeating the mannerisms and slang of their schooldays. The plotting is extremely clever: you continually wonder how Coward is going to keep the plates spinning in the air, and are constantly surprised at his deftness and dexterity. The lines are poised and sharp, if slightly one-note. The direction is faultless, but then this kind of play almost directs itself. I feel sorry for those who cannot appreciate the theatrical skills displayed in this performance, or the verbal and mental adroitness being displayed. Modern film technology and techniques are no substitutes.

30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What a shame! Wait for a better transfer., October 22, 2001

By 

Jill Kalter (Malibu, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blithe Spirit (DVD)

I purchased this DVD without ever having seen the movie, but I figured I couldn't go wrong with David Lean, Rex Harrison, and Noel Coward. Unfortunately, I didn't take DVD production values (or lack thereof) into consideration.

This is probably a wonderful movie, but the DVD is unwatchable. The sound is absolutely abysmal. I wasn't able to make out Noel Coward's dialog at all. Don't bother getting this DVD; wait for a better transfer.