The Ghost and Mrs Muir 1947 is a standout ghost film that uses its supernatural elements to deeply explore love and the human spirit, writes WILLIAM BOVE
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TITLE: The Ghost and Mrs Muir
RELEASED: 26 June 1947
DIRECTOR: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
CAST: Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, George Sanders, Edna Best, Vanessa Brown, Anna Muir, Anna Lee, Natalie Wood, Robert Coote, Isobel Elsom, Victoria Horne, Whitford Kane, Stuart Holmes
The Ghost and Mrs Muir 1947 Review
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is a classic example of prime Gothic Romantic beauty in literature and film. Based on the novel by Irish writer Josephine Leslie in 1945 and brought to life on the silver screen in 1947, the story is not a classic because of tired elements belonging to an era of cinema long since forgotten. It is a classic because it brings to life the most important elements of existence and what it means to be human, in beautiful detail and tender expression.
The film takes these elements and bares them to us with the utmost vulnerability and the sincerest tenderness in humanity. The story becomes a living entity, with the actors merely vessels for the true soul of what matters most in everything that gives rise to life in the human spirit, from the very place life originates within us.
The soul is where we draw the richest fruits. Biting into them, we taste what is naturally born from them, the flavours filling our veins and teaching us about all the things that make life so important to live. Lucy Muir, a widow played by Gene Tierney, arrives at Gull Cottage in the 1900s – a picturesque English seaside cliff hosting an aged manor brought to life by its surroundings, with the ocean giving the entire place a soul. Lucy comes seeking healing and peace.
The cottage and sea reflect Mrs. Muir’s isolation in her grief and her family’s decision to prevent her from retreating to Gull Cottage. She is truly alone in her sadness, cut off from her family. Yet, she has chosen a place of tranquillity and beauty, and so possibilities surround her, along with an eerie mystique, as Gull Cottage is reported to be haunted.
Captain Daniel Gregg, played by Rex Harrison, used to live there. A sea captain and a roguish man by nature, he is believed to have committed suicide, which lends credibility to the haunting.
One lonely night, Lucy Muir, suspecting the ghostly presence of the Captain, and at the peak of her fear, yet trying to hide it well, calls out to the spirit, daring and taunting him to reveal himself. “I know you’re here. What’s wrong? Are you afraid to speak up? Who ever heard of a cowardly ghost? Is that all you’re good for, frightening women?” She then adopts a casual, collected, and strong manner, telling him that as long as the demonstration is over, he is not to bother her while she boils water for tea.
The Captain makes his presence known and speaks directly to her: “Light the candle.” Lucy suggests she can’t as long as he keeps blowing out the flame. The Captain continues, “Light the blasted candle.” She does so, then turns to light the wall and corner behind her. The ghost of the Captain comes into view.
She sees him just as she would see anyone standing there. Overtaken by the sight and the realisation that there is indeed a ghost and that the supernatural is as real as we are in this world, she slowly retreats, feeling for something to steady herself as she sits down. Lucy then asks for a little time to grasp the situation and the Captain.
Gene Tierney expresses all of this in the span of a single moment. Her gift for improvisation and devotion to the role are astounding in her performance. Her ability to convey complex vulnerability and versatility draws the audience in immediately, making us instantly relate to the character’s experiences, no matter how fantastical they may seem or how foreign they are to our own.
She champions the ability to provide the audience with a rich and all-consuming reference point, allowing us not just to keep up with the character and the film but to discover something new in the human experience and in her performance each time.
Gene Tierney is not the heart and soul of the movie all by herself, though she is a powerhouse and a force of acting on her own. She is joined by another powerhouse in Rex Harrison, who I kept expecting to burst into Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady. Instead, he gives a beautiful performance as the ghost of a man who is true in heart, despite his seaside salty manner and roguish bearing. Mrs. Muir’s money eventually runs out, and she is set to leave the cottage.
The Captain initially wants it for wayward sailors, but the strength of her convictions and her delight in the cottage convince him to let her stay. They talk, and he agrees to reveal himself to her and only to her. From here, a series of conversations blossoms between them, along with the seeds of true love.
The Captain comes up with the idea of having his memoirs written through Mrs. Muir, assuring her that the book will be published and she will earn enough money to stay, support herself, and make a living.
The book is to be called Blood and Swash, a captivating and magnetic tale of the Captain’s life. While writing the book, she and the Captain fall deeply in love, a love that cannot be because she is alive and he, on the surface, is merely a ghost, but underneath, a wonderful and heartfelt man deeply in love with a woman who inspires him. Sadly, the two decide their love cannot be.
Lucy has the book published, and her publisher follows her back to the cottage, professing his love for her. They fall passionately for each other, leading the Captain to make a dreadful vow to leave, not wishing to stand in the way of Lucy’s happiness. In his final act, while Lucy sleeps, the Captain whispers to her that the book Blood and Swash was all her idea and that her time with him and all they meant to each other was but a dream.
Lucy discovers that her publisher is married with children, and she severs the relationship—a discovery made during a surprise visit to London.
Lucy returns to the cottage with a broken heart. Growing to old age, she takes ill and passes away, her last words expressing her tiredness. Only to be greeted by the voice of the Captain once more, the first thing she had heard at their first meeting, other than being aware of his presence: “You will never be tired again,” he says to her.
Taking her hands in his, he escorts her away from Gull Cottage, and they pass into their love for each other and the afterlife forever. I love this movie.
It’s a wonderful example of Gothic Romanticism, featuring all the rich descriptions of the genre, inspiring to the soul and a reminder of all that matters to being human and to life itself.
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