The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

Though he wasn’t alway the most versatile of actors, hats off to Rex Harrison here as he does all but cry out “thar she blows” as he delivers an amiably blustering performance as his own ghost! You see, the recently widowed “Mrs. Muir” or “Lucia” (Gene Tierney) as she becomes known, and her daughter are a bit down on their luck and so decide to leave the home of her in-laws (whom she really can’t stand, anyway) and move to the seaside. Despite some dire warnings from the estate agent, she arrives at an house that she knows is haunted. No sooner has she closed the door, than “Capt. Gregg” manifests himself and explains his extreme displeasure that they have moved in. Not only had he wanted his home to be a place for retired sailors, he was also narked that everyone assumed he killed himself rather than just having had a dodgy encounter with his gas fire. Anyway, after a great deal of enjoyably sarcastic and nautical banter between herself and the seaman (a sailor is only a term used by landlubbers, you understand) it becomes quite clear that both have met their match and that an inter-dimensional romance of sorts is bound to blossom. Or will it? Well there might be a fly in the ointment in the form of married writer “Fairley” (George Sanders) who has his eye on the fair widow, but what chance he against a gnarly ghost? Add to this enjoyably acerbic mix some decency from housekeeper “Martha” (Edna Best) and we have a tightly cast and really quite entertaining battle of wits, of the sexes and of sheer bloody-mindedness that does, sadly, descend a little into slush at times, but not often enough to detract from the antics of these three mischievous characters. It's not quite up to his “Blithe Spirit” (1948) but it’s a close run thing.