The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) by Julie

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is one of those films I’d happily recommend to friends and family and sit through time and time again whilst others watch it for the first time.  Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz who directed so many other great films, The Barefoot Contessa and Suddenly, Last Summer to name only two, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is a film to be watched by family of all ages.

Set in England, Gene Tierney stars as Mrs. Lucy Muir, a widow who has been without her husband  Edward for a year, and the time has come for her to leave the house she lives in with her In-laws’; Edward’s Mother and Sister. Despite their disapproval of her leaving which really leans toward the bitter and jealous, Lucy remains polite yet assertive whilst explaining to them her choice.

Lucy takes her daughter Anna (played by the very young Natalie Wood) and the housekeeper Martha (Edna Best). The trio move to Whitecliff by the sea and Lucy chooses to rent Gull Cottage, despite warnings from the estate agent that the house is haunted. Lucy thinks the idea of a haunted house is fascinating and goes with her gut instinct to move in.

Lucy confronts the ghost whilst attempting to make her hot water bottle one night in the kitchen, after the stove refuses to light, lamps go out and the window blows open letting in a stormy night;

“I know you’re here…I say I know you’re here. What’s wrong are you afraid? Speak up! Is that all you’re good for? To frighten women? Well I’m not afraid, whoever heard of a cowardly Ghost?”

Upon hearing this we hear a man’s voice telling Lucy to light the candle. Then we see him, he steps out of the shadows, our ghost Captain Daniel Gregg played by Rex Harrison. Tall and dressed smartly in black clothing. He is a sea captain, who was rumoured to have committed suicide in the house years before. But as we learn, he didn’t, it was an accident, and Lucy’s conversation with Mr Gregg is a very humorous one as she tries to get used to the fact she is talking to a ghost, a ghost who wants her to leave. But as she did with her in-laws’, Lucy remains assertive in her decision that she will not leave. Captain Gregg admires her courage and lets her stay.

One of Captain Gregg’s requests in allowing Lucy to stay is that she places his portrait in her bedroom, which Lucy covers up with a blanket whilst getting dressed for bed, as she cannot stand it staring at her.

“M’Dear, never let anyone tell you to be ashamed of your figure!”She hears as she tries to go to sleep!

Lucy starts to pick up on Captain Gregg’s bad language, the use of the word “blasted” being the most common word, and when her in-law’s arrive unexpectedly to try and convince her to come back to London with them she asks them to be good enough to “shove off!”This is hilariously followed by Captain Gregg’s man-handling the two frightened women out of the house!

The reason Lucy was asked to come back to London was because the gold mine Edward had shares in was no longer paying dividends. Now what is she supposed to do for money? Captain Gregg suggests Lucy write a book, “Blood and Swash” about Gregg’s life at sea. Gregg tells Lucy she may call him Daniel and he is to call her Lucia, as Daniel thinks it the name of a Queen.

It’s wonderful to see how the two build this very special friendship, but after the book is written, Daniel tells Lucy she should go out in the world and see people.  At the publishers in London Lucy meets a man named Miles Fairley, and I don’t like him from the start. I think he’s very forward, and his attempts to be smooth come across as plain slimy, why does Lucy let him into her life?

I believe the portrayal of Miles Fairley (George Sanders) is in fact supposed to be this way. Daniel doesn’t like him and warns Lucy about him. Maybe Daniel has a view from the other side, of things Lucy cannot see? But Martha the housekeeper cannot stand him either. I wish Lucy had simply continued keeping company with Daniel. As well as looking out for Lucy’s best interests, Daniel is obviously jealous. Daniel and Lucy have fallen for each other it seems, but Lucy chooses life, and whilst asleep, Daniel talks to her, telling her that she dreamt him up, and the book she wrote which is due for publication, was something she created in her mind from looking around the house at Daniel’s old belongings. It’s sad to see Daniel go.

“What we’ve missed, what we’ve both missed. Goodbye m’darling.” He tells her as she sleeps on.

It seems that the warnings Lucy had about Mr Fairley were right. I had a bad feeling about him myself. When Lucy goes to Fairley’s house after obtaining his address from the publishers, Lucy comes face to face with Fairley’s wife, who explains to Lucy that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Poor Lucy is heartbroken I wish Daniel would return to see her.

The years pass by and Lucy’s daughter Anna now grown up, comes to visit with her new beau, and mentions Captain Gregg to her mother and tries to convince her that he was real, she used to see him too. But Lucy brushes it off. Lucy never remarries, and she remains at Gull Cottage for the remainder of her life, looking at life with a glass half full outlook, until she passes away one night in her chair, an old lady, and finally…Captain Daniel Gregg comes to see her.

“And now you’ll never be tired again” he says to Lucy as she stands up and looks back lovingly at him, a young woman once again, and the two walk out the front door of Gull Cottage, finally reunited.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is such a charming, emotional film. Rex Harrison is absolutely superb and it’s now one of my favorite Gene Tierney films.  I’ve yet to view the TV Series starring Hope Lange which aired in the late 1960’s, but given I loved the film so much I’m sure I’ll give it a shot sometime in future.