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Friday December 13th 2024

Blithe Spirit | 1945

Ah, remember the days when great writers such as Noël Coward could express themselves without recourse to bad language?

“You just fucked up the best thing I ever wrote.” as Coward said, on seeing David Lean’s adaptation of his play.

The marriage of Charles Condomine (Rex Harrison) is threatened by the appearance of the ghost of his former wife Elvira (Kay Hammond, coated in dreadful green make-up). Margaret Rutherford steals the show as enthusiastic medium Madame Arcati.

As was the usual practice, the exterior location chosen was conveniently close to the (since demolished) studios at the village of Denham in Buckinghamshire. Madame Arcati’s house is Fairway, on Cheapside Lane opposite Ashmead Lane, Denham, north of Uxbridge.