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Blithe Spirit
Sun, Oct 2 | 7:30pm | TMT
Adapted from playwright Noël Coward’s 1941 smash stage production, Blithe Spirit finds comedy in skepticism, supernatural events, and the marital woes of a man who acciden- tally conjures the spirit of his first wife, much to the chagrin of his second. For this filmed version, producers called on Kay Hammond and Margaret Rutherford to reprise their iconic roles as the ghostly, snarky Elvira and the hilarious, ineffectual “clairvoyant” Madame Arcati for Lean’s first comedic outing as a director. With Blithe Spirit , British artist Thomas Howard won his first Academy Award for Special Effects, rendered in otherworldly Technicolor by multi-Oscar-nominated cinematographer Ronald Neame.
DIRECTOR: David Lean.
WRITTEN BY: David Lean, Ronald Neame, Anthony Havelock-Allan. CAST: Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, Kay Hammond, Margaret Rutherford.
1945. 96 min. UK. Color. English. 35mm.
A restoration by the BFI National Archive in association with ITV funded by the David Lean Foundation.
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Sun, Oct 9 | 7:30pm | TMT
Marking one of cinematographer Charles Lang’s 18 Academy Award nominations for Cinematography, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir employs stunning, moody black-and- white photography to realistically express the budding connection between the titular "ghost," played with an excess of snark and vulgarity by Rex Harrison, and Gene Tierney's headstrong Mrs. Muir. Regarded by composer Bernard Herrmann himself as one of his finest, the film's haunting, sweeping score carries throughout this heart-rending period romance, crafted lovingly by Joseph L. Mankiewicz in his second year as a director.
DIRECTOR: Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
WRITTEN BY: Philip Dunne.
CAST: Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, George Sanders, Edna Best.
1947. 104 min. USA. B&W. English. 35mm.
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