BLITHE SPIRIT

Margaret Rutherford as Madame Arcati

BLITHE SPIRIT (1945). Director: David Lean. Based on the play by Noel Coward, who also produced the film.

To do research for his next book, writer Charles Condomine (Rex Harrison) and his wife Ruth (Constance Cummings) invite well-known psychic Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford) to dinner and a seance. Everyone at the dinner party thinks the madame is slightly nuts, and definitely a phony, but to Charles and Ruth's surprise she inadvertently manages to call back the spirit of Elvira (Kay Hammond) -- Charles' first wife, leading to expected -- and a few unexpected -- complications! 

Rex Harrison

One critic called the source material for the movie, the play of the same title by Noel Coward, "a wearying  exhibition of bad taste" and indeed it is the sort of dark comedy/farce in which tragic situations are milked for laughs and characters sort of suppress natural human emotions for the sake of the story. Many will feel there's a definite streak of (probably benign and possibly unintended) misogyny running through the movie as well. Harrison and Cummings are fine as the husband and his second wife, but Kay Hammond -- although her performance isn't bad -- has so affected and unnatural a voice, with its jutting lower lip and distasteful inflections, that she becomes positively repulsive as Elvira. Margaret Rutherford, on the other hand, is as delightful as ever as the medium and steals the movie from everyone else. Blithe Spirit is not exactly a laugh-riot (although any pathos the situations might have had goes unexplored) but it is amusing and entertaining. A bonus on the remastered DVD of the film is an interview with Coward scholar Barry Day, who provides much interesting information  on the background both of the play and movie, and also explores the many differences between the two -- and Coward's reaction to the film as well; Day is marvelous. The play was also turned into the cute if mediocre musical "High Spirits." 

Verdict: Certainly worth a look. ***.

BEHIND THE MASK

BEHIND THE MASK (1932). Director: John Francis Dillon. 

Jack Quinn (Jack Holt) is a secret service agent who goes undercover as a crook, even taking part in a jail break, to expose the identity of a sinister figure, "Mr. X," who heads a criminal organization. If only this were half as much fun as it sounds. Quinn is one of the stupidest Fedeal agents ever put on film. Boris Karloff enlivens things just a bit as one of X's henchmen, and Edward Van Sloan is a cackling doctor also in the employ of X [whose identity comes as absolutely no surprise to anyone]. Constance Cummings isn't bad as the frightened daughter of a doctor (Claude King) who is victimized by the evil mastermind. Bertha Mann is the evil Nurse Edwards, who is always reporting to X. 

Verdict: Any X movie would be better than this! *.

DEAD MAN'S FOLLY

DEAD MAN'S FOLLY (1986 telefilm). Director: Clive Donner.

"Hattie is a completely self-absorbed person. She wouldn't think of sending cough drops to Camille."

Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) is invited by mystery writer Ariadne Oliver (Jean Stapleton) to a fete with a murder game at the estate of Sir George Stubbs (Tim Pigott-Smith) and his dumb, decorative wife Hattie (Nicolette Sheridan), plus a variety of suspicious guests and staff. When the "victim" of the murder game is actually murdered, Inspector Bland (Kenneth Cranham) is called in -- but of course he's no match for Poirot when it comes to solving homicides. Cherubic Ustinov is not as perfect for the role as is David Suchet, but he's still quite good and very entertaining as the Belgian detective. About to get into a boat, he tells Arthur Hastings (Jonathan Cecil) to "Get in first -- Tell me if it's dangerous!" Jean Stapleton is also fine as Oliver, who is turned into an American author ("Ariadne Oliver" was actually an in-joke by Christie meant to be very British Agatha Christie herself). Constance Cummings scores as Mrs. Folliat, who used to own the estate and now lives in (a pretty luxurious) guest cottage. The rest of the large cast is more than competent. This adaptation of one of Christie's best mysteries is at times much too comic in tone, but it is absorbing and generally well-made. In the novel Christie withheld the solution practically until the last paragraph; there was no scene with Poirot gathering together all the suspects, which this telefilm includes for dramatic purposes. Good score by John Addison.

Verdict: The book is better but this is creditable. ***.

MOVIE CRAZY

MOVIE CRAZY (1932.) Director: Clyde Bruckman. NOTE: Some sources lists Harold Lloyd as the director. Bruckman and Lloyd were not the same person.

Although this was silent comedian Lloyd's most successful sound picture, it isn't very good. Lloyd plays an aspiring actor who winds up getting a disastrous screen test only because he inadvertently sent the wrong photo to a movie studio. While this is going on, he runs into a pretty actress, Mary (Constance Cummings) who also romances him in alleged disguise as a Spanish senorita, becoming jealous of herself. Although there are amusing situations and a few mild laughs in the film, the pacing is slow and most of the picture falls flat. The only exception to this is a very funny party sequence during which Lloyd accidentally puts on a magician's jacket instead of his own and causes all kinds of havoc with the rabbits, eggs, toys and mice that come flying out of his pockets. Alas, this isn't enough to save the picture. Lloyd is okay, but Cummings, although she's appealing and certainly has presence, has no real skill as a comedienne. The big elaborate studio tank fight scene that ends the picture is quite well done action-wise, but simply isn't that funny.


Verdict: Stick to the silents. **.