BLITHE SPIRIT (1956).

Noel Coward and Claudette Colbert

BLITHE SPIRIT on Ford Star Jubilee Season One, episode five (1956). Director: Noel Coward. LIVE. 

Charles Condomine (Noel Coward of The Astonished Heart) and his second wife, Ruth (Claudette Colbert of Thunder on the Hill), invite the medium Madame Arcati (Mildred Natwick of A Woman's Vengeance) to their home for a seance. Unwittingly the somewhat vague Arcati summons up the ghost of Charles' first wife, Elvira (Lauren Bacall of Sex and the Single Girl), who can be seen by Charles but is invisible to Ruth. Eventually Ruth acknowledges that Elvira truly exists and is occupying their home, and schemes to send her back to the ether. Meanwhile Elvira is scheming to have Charles join her forever in the "hereafter," but her plans may go awry ... 

Coward with Lauren Bacall

This live TV adaptation of Noel Coward's famous very dark comedy is worth seeking out as it's quite funny and wonderfully acted by all. Coward, of course, knows just how to handle this material, and while she might seem like a lightweight in this company, Bacall is much better than expected as Elvira. Then we have Colbert, proving again what an acting powerhouse she is as Ruth -- she nearly walks off with the whole show. In one of her earliest roles Marion Ross of Happy Days and Lizzie is wonderful as the frenetic maid, Edith, and there are fine turns by Philip Tonge as Dr. Bradford and Brenda Forbes as his wife. Mildred Natwick is so good as Madame Arcati that she almost makes you forget Margaret Rutherford's superb portrayal of Arcati in the 1945 film version. Can one detect a definite if unintentional note of misogyny in this play -- possibly -- as at least one of these women certainly doesn't deserve her fate. One can imagine Condomine going off to the nearest gay beach when the play is over!

Verdict: Exciting, beautifully-acted live theater on TV! ***1/2. 

LIZZIE

Eleanor Parker and Richard Boone

LIZZIE (1957). Director: Hugo Haas.

Elizabeth (Eleanor Parker of Home for the Holidays) is a timid soul who works in a museum and receives threatening notes from someone named "Lizzie." Then Elizabeth begins hitting the bars at night, wearing sexy clothing and make-up, and affecting a lascivious attitude. A helpful neighbor, Walter (Haas), who is friends with Elizabeth's slatternly Aunt Morgan (Jane Blondell of Advance to the Rear), with whom she lives, suggests she see a psychiatrist named Neal (Richard Boone). Neal is able to determine that Elizabeth has three distinct personalities, but which one will emerge as the dominant one? I'm not certain how Eleanor Parker wound up in this B movie knock-off of The Three Faces of Eve (also released in 1957), but she gives a good performance, and the rest of the cast are all solid. Lizzie equates sexuality with "evil" in some ways, and Parker's least convincing moments are when she turns into a nostril-flaring decadent "Lizzie," eschewing a less subtle way of making each personality distinct. But it works for this movie, which is professionally done but kind of cheap and depressing. Marion Ross and John Reach each make an impression as, respectively, Elizabeth's co-worker and a man she dates as Lizzie. Johnny Mathis also makes an impression playing a pianist/singer in a saloon; he has no dialogue. As an actor, Haas also appeared in Summer Storm and others.

Verdict: Entertaining enough but lurid and unpleasant. **1/2.