With dirk bogarde, rosemary harris, rachel roberts, ruth gordon. Rex harrison plays a novelist, newly married to straightlaced constance cummings. Bird thou never wert in the poem to a skylark by percy bysshe shelley. Blithe spirit and sweeney todd for idaho shakespeare festival. And i just feel like its more difficult and impressive to right something supernatural meant for the stage. Since its premiere, blithe spirit has been revived countless times. A blithe spirit is a freespirited fish out of water who goes to straitlaced land and shakes things up there despite the insistence of everyone else that the way things are cant possibly be changed common variants of this character include. Blithe spirit was first performed in london in 1941 and, despite the passing of time, noel cowards humor feels as fresh as it did 76 years ago. The haunting history of noel cowards blithe spirit. Region 1 playable in north america the us, canada, mexico, etc. Blithe spirit by noel coward blithe spirits themes blithe spirit love is a big theme in blithe spirit. While it was noted that the writing still works in. While it was noted that the writing still works in the movie though slightly less so than.
A mystery novelist invites a medium over for dinner in the hopes of gathering enough material for his latest book, as well as exposing her as a fake. What a perfect defense mechanism against the harsh realities england faced during world war ii. Second nights performance complete with a few glitches but the only night it could be recorded. The london production of blithe spirit ran for a record 1,997. Medium madame arcati tries to help things out by contacting the ghost. Lansbury set things right, however, with her 2009 broadway turn as madame arcati in the revival of cowards blithe spirit, which won her one more tony award for best featured actress. Apparently, just having robin williams appear in your movie at all causes blithe spirit. The revival of noel cowards classic comedy blithe spirit featuring an array of stars from the worlds of stage and screen officially opens at broadways shubert theatre march 15 at 7 pm. You can buy print copies of the play from samuel french, the.
Newlymarried mystery novelist charles condomine rex harrison and his second wife ruth constance cummings are haunted by the ghost of his first wife, elvira kay hammond. A film version of blithe spirit was released in 1945. Murder she wrote actor to reprise role of madame arcati in production of noel cowards blithe spirit published. Noel cowards play blithe spirit with margaret rutherford 1892 1972, cecil parker 1897 1971, ruth reeves, fay compton 1894 1978 and kay hammond all sharing a scene at the piccadilly theatre, london. It was a play involving ghosts and seances and the supernatural. As does mork and mindy 1978 1982 one could say his role in the law and order svu episode authority is a dark version of this. The playgoer, having seen a performance and turning now to the book, may discover that in the acting version some lines, and in certain cases short scenes, are missing. See more ideas about 1940s fashion, vintage fashion and vintage outfits. Charles and his second wife ruth are haunted by the spirit of his first wife, elvira. Blithe spirit revival, with lansbury, ebersole and. Blithe spirit is a 1945 british fantasycomedy film directed by david lean. The play concerns the socialite and novelist charles condomine, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant, madame arcati, to his house to conduct a seance, hoping to gather material for his next book.
Richard has designed sound for numerous theaters in the area and around the country. The poster for david leans 1945 film adaptation of blithe spirit. Unfollow blithe spirit dvd to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. But when it comes to supernatural comedies starring rex harrison, i much prefer joseph l. Rex harrison is an acerbic author haunted by the ghost of first wife elvira kay. Things go decidedly not as planned when she summons. Blithe spirit article about blithe spirit by the free. It also did well on broadway, running for 657 performances. While its the directors only comedy, the result is a delightful gem. Buy tickets online now or find out more with london theatreland. The noel cowarddavid lean combination which turned out such dramas as brief encounter and this happy breed sets its sights on the viewers funny bone with blithe spirit. The film is quite short ninety minutes in length but the action zips by at a great lick, proving once and for all if we did not already know it that blithe spirit is noel cowards greatest play, and remains indestructible, seventyfive years after its stage premiere. Blithe spirit is david leans 1945 film adaptation of a comical threeact play by noel coward.
Mar 27, 2012 written in five or six days in 1941, in a seaside hotel where he had gone to get away from the blitz, and by all accounts scarcely revised before being mounted some six weeks later, noel cowards blithe spirit became londons great stage hit of the war years. Blithe spirit play, a 1941 comic play written by noel coward. Rex harrison, constance cummings, kay hammond, margaret rutherford. Blithe spirit, in keeping with wartime morals, is much tamer, resembling cowards more benign works, hay fever and present laughter.
The plays the thing in a fine noel coward revival 4 5 stars 4 out of 5 stars. It also turned out to be the high point of his charmed career as a playwright, which despite his unflappable productivity would ebb. Blithe spirit 5 stars hay fever 4 stars private lives 3 stars blithe spirit, i really loved. Male actors will be asked to read the part of charles. In the spring of 1941, as londoners endured the blitz, superstar playwright noel coward slipped away to wales to work on a new script. Sound designer, two seasons at great lakes theater. At the start of the play when charles and ruth speak. Recent sound designs include sweeney todd and guys and dolls for great lakes theater. Blithe spirit tv movie 1978 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. The original production lasted for 1,997 performances, breaking the record at the time for the longest running production of a straight play in the west end. Noel cowards play blithe spirit with margaret rutherford.
Blithe spirit, david leans delightful film version of noel cowards theater sensation onstage, it broke london boxoffice records before hitting broadway, stars rex harrison as a novelist who cheekily invites a medium margaret rutherford to his house to conduct a seance, hoping the experience will inspire a book hes working on. Angela lansbury shows why 89 is the new 40 in this consummate broadway and west end revival of the noel coward classic legend has it that noel coward wrote blithe spirit in six days on a trip to. Angela lansbury is on sparkling form in blithe spirit, one of noel cowards most inventive comedies. Mar 15, 2009 the revival of noel cowards classic comedy blithe spirit featuring an array of stars from the worlds of stage and screen officially opens at broadways shubert theatre march 15 at 7 pm. The ghost kay hammond of a novelists rex harrison first wife visits him and his second wife. Fred richter, kathy godby, kathy becker, kathie marathon, bill adamson, barbara homen, peggy. The play blithe spirit by noel coward is still under, and thus free digital copies are not available legally. The screenplay by lean, cinematographer ronald neame and associate producer anthony havelockallan is based on producer noel cowards 1941 play of the same name, the title of which is derived from the line hail to thee, blithe spirit. Via a seance, harrison accidentally summons the spirit of his first wife, kay hammond.
Blithe spirit written by noel coward bench theatre. The film starred constance cummings, rex harrison, kay hammond, and margaret rutherford. It set a new longrun record for nonmusical british plays of 1,997 performances for its west end run, which started that year. Already ongoing is summer holiday until october 5, pft, the musical version of the 1963 cliff richard film, while also imminent is noel cowards blithe spirit until september 28, pft, the supernatural comedy in which a novelists dead wife is conjured up during a seance. The original broadway production of blithe spirit written by noel coward opened at the morosco theater on november 5, 1941, ran for six hundred fiftyseven performances, and closed on june 5, 1943. See more ideas about 1930s fashion, vintage outfits and vintage fashion. Things go decidedly not as planned when she summons the spirit of his dead first wife, a severe inconvenience for his current one. Noel cowards blithe spirit playfully mocks the traditions of love and marriage. Aug 26, 2017 bitou amateur theatrical society presents blithe spirit by noel coward. Presented by the savannah lakes village playhouse produced and directed by fred richter starring. Blithe spirit author is a crossword puzzle clue that we have spotted 1 time.
Overview for angela lansbury turner classic movies. Though fashion and fads have changed, this improbable farce by coward lives on, much like its ghostly protagonists. Never content to rest on her laurels, a 20092010 performance in sondheims a little night music earned her yet another tony nod. An american abroad, usually in the theme park version of europe a magical nanny in a strict household a manic pixie dream girl. Blithe spirit 1945 david lean synopsis, characteristics. Blithe spirit 1945 film, a british comedy film based on the play. With graham armitage, erica rogers, sandra duncan, patricia sanders. This is the complete text for the blithe spirit as mr. Noel cowards favourite play, blithe spirit, was certainly a departure for david lean, best known at the time for adapting dickens. With rex harrison, constance cummings, kay hammond, margaret rutherford.