While holding a séance for skeptical novelist Charles Condomine, self-proclaimed 'spiritualist medium' Madame Arcati inadvertently summons the spirit of his deceased first wife Elvira, leading to an increasingly complex love triangle with Ruth, his current wife of five years.
Acting
Margaret Rutherford's Madame Arcati steals every scene.
Direction
Lean makes ghost effects feel effortless and magical.
Writing
Coward's dialogue remains razor-sharp eighty years later.
Director
David Lean
Rex Harrison
Charles Condomine
Constance Cummings
Ruth Condomine
Kay Hammond
Elvira Condomine
Margaret Rutherford
Madame Arcati
Hugh Wakefield
Dr. George Bradman
Joyce Carey
Violet Bradman
Jacqueline Clarke
Edith
Marie Ault
Cook (uncredited)
Johnnie Schofield
R.A.C. Man Directing Traffic (uncredited)
Noël Coward
Narrator (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Noël Coward wrote the play in five days during the Blitz, reportedly to cheer himself up.
This was David Lean's first comedy; he later called it the only film he made purely for money, which is hilarious given its enduring charm.
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