*** Read my review of the new film and my article about both Blithe Spirits ***
One day someone will remake Noël Coward’s afterlife comedy with a diverse cast, setting it 100 years in the future in an off-licence in Blyth in Northumberland.
This new version of Blithe Spirit – which isn’t it – is unlikely to put a rocket up the rear end of British filmmaking, though it looks good fun.
It comes complete with Dame Judi Dench, after all, and may well help summon back both theatrical turbans and seances.
Dan Stevens is Charles Condomine, a blocked writer who invites a medium to his home only for her to accidentally bring back his first wife Elvira (Leslie Mann) – leading to an increasingly complex love triangle with his current wife Ruth (Isla Fisher).
Dame Judi Dench plays medium Madame Arcati. I do love Leslie Mann though wouldn’t it have been great if they’d got Amy Adams to play the first Mrs C?
Watch the trailer now:
It’s directed by Edward Hall, who coincidentally also directed several episodes of Spooks*, and is released in the UK on 1 May 2020 (I can’t find a US date yet).
The play was first filmed for the big screen by David Lean, whose 1945 movie starred Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings and Kay Hammond, with Margaret Rutherford as Madame Arcati.
* Yes please do email me.
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