Superficially glossy and light-filled, but in fact a dark and emotionally murky film. Its great distinction is that it is possibly one of the few films of any era, let alone the deeply repressed forties, where three people get to live together happily, or otherwise, ever after.
(PS I agree entirely with Coward re the film versus the play ending).
We did the play at my university and I loved the dialogue (especially when delivered with proper pace and timing). I’ve watched the film once perhaps twice and I confess that I didn’t pick up the possibility that Rex H was too old for role (in part because they did that so often in those days - remember Romeo and Juliet). I do agree about the casting for the spirit of the first wife.
I have watched various staging of this over the years, from Cambridge Footlights, to a London theatre production, and a translated (in Greek) performance, all by very different actors. But what they all had in common was that feeling of lightness. Blitheness? Maybe. The dark undercurrents were never stressed, as they are rarely in 'ordinary' life, where even the darkest thoughts are swept under the carpet on a regular basis.
Wonder if that film would be made today?
Superficially glossy and light-filled, but in fact a dark and emotionally murky film. Its great distinction is that it is possibly one of the few films of any era, let alone the deeply repressed forties, where three people get to live together happily, or otherwise, ever after.
(PS I agree entirely with Coward re the film versus the play ending).
We did the play at my university and I loved the dialogue (especially when delivered with proper pace and timing). I’ve watched the film once perhaps twice and I confess that I didn’t pick up the possibility that Rex H was too old for role (in part because they did that so often in those days - remember Romeo and Juliet). I do agree about the casting for the spirit of the first wife.
I have watched various staging of this over the years, from Cambridge Footlights, to a London theatre production, and a translated (in Greek) performance, all by very different actors. But what they all had in common was that feeling of lightness. Blitheness? Maybe. The dark undercurrents were never stressed, as they are rarely in 'ordinary' life, where even the darkest thoughts are swept under the carpet on a regular basis.