For this week, I thought about the Day of the Dead in Mexico where it's a celebration and a chance to talk to your loved ones. This got me thinking about the movies that deal with a spiritual loved one and how we can communicate with them. I chose these 3 and hope you like them...
1. TOPPER -1937
This is a screwball comedy about madcap, married millionaires played by Cary Grant and Constance Bennett. They love to party, drink and drive real fast. So fast that they end up dead! This doesn't stop them from wanting to help a meek man, Mr. Topper, played brilliantly by Roland Young. It's very funny and has great charm. It did very well that it spawned a couple of sequels.
2. BLITHE SPIRIT-1945
I love this movie and find it enchanting and funny. Rex Harrison, aka Sexy Rexy, is married to his second wife after his first wife dies. They buy a quaint cottage and meet a very daffy woman, played to the hilt by Margaret Rutherford, who states she is a medium. For fun, they invite her over for a seance and before you know it…Poof! Here comes Rexy’s first wife and Rex can see her. Is this a good thing especially when he seems to be close to having his life taken away. Could his first wife want him with her? This is a very witty comedy written by a very urbane, witty man, Noel Coward. Highly recommended.
3. GHOST-1990
I almost wrote about “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” or “Truly, Madly, Deeply” but I don’t think I’ve talked about this famous movie which is not as good as the first 2 but still enjoyable despite Demi Moore. This is one of Patrick Swayze’s most famous roles as a young man, in love with his wife, who both enjoy some clay moulding foreplay. Oh…um, yes…so, next thing he is murdered which just about destroys his wife but Patrick, now a ghostie, wants to find out what happened. In enters Whoopi Goldberg as a con artist pretending to be a medium but, to her amazement, she hears Sam( Patrick) and is forced to try and tell his wife that he is with her. Sam finds out there is more to his simple murder than meets the eye. This is fun and on the edge of your seat thriller but, overall, fun.
What kind of Day of the Dead films can you think of?
Hi Birgit,,,great choices love Blithe Spirits a real Sunday afternoon film xxx
ReplyDeleteI love thst movie
DeleteYou've got some classics on your list.
ReplyDeleteThe first one that popped into my mind was Sixth Sense. The kid is talking to a dead guy all along so maybe that fits the scenario.
Then there is the most obvious choice of Coco. I'm not big on Disney these days, but that was a pretty enjoyable film and it's all about Day of the Dead.
Then there was the George Romero continuation of the "Night of the Living Dead" series Day of the Dead, but I wouldn't really put that in the same category as the celebratory Day of the Dead festivities. Still, that is a great film series.
Happy Dia Del Muertos to you!
Lee
I actually just saw most of Coco( missed the first half hour) and it is quite entertaining. The 6th Sense is perfect but I'm not into those zombie movies but they fit, I think.
DeleteI like Blithe Spirit. Amazingly, I’ve never seen Ghost but it’s so well known I kind of feel I have.
ReplyDeleteIt's always on TV somewhere so you might see it one day
DeleteI've seen all three! Topper was so long ago, though, that I should revisit it at some point. Isn't there a sort of remake of Blithe Spirit? It's either a remake or they borrowed heavily from the premise. The memory is vague, though, so I could be completely misremembering.
ReplyDeleteYes, they remade it in 2018 or 2019 somewhere near...hahaaa. the one who played the medium was Judi Dench. I'll see it but I'm certain it's not as good as the original
DeleteGood choices. There was also a film called Always with Richard Dreyfuss.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good one! ☺
DeleteI still have to see that movie with Audrey Hepburn
DeleteWould "Heaven Can Wait" or "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" work here?
ReplyDeleteThose 3 are great!! I love Heaven Can Wait
DeleteWow. I've seen all three. Enjoyed each. Ghost and Mrs. Muir was my first thought.
ReplyDeleteI l9ve Mrs. MUIR. I chose that one a few times in the past.
DeleteI loved Ghost. Glad it made your cut:)
ReplyDeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
I had to include this...it is good.
DeleteHi Birgit!
ReplyDeleteTopper is great fun with Cary and Connie very well matched in their skill with the repartee between George and Marion. The original plan was for Jean Harlow to play Marion and I think she would have been super, she was a wonderful comedienne, but she died suddenly as the production was being pulled together. Constance Bennett’s career was sagging somewhat at this point and recognizing the quality of the script took less than her regular salary, hoping the film would give her popularity a jolt, which it certainly did. The two leads are sensational but what puts this over the top is the great supporting cast around them, in particular Roland Young who is a scream as the beleaguered title character.
I’ve seen several different productions of Blithe Spirit with some impressive casts, including Lillian Gish, Rosemary Harris and Dirk Bogarde, but none have quite matched the whimsy of this one. Rex and his leading ladies are fab, but the film is owned by Margaret Rutherford.
LOVE Ghost! I agree Demi can be variable but she’s quite good here and able to employ one of her strongest skills, she cries beautifully. Patrick Swayze is earnest as the unfortunate Sam Wheat but as in Blithe Spirit this film is owned by Whoopi Goldberg as surprising even to herself actual medium Oda Mae Brown. The film wouldn’t be bad without her, but it wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable.
Interesting choice for the week, nice way to extend Halloween for just a little while longer!
The first one that occurred to be is the fun if minor Don Knotts comedy “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” for 1966. Next was “The Canterville Ghost” which like Blithe has had many versions but thanks to Charles Laughton I think the 1944 one is the best. Finally, out of the comedy vein and into the blackest tragedy is the 1939 version of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights even if the spectral vision only kicks off the story and leads to its tragic conclusion.
I'm so glad you enjoyed my Day of the Dead special. Have you seen the remake? I'm certain it is not ad good as the original even with Judi Dench. Yes, Demi could cry...but I think there were better actresses around.
DeleteI love your picks! I so enjoy The Ghost and Mr. Chicken with the music and the great character actors that appear in films and tv back then.
I have not seen the Laughton film which I want to but love your Wuthering Heights choice. When I saw this film as a kid I got really scared and did not want to sleep in my downstairs bedroom for fear I would feel an icy cold hand.
I enjoyed both Topper and Ghost, but wasn't familiar with Blithe Spirit. It sounds worthwhile and I'll search for it. Thanks! ☺
ReplyDeleteI hope you see it because you will enjoy it.
DeleteBIRGIT ~
ReplyDeleteI love *all* of the 'TOPPER' movies! Tip-top stuffs.
And, of course, 'THE GHOST & MRS. MUIR' is my all-time favorite Romance movie. (Gene Tierney... MMmmmmm.)
John Mentioned 'HEAVEN CAN WAIT' and that's another excellent choice. (Hey, football guys can love too, ya know!)
I think I've only seen 'GHOST' once, a godzillion years ago, but I liked it much better'n I had anticipated, and would definitely be willing to see that one again.
And how about 'SOMEWHERE IN TIME'?
~ D-FensDogG
POSTSCRIPT:
DeleteI watched 'Blithe Spirit' for the first time last night. I thought it was mildly amusing and gave it a B grade. It's similar to 'Topper' but definitely not as good.
And who the hell gave Rex Harrison that atrocious hairstyle? It was so ridiculously goofy that I found him almost hard to watch.
~ D-FensDogG
Oh my! I love BLITHE Spirit so much! Now I have to look at Rexy's hairdo...hahaaa
DeleteI know you would pick Gene Tierney...I mean The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. It's a great film so are both Jordan and the remake Heaven...solid entries. Somewhere in Time is perfect
Hi, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteWhen Mrs. Shady and I visited Mexico a few years ago, we found Day Of The Dead artwork, T-shirts, trinkets and souvenirs everywhere. As you might recall, I was (and still am) a fan of Topper, both the film and the subsequent TV series that starred Leo G. Carroll, Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys. Cary Grant is such fun to watch in screwball comedies, and I have always admired Constance Bennett. The Topper movie also features Glinda, the Good Witch of the North - Billie Burke - gossip columnist Hedda Hopper and Ward Bond, remembered as the cop in It's A Wonderful Life and for his starring role in the 50s Western series Wagon Train.
Ghosts and invisible characters delight me, and therefore I don't know how I could have missed seeing Blithe Spirit at some point, but I hope to watch it soon. I went to see Ghost when it was released to theaters. It is a fun film, but its use of "Unchained Melody," the 1965 Righteous Brothers hit, in the iconic clay molding scene, forever tarnished my memories of the song. I read that "moulding" is more common in Canada, while "molding" is still the preferred spelling in the U.S.
Have a safe and happy weekend, dear friend BB, and please remember to point Harley's snout toward my Shady's Place post (now running) so that he can see his name in print and listen to his dedication song. Blessings to you!
I've heard of both Topper and Ghost, but not the other. Loved reading your synopses and I think these are great for examples of the dead.
ReplyDeleteVertigo
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