Midnight Special: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

Welcome to my first entry to a series of posts I call Midnight Special, this series will be exclusively reserved for films that I recommend viewing during midnight and they will likely be films that are shot in black and white. I have come across this film many times but never really thought to actually go and see it for myself but it wasn't until I was casually obsessing over its composer Bernard Hermann when I finally pushed myself to sit down and watch and I was so happy that I did!

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starred Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison as the titular characters. It tells the story of Lucy Muir who was recently widowed and one day decides to leave the city despite the disapproval of her in-laws and travel to the country with her daughter and rent a cottage by the sea. Mrs. Muir, her daughter Anna and their housekeeper Martha move in to the cottage that was previously owned by the late Capt. Daniel Gregg, a sea captain who is said to haunt the cottage.

Gene Tierney as Lucy Muir and Rex Harrison as Capt. Daniel Gregg

The film is set during the turn of the century so I'll take it that it was set during the late 1890's when women were still dependent on men and their families, but the film tells of a different tale. Lucy Muir, has no man or family to depend on, instead her daughter Anna and housekeeper Martha are both dependent on her and so when she first meets the unfiltered Capt. Gregg it becomes an uneasy alliance, then a friendship blossoms and love happens along the way. There's always something I find unbearably sweet when a romantic film like this has two people who are the opposite of each other as the main characters of the story and it doesn't disappoint unless of course you judge the film and its characters by the standards of modern society especially the men in the story.

George Sanders as Mr. Fairley

Nearly all the men in the film are portrayed not in the brightest light yet you cheer for Lucy and Capt. Gregg to be together by the end. Why? Lucy and Daniel are two people who are in need of companionship yet they aren't entirely dependent on one another, of course they helped each other out in saving the cottage for her and himself, he also shows that he has confidence in her even when her in-laws did not but there's also the friendship and respect for one another despite pushing each others buttons throughout the film.

Lucy and her daughter Anna

Lucy ends up never remarrying or at least finding love after the captain leaves her and finding out that Mr. Fairley was married the entire time. She continues raising her daughter who later marries a lieutenant in the Navy and she gets grandchildren of her own. Later when Anna comes to visit her she monologues that she was 'never meant for that kind of happiness' but that she was happy because there were compensations along the way.

"And now, you'll never be tired again."

However, I will say that the film is a mixture of romance and fantasy but it's worth anyone's time for those who want to check it out for themselves. The two main characters are really what make the film, and the forbidden love between a ghost and a person yet you never feel that any of it is forced thanks to the chemistry between Tierney and Harrison who are hypnotizing to watch when they're together on screen.

4 1/2 stars.