Blithe Spirit

Blithe Spirit

Year: 1945

Runtime: 96 mins

Language: English

Director: David Lean

FantasyComedyCrude humor and satireLaugh-out-loud relationship entanglementsAmusing jokes and witty satire

Elvira, a lively socialite, turns a simple evening into an unforgettable night. An English mystery novelist invites a medium to his home for a small séance, hoping to gather material for his book and expose her as a fraud. The session spirals into supernatural chaos, disrupting his marriage and thrusting everyone into paranormal turmoil.

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Timeline & Setting – Blithe Spirit (1945)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Blithe Spirit (1945). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

Lympne, Kent

Charles Condomine's home in Lympne provides a refined, quiet English backdrop for a séance. The house's drawing rooms and study become the stage for supernatural mischief that unsettles polite society. The rural Kent setting contrasts the domestic calm with uncanny disruptions that threaten the façade of normal life.

🏰 English country house 🗺 Kent setting 🔮 Occult atmosphere

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 17:43

Main Characters – Blithe Spirit (1945)

Meet the key characters of Blithe Spirit (1945), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Charles Condomine (Rex Harrison)

A successful, rational writer who seeks material for an occult novel. He hosts the séance and becomes the focal point for the haunting, initially treating Elvira as a joke but gradually embracing the complication she brings to his life and marriage.

🧭 Rational 🕯️ Curious 🎭 Dramatic

Elvira Condomine (Kay Hammond)

The ghost of Charles's first wife, visible only to him. Elvira is mischievous, flirtatious, and determined to stay by Charles's side, pushing the living characters toward chaos and eventually a fatal turn.

👻 Ghost 💃 Seductive 🗝️ Secret

Ruth Condomine (Constance Cummings)

Charles's wife, skeptical and anxious about the spectral events. She becomes increasingly frightened and distressed as Elvira's presence unsettles their home, leading her to seek help from Arcati and ultimately to a tragic end.

💔 Wife 😟 Anxious 🛡️ Protective

Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford)

An eccentric medium who initiates the séance. She believes in the supernatural but is unsure how to send the spirits away, setting off a chain of events that exposes the limits of the living's control over the dead.

🔮 Medium 🌀 Eccentric 🕯️ Occultist

Violet Bradman (Joyce Carey)

A guest present for the séance, representing polite society's disbelief and social humor. She witnesses the odd happenings but remains mostly incredulous, adding tension through reaction rather than action.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Guest 😯 Skeptical 🗨️ Observer

George Bradman (Hugh Wakefield)

Violet's husband and a guest who participates in social banter while the supernatural events unfold. He provides calm, rational counterpoints without fully grasping the implications of the haunting.

🧭 Guest 🗣️ Observant 🕯️ Calm

Edith (Jacqueline Clarke)

The household maid whose inadvertent summoning of Elvira triggers the central haunting. She becomes a pivot in the plot as the actual cause behind the supernatural disruption.

🧹 Maid 🗝️ Secret 👀 Witness

Cook (Marie Ault)

A minor domestic character who witnesses the spectral disturbances in the background, representing the household's steady, unflappable service during chaotic events.

🍽️ Cook 🧑‍🍳 Domestic 👂 Listener

Narrator (Noël Coward)

Uncredited narration guiding the audience through the events, adding a meta-layer of wit and commentary to the supernatural happenings.

🎙️ Narrator 🗒️ Commentary 🌀 Meta

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 17:43

Major Themes – Blithe Spirit (1945)

Explore the central themes of Blithe Spirit (1945), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

👻 Supernatural Comedy

A supernatural premise is played for laughs while exposing the fragility of rational belief. Elvira's appearance turns polite drawing rooms into a theater of mischief, forcing characters to confront longing, memory, and the fear of being replaced. The humor sharpens as the living try to control forces beyond their understanding, with consequences that blur lines between comedy and tragedy.

🪞 Reality vs Illusion

Charles's insistence on Elvira's reality clashes with Ruth's denial, creating a tension between perception and truth. Arcati's ritual further blurs boundaries, leaving others to question whether the specter truly exists. The narrative uses deception and magical rhetoric to probe what counts as reality.

💔 Marital Strain

Elvira's intrusions awaken jealousy and dissatisfaction in Charles and Ruth's marriage. Ruth's fear of losing her husband to a ghost fuels tension and prompts her to seek Arcati's help. The couple's loyalties are tested as memory, love, and pride collide.

🔮 Consequences of Belief

Interventions in the supernatural reveal costs as belief yields tragedy and lingering spirits. Edith's inadvertent summoning surfaces the real catalyst behind the haunting, exposing the limit of human control over the beyond. The finale implies that meddling with death can bring irreversible consequences.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 17:43

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Blithe Spirit Summary

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Blithe Spirit Summary

Blithe Spirit Timeline

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Blithe Spirit Timeline

More About Blithe Spirit

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