Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz (trailer)
While The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is more of a romance rather than a horror film, the movie still provides many scary moments without being cheesy, thanks to the film's black and white cinematography. After young widow Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney) moves with her daughter to a seaside cottage against the wishes of everyone around her, she discovers that the previous owner of the home, a deceased sailor (Rex Harrison), is haunting the cottage in an effort to make her leave. Tierney and Harrison have amazing chemistry and together create one of the most beautiful love stories ever put on screen!
Where many movies would lean too heavily into making the ghost seem more like an apparition, this film never does that. Harrison's character, Captain Gregg, always appears as a fully realized person, allowing the audience to move past the fact that only Lucy (and sometimes her daughter) can see him. The pair go through the popular trope of enemies to lovers while Gregg recites his memoir to Lucy in order to help her make enough money to continue living at the cottage. As they fall in love, Lucy also meets a children's book writer who she begins to fall for, ensuing in a love triangle.
I was truly shocked at how much I ended up loving this film. The relationship grows organically over time and the characters make heartbreaking but mature decisions to benefit each other. This is one of the most underrated films of the classic era and has better character development than some films today.
I highly recommend this movie to fans of classic films and those who want a unique take on ghost stories!
Rating: ★★★★★
Recommended for fans of: classics, Heaven Can Wait (1943), romance, Now, Voyager (1942), A Ghost Story (2017)
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