The Canterville Ghost
Director: Jules Dassin
Year: 1944
Rating: 7.5
"I'm condemned
to be a ghost. I have walked these halls for three centuries. And I'm so
tired. If only I could rest. If only I could die. To be buried in the soft
brown earth in the garden beyond the pine woods. To have no yesterday and
no tomorrow. To forget time. To be at peace."
In the voice of Charles Laughton it almost
sounds like Shakespear. This film is a delight, equally mixing sentiment
and laughs. It is based on a story by Oscar Wilde and has been adapted a
few times but none could be as good as this one - pitting one of the great
thespians alongside with one of the youngest Hollywood stars at the time,
Margaret O'Brien. They are a lovely match and their scenes together are pure
Hollywood from the Golden Age when sentiment wasn't mocked but welcomed.
Not the hallmark of the director for sure - but Jules Dassin was pulled into
it when the first director Norman Z. McLeod was ousted by the actors - actors
no doubt meaning Laughton who could be very difficult on directors. O'Brien
had a remarkable gift for bringing out the tears in one so young (6 at the
time) and in this same year she appeared in Meet Me in St. Louis and produced
a puddle of tears across America.
In this one she is Lady de Canterville of
an old noble English family. A family defamed by a reputation for cowardice.
The family home also has a ghost - Sir Simon de Canterville who was walled
up by his father after running away from a duel in which he was most certain
to die. But die he does anyway. Alone behind a wall. His ghost is sentenced
to walk the halls at night forever unless another de Canterville performs
an act of bravery on his behalf. He has been waiting a long time.
It is 1943 and a platoon of American soldiers
are billeted in the castle where they soon meet the ghost. Initially terrified,
they turn the tables on the ghost and scare him instead. Cuffy Williams (Robert
Young) seeks him out and they and Lady de Canterville become friends. When
they discover that Cuffy is a Canterville, the ghost realizes that this is
his chance. Cuffy only needs the chance to show courage when in danger from
the Nazis. A nice group of supporting actors with Rags Ragland, William Gargan,
Una O'Connor, Mike Mazurki and Peter Lawford. There are as you may
notice no women thus no romance but then it is Oscar Wilde. But two men do
dance together in a very fun musical number. A good, feel good film. I have
yet to see Laughton in anything, no matter how big the film or small, not
be great. It must have felt strange to him having a mere tot steal every
scene she is in.
