The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

       This movie is one that I happened upon by mere chance. My family was looking through Netflix this evening, looking for a good movie to watch, and I spotted this title as it was scrolling through. One of my friends, who is rather a movie connoisseur, had this movie in her collection, so I persuaded my family to  play it. Turns out it was a better choice than I thought it would be! And since I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people out there who wouldn't watch this old classic black and white movie, I thought I'd write a review about it! The film, produced in 1947, stars Gene Tierney as Mrs. Lucy Muir, Rex Harrison as the ghost Captain Daniel Gregg, George Sanders as Mr. Miles Fairley, and little Natalie Wood as Anna Muir.

       Now, to be completely honest and fair, this movie starts off in a smashingly boring fashion. Three women are sitting at a table, talking in annoyingly high-pitched voices about some urgent-sounding business. Needless to say, at this point, I was thinking "What have I gotten myself into?" But eventually I figured out that one of the women, a Mrs. Muir, was the widow of a man named Edwin. Edwin also happened to have been the son/brother of the other two women at the table. Mrs. Muir, now no longer tied down to her severe sister-in-law and hysterical mother-in-law, has decided to leave and strike out on her own, with her daughter Anna and maid Martha, in order to live somewhere by the sea.

       It is during this fight between the three women that we get our first glimpse of Mrs. Muir's sensible and stubborn nature. She is an utterly courageous and independent woman, quite unusual in her 1900s Victorian England setting. She eventually wins the argument, and she and her small family head to Whitecliff, where she rents out Gull Cottage, a mysterious house that is said to be haunted. Mrs. Muir, of course, is not afraid, and is quite determined to live in the house. She does notice, however, that strange occurrences are going on around her. The balcony door in her room keeps opening. She cannot light a candle in the kitchen. Finally, the unflappable Mrs. Muir calls out to the ghost, calling him a coward and daring him to show his face. So out calls the voice of Rex Harrison, telling her to light the "blasted" candle. She does, revealing the figure of the dashing Captain Gregg standing with her in the kitchen. After a few moments of fright, Mrs. Muir and the ghost have a chat, and decide that she can stay in the house, as can he; that is, so long as Mrs. Muir hangs the Captain's portrait in her room. We learn from this and the next few scenes that the Captain is a very "earthly" ghost, with a sharp tongue, a foul mouth, and loose morals. He calls himself a "man's man," a very seamanly personage. And it is very obvious that he loves the sea. When he talks about it, his eyes look with longing at things that are not before him, and he reveals the heart beneath his rough outer appearance. I could not help but grow very fond of the Captain, and apparently neither could Mrs. Muir.

      One day, Mrs. Muir receives word that she has no money left, and must leave the house. The Captain convinces her to stay, revealing his plan: he will tell her all the events of his life, and she will write them down in a book. The profits from the book, he tells her, should be enough to live off of. And so she writes, all the while falling for a ghost of a man who is more a whisp of salty sea air than real flesh-and-blood. They talk long into the night, they laugh, she scolds him for his language, and he calls her "Lucieta," a name he says fits her better than Lucy. It all seems so perfect, except for the fact that he is dead, and she is alive. Eventually, Mrs. Muir meets a man in town named Mr. Fairley. Now, this character bothered me to no end, because he was such an obvious creeper, and was obviously up to no good, but Lucy disappointed me and fell for him anyways, even after he followed her around, got into her personal space, stole a handkerchief form her, and painted a portrait of her when she wasn't looking. If that doesn't scream "Stay away from this guy," I don't know what does. But, even after her ghost and her maid warn her that this man is no good, Mrs. Muir obstinately, and disappointingly, insists upon becoming engaged to Mr. Fairley. It is at this point in the movie that Captain Daniel Gregg bids a fond farewell to Mrs. Lucy Muir. He leaves while she is asleep, but not before telling her that she must forget him, must live her own life and weather the storms that are coming on her own, without him to confuse her or hold her back. He makes it so that she remembers their time together as a mere dream, and then he disappears.
 

       Thankfully, just in time, Mrs. Muir comes to the realization that Mr. Fairley is not what he seems to be. He is a fraud who has a wife and two children at home, and has apparently fooled other women before her. Heartbroken, Mrs. Muir returns home, a lonely woman once more. Time passes. Years fade away as Mrs. Muir lives in her sea cottage, with only the gulls and her faithful servant Martha for companionship. Anna grows up and marries, and her daughter grows up and marries, while Lucy grows ever older and spends her time looking out at the sea, remembering her old dreams of a sea captain with whom she once wrote a book. Finally, the end comes. Mrs. Muir dies sitting in her armchair, and the first person to greet her is her beloved Daniel, who has been waiting for her all this time. The two walk out arm-in-arm, into the vast unknown, to be together for an eternity. Yeah, I know, I cried like a baby.

       The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is, undoubtedly, one of my new favorite b&w's, and probably even one of my top favorite romances of all time. The American Film Institute must have thought so too, because they ranked it on their "100 Years... 100 Passions" list (http://www.afi.com/100years/passions.aspx). The movie has a nicely-moving plot, a beautiful soundtrack, excellent cinematography, and superb acting. Also, it is about the sea, and I never could resist a good sea-story. To me, this movie spoke of the bitter-sweet regrets of life, a love that endures even life and death, and the longing for something greater and better somewhere out in the wide world; messages that go straight to the very heart of people. Perhaps that is why it touched my heart so much, and why it brought tears to my eyes. Or maybe it was just a darn good romance. Either way, in my opinion, this is a movie very much worth watching.

The Squire's Tale by Gerald Morris

Let me start by saying that this book was amazing. I picked it up at the library kind of hoping that there would be at least some small morsel of goodness inside, because truth be told, it looked a little bit dumb. I mean, just look at the cover! But I was desperate, so I picked it up. One of the best choices of my literary life! This book had everything good and glorious within its pages. Heroic knights, fair maidens, epic quests involving duels, magical woodland creatures, and warlocks, and a very, very unlikely hero. Terence, a teenage boy living in merry old Arthurian England, was orphaned as a baby and raised by an old hermit living in the forest. One day, as Terence is hunting for supper in the woods, he meets Gawain, who is headed to Camelot to become a knight in the court of King Arthur. At the insistence of the hermit, Terence becomes the squire of Sir Gawain, and accompanies him on his various dangerous and exciting quests and adventures, some of which involve catching a white stag, accompanying a fair yet extremely annoying maiden on a quest, foiling the plot of an evil sorceress, and finding true love in an invisible faerie realm.
       While the plot and writing style are rather simple, they are extremely effective and interesting. The main character, Terence, is sympathetic as the reader sees his growth from naive orphan boy to the strong and confident squire of Sir Gawain (and something even more important). It is interesting that although Terence is the main character of the book, the focus of most of the book is more on Sir Gawain and his knightly adventures. However, this shift of focus works, as Terence's job is to follow Gawain on his quest; also, you never forget for long that the real hero of the book is Terence. On top of which, this book is hilarious! The humor is dry and subtle, the essential British humor, but still laugh-out-loud funny.
       Perhaps my favorite thing about this book, however, is that the author definitely did his homework. In the author's note at the back of the book, Morris confesses his passion for the Arthurian tales, especially those involving the character Sir Gawain. In "The Squire's Tale," he uses many of the old stories from books such as Malory's Morte D'Arthur and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It really feels like an old Arthurian legend, which, thanks to my British Literature class, is something I love! There really isn't anything bad to say about this book. It is very well-written all around and a great piece of storytelling. I would recommend it to anybody looking for a good, light piece of summer reading! More coming on the next books in the series when I can get my hands on them!