A quick update on that Laura post: We’ll celebrate Otto Preminger over the weekend that way i don’t break the flow of 24 hours devoted to one star. I promise I’ll be back on track next week.
Margaret O’Brien has catapulted to the top of my favorite actresses list, so it was necessary to have her be part of my inaugural Summer Under the Stars. The movies aren’t always winners (Tenth Avenue Angel) but her exuberance and maturity, all while remaining innocent and precious, always elevates the work. The Canterville Ghost was a film I’ve been dying to see, especially as it was released the same year as her indelible performance as Tootie in Meet Me in St. Louis. Her and Robert Young give heartwarming performances in a film that’s all about the war, whilst also being about a cowardly ghost seeking redemption. I’ve heard it’s completely opposite from author Oscar Wilde’s original text, but with O’Brien in the lead it becomes a delightful supernatural comedy with good intentions.
Sir Simon of Canterville (Charles Laughton) is cursed by his father after fleeing from a duel. His punishment is that he’s bound to walk the Earth until “a kinsmen” performs a brave deed. Through the years all have failed, until the arrival of a platoon of American soldiers arrives at Canterville castle. Cuffy Williams (Young) is a grunt who discovers he’s a descendant of the Canterville line, along with fellow Canterville heiress, Lady Jessica (O’Brien), the two will work together to free Sir Simon’s soul.
O’Brien was a spritely seven-year-old when she made this and Meet Me in St. Louis, and both characters have similar sensibilities. In the latter, Tootie reveled in the macabre but kept it light due to her youthful nature; she didn’t understand death, but was aware of its inevitability. In The Canterville Ghost, that element is played up for laughs, particularly when she recounts the gruesome history of the house’s inhabitants, becoming graver in her details only to end it was a big smile! Her Lady Jessica fears the apparition and the darkness within the castle, yet revels in it because it makes life interesting. O’Brien is quite the little comedienne, and rules the visiting soldiers with her stories; the camera defies audience expectations by emphasizing how small O’Brien is in the room full of tall men, and yet they’re captivated by her (when they discover that the “lady” is a little girl they all look down at her in a creative comedic moment). O’Brien’s adroit comedic skills certainly make up for the total lack of British accent she has (a skill which would improve in The Secret Garden). In a way, it provides its own comedy as Lady Jessica asks about the visiting American soldiers while sounding as American as they come.
The Canterville Ghost would be a perfect pairing with I Married a Witch, and it’s not because they star two of my favorite leading ladies. Both films combine a historical curse with supernatural comedy; each one deals with a curse upon a family. In Canterville, Sir Simon’s father curses him for ruining the family honor, while Veronica Lake’s Jennifer curses the Wooley clan for burning her at the stake. The plots of each also involve a series of failures throughout history on the part of the men; although instead of several Frederic March’s throughout time we have one Robert Young. I’ve mentioned my confusion of the various “Robert’s” in Hollywood; I easily mix up Robert Young with Robert Taylor and Robert Montgomery. All that aside, I enjoyed Taylor immensely. He’s the all-American man with a father-like chemistry with O’Brien. They’re darling together in a way reminiscent of Shirley Temple and Buddy Ebsen; they just plan each others moves in advance.
Young provides a presence of comfort to the little O’Brien; the look of terror on her face is enough to instill tears in the audiences eyes, but Young is able to help O’Brien conquer her fears. It’s a cute relationship despite the head-scratching moment of the finale; the final seconds have Lady Jessica telling Cuffy she’ll be turning seven next year, in a moment that had me thinking of those “I’ll be 18″ moments in other films. Did the movie just imply that there could be a relationship in the future between Lady Jessica and Cuffy? I’m assuming it was meant to be the admiration of a little girl for a person she sees as a protector, but he didn’t say anything back; they just hug and the movie ends. I was also surprised that the movie never explicitly foretold of a male Canterville being the one to break the curse (unless you’re taking “kinsmen” literally), and ignored Jessica being the last of the Canterville line. By the end, she openly sacrifices herself and it would have made for a tighter ending to have her be the one to redeem Sir Simon. In the end, I left it up to Cuffy and her being a team in order to mutually save the day. The narrative implications are perfect for 1944, with the war coming to a close. Obviously, the relationship between the American soldier saving the life of an English blue-blood highlights the international cooperation between the Americans and the British during this time period, as well as acknowledging American intervention as being the turning point for the war itself; The Canterville Ghost may be a British tale, but the movie turns into a quasi-”America kicks ass” piece of propaganda…albeit entertaining propaganda.
You may be wondering why I haven’t touched on the titled ghost of the film, Charles Laughton. Laughton is always a delight in movies, and he’s perfect as the anxious ghost who desperately wants to go to sleep. The opening alerts the audience to the deep roots of the legend of the Canterville ghost, using a book entitled “Famous Ghosts of England” to literally set up the “once upon a time.” The exposition unfolds as a grisly tale of horror, shifting into a forbidden romance à la an Errol Flynn movie (the actor portraying Sir Simon’s brother is especially Flynn-like). The comedy comes from believing that the young strapping man would be the title character, only he defers the duel to the portly Sir Simon. Cowardice runs in the family apparently, and it’s Sir Simon who’s punished for all eternity. When Sir Simon’s father curses him, you start to sympathize with Laughton; everyone actually sympathizes with Sir Simon, even the foe who originally started the duel, telling Sir Simon’s father “It is thy son!” The ghostly special effects are remarkable for 1944; the only ill-used one is when Sir Simon puts his head back on his shoulders, obviously a dummy.
The Canterville Ghost is a wonderful movie with another enchanting performance from Margaret O’Brien. Robert Young and Charles Laughton also delight in a smooth family film that adeptly blends Gothic horror with a spoonful of heart and humor.
Ronnie Rating:
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Filed under: 1940s, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Horror, Summer Under the Stars, War
