The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
(Joseph L. Mankiewicz, US 1947, 104 min., 35mm)
Mankiewicz’s second film with Gene Tierney (after Dragonwyck) is this haunting, supernatural romance from the novel by R. A. Dick. In turn-of-the-century Great Britain, widowed Lucy Muir decides to leave her husband’s family to make out on her own and build a life with her daughter, Anna (Natalie Wood). Despite protestations from the local land agent, Lucy falls in love with a seaside cottage in disrepair. The house has been uninhabitable since the death of its previous owner, Captain Daniel Gregg, who now haunts the house. When Lucy stands up to the ghost, he decides to stop trying to scare her away and let her stay. As they spend time together, a relationship blossoms, threatened by children’s author Miles Fairley (George Sanders). Mankiewicz called Harrison his “Stradivarius,” and worked with him three more times. Most known for Bernard Herrmann’s beautiful sea-swept score, the film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Charles Lang’s black-and-white cinematography.