The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

"THE SPIRIT... so willing! THE FLESH... so weak! THE ROMANCE... so wonderful!"

1947 1h 45m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.8

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 369🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes★7.8IMDB · 21,867

RomanceFantasyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In 1900, young widow Lucy Muir learns that her seaside cottage is haunted and forms a unique relationship with the ghost.

“THE SPIRIT... so willing! THE FLESH... so weak! THE ROMANCE... so wonderful!”

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Cast

Gene Tierney
Lucy Muir
Rex Harrison
Capt. Daniel Gregg
George Sanders
Miles Fairley
Edna Best
Martha Huggins
Vanessa Brown
Anna Muir as an Adult
Anna Lee
Mrs. Fairley
Robert Coote
Mr. Coombe
Natalie Wood
Anna Muir as a Child

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Writers: Philip Dunne
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

79 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, shot by Charles Lang. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Bernard Herrmann. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Dorothy Spencer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison and George Sanders carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

AWARDS

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "THE SPIRIT... so willing! THE FLESH... so weak! THE ROMANCE... so wonderful!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0039420 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joseph L. Mankiewicz directs. Charles Lang behind the camera. Bernard Herrmann scores. Dorothy Spencer cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

179 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, shot by Charles Lang. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Bernard Herrmann. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Dorothy Spencer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison and George Sanders carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "THE SPIRIT... so willing! THE FLESH... so weak! THE ROMANCE... so wonderful!".
7IMDB entry: tt0039420 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 14 themes, including "sea", "widow", "bedroom", "cottage".
9Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Charles Lang
Original score: Bernard Herrmann
Editing: Dorothy Spencer
Costume design: Eleanor Behm
Makeup / hair: Ben Nye
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.8/10 · 21,867 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 win & 1 nomination total

Also by

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-03-27
★ 7/10
Though he wasn’t alway the most versatile of actors, hats off to Rex Harrison here as he does all but cry out “thar she blows” as he delivers an amiably blustering performance as his own ghost! You see, the recently widowed “Mrs. Muir” or “Lucia” (Gene Tierney) as she becomes known, and her daughter are a bit down on their luck and so decide to leave the home of her in-laws (whom she really can’t stand, anyway) and move to the seaside. Despite some dire warnings from the estate agent, she arrives at an house that she knows is haunted. No sooner has she closed the door, than “Capt. Gregg” manifests himself and explains his extreme displeasure that they have moved in. Not only had he wanted his home to be a place for retired sailors, he was also narked that everyone assumed he killed himself rather than just having had a dodgy encounter with his gas fire. Anyway, after a great deal of enjoyably sarcastic and nautical banter between herself and the seaman (a sailor is only a term used by landlubbers, you understand) it becomes quite clear that both have met their match and that an inter-dimensional romance of sorts is bound to blossom. Or will it? Well there might be a fly in the ointment in the form of married writer “Fairley” (George Sanders) who has his eye on the fair widow, but what chance he against a gnarly ghost? Add to this enjoyably acerbic mix some decency from housekeeper “Martha” (Edna Best) and we have a tightly cast and really quite entertaining battle of wits, of the sexes and of sheer bloody-mindedness that does, sadly, descend a little into slush at times, but not often enough to detract from the antics of these three mischievous characters. It's not quite up to his “Blithe Spirit” (1948) but it’s a close run thing.

Production companies