THE CANTERVILLE GHOST (1944) *** It's easy to understand why Americans were so appealing, even other than eventually being willing to help kick Hitler's ass. They were boisterous, casually courageous, entirely lacking in concepts of social stratification(director Jules Dassin would be effectively exiled by McCarthyites for being a bit too enthusiastic in this regard), good-hearted and bearing jazz. Not as many good lines as you'd expect from anything only once removed from the Oscar Wilde original, but compensation comes in the form of six year old, winsome warm and wonderful Margaret O'Brien. Ms. O'Brien is enough to almost single-handedly recommence noblesse oblige worship, take a look at her then peek over at Bill Gates and let me know if you want a recount. Charles Laughton is magic of another sort, leaving you wondering why anyone would ever be afraid of ghosts when they're obviously so kind, friendly, and in need of our help. That blip in our consciousness, my friends, may be an important one so don't abandon it as quickly as you abandon your plans for lunch. Multi-generational redemption? It's never made much sense to me, but there is something about it in the Bible. When you have the Bible and Oscar Wilde converging on the same provocative theme it's probably time to dance.
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I've already read both of your novels. Thank you, they're amazing. Now I want to check out your weekly blog on everything