MovieChat Forums > The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) Discussion > So he lied...?

So he lied...?

posted 15 years ago by Dscully100
20 replies | jump to latest

Saw this for the first time on Netflix Starz play it instantly... a gorgeous, sad film that was very, very romantic. Harrison's monologue had me in tears.

HOWEVER.. it did occur to me that it's a good thing that Lucy didn't remember the terms of their arrangement in the later years when Anna admitted that she had had many long conversations with the captain as a child.

So did he lie to Lucy? Was he hanging out with Anna, too? I suppose he had unlimited time and potentially limitless boredom, so I suppose I can't blame him if he was hanging out with the little girl, too. Heck, he might have been spending time with Martha, too.. we just don't know it.

Plus she wanted to move the Captain's picture to her own room when Lucy tired of it and considered moving it to the attic. Hmm...

At any rate, the romantic in me doesn't like the idea that he lied to Lucy and was interacting with her daughter even though he promised he would not.

[–] MsSpiderGrrl 10 years ago

No, he didn't promise not to frighten Lucy...he promised not to go into any other room in the house .... As long as Lucy kept his bedroom the way it was, and hung his portrait there as well.

I say, he was free to go anywhere else in the house the moment she took down his portrait. And he could have interacted with Anna and Martha in the main bedroom....

[–] Tippi_Redrum 9 years ago

I just watched this wonderful film for the 20th time or so. Anna said that the conversations she had with The Captain were during their first year in the house. Then he went away and she thought it was a dream she had as a child. She questioned the fact that she and her mother shared the same dream. Lucy dismissed it as she must have told Anna about HER dream and that is what Anna remembers from her childhood. Daniel did NOT lie!

No time for the old in-n-out, love, I've just come to read the meter.

[–] paramitch 9 years ago

I don't think he lied, exactly.

In the beginning, Lucy doesn't want Captain Gregg appearing to Anna, rightly worrying that perhaps a ghost might actually scare or worry her.

Instead, what I always thought must have happened is that Anna just kind of discovered the Captain on her own, and that he liked her and was amused by her, so they both kept the secret from Lucy so that she wouldn't worry or freak out.

I love that in the end, everyone cool is pretty much accepting of the Captain as part of their little family (and Lucy never seems aware of this, which is kind of adorable) -- I mean, Anna, Martha, and even the dog all seemed very much aware that he was there, on some level.

So I don't think it was a matter of a lie, so much as that it turned out not to be necessary -- Anna was totally fine in meeting Captain Gregg and wasn't upset or terrified at having a ghost in their house.

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I keep thinking I'm a grownup, but I'm not.