The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

'The Ghost and Mrs. Muir' is a romantic fantasy film starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison, based on a 1945 novel written by Josephine Leslie.

Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison

In 20th century England, a widow named Mrs. Lucy Muir searches for a house to live in after an argument with her in-laws. She settles for a cottage along a seaside village called Whitecliff despite being warned that the house is haunted by a captain who apparently committed suicide. She moves into the cottage with her daughter, pet dog and maid and gets into a conversation with the ghost after provoking him to speak. During their quarrel, Lucy discovers that the captain died accidentally in his bed chamber. She tells him to be nicer and not to use uncivilized language with her being a lady and all. They gradually develop feelings for one another, with her being the obstinate but charming young lady and him being a loud and arrogant seaman.

Lucy's in-laws show up at the cottage telling her that she's now become a pauper as her investment income has dried up and that she should return to her late husband's house in London. Lucy refuses them and turns to the ghost for help as he urges her to write a book based on his numerous adventures at sea. She writes as he dictates and goes to the Publisher's with the manuscript. The publisher, greatly impressed by the captain's story, agrees to publish the book. On the way to the publisher's, she meets Miles Fairley who begins flirting with her and even pushes her to ride in a carriage with him. She discovers that he is a well known children's author who writes under the pen-name of Uncle Neddy. This begins a series of flirtatious episodes and courtship which angers the jealous ghost, making him come to the realization that he has fallen in love with Mrs Muir and that it is only healthy for her to carry on a relationship with a 'real' man. He tells Lucy, in her sleep, that she ought to forget him and vanishes.

Lucy wakes up thinking that her quarrels with the Captain were only dreams and comes under the impression that the book was written only by her. Meanwhile, she gets a cheque for the book, enabling her to buy the house and runs to Fairley's house to tell him the good news. She discovers that he is a married man and returns to the cottage with a broken heart and lingering emptiness. She subconsciously longs for the captain, despite believing that his ghost never existed.
She lives in the cottage for several long and lonely years and her grown up daughter visits her from University with her fiance. From their talk, Lucy comes to the realization that the Captain's ghost really had really existed but mysteriously vanished from both her and her daughter's lives. The final scene is her as an aged woman who dies while getting ready for bed at night. She drops her glass of milk and the Captain appears only to pull the spirit of the young Lucy away from the body. The two of them walk down the stairs and out of the front door, into the mist.