Rewind Review: The Stately Ghosts of England (1965)

Margaret Rutherford, the intrepid actress best known for portraying the medium Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit and Jane Marple in the Murder She Said series had, in 1967, earned an Academy Award for her performance in The V.I.P.s and was awarded the title Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire that same year. Prior to this crowning achievement she had an even more exciting experience.... she was thrust among the living and the dead in a one-hour television special The Stately Ghosts of England. In this program, which aired in 1965, the stout dame guided us on a tour of some of the oldest and grandest castles of Great Britain. However, their architecture and interior decor were not the highlight of the tour - instead, she attempted to beckon the spirits to make an appearance for NBC's audience in Great Britain and the United States, where eager ectoplasm enthusiasts gathered around their teles to see what they could not see. Within the one-hour timespan, Margaret Rutherford,…