In 1941, cantankerous novelist Charles Condomine has remarried but finds himself haunted (literally) by the ghost of his late first wife, Elvira. Clever, insistent and well aware of Charles' shortcomings, Elvira is called up by a visiting “happy medium,” the eccentric and flighty Madame Arcati. As everyone's personalities clash, Charles’ current wife, Ruth, is accidentally killed. She “passes over” and joins Elvira, allowing the two “blithe spirits” to haunt the hapless Charles into perpetuity.