I watched it without having watched the first film, shot in 1945 with Rutherford as Madam Arcati, before. The film is unfortunately not funny, which in my opinion lies in the fact that the new adaptation the story changed a lot, adding unnecessary plot elements, overall making it boring. In fact the key part, namely that the maid is the actual psychic is completely removed from the story, and the coming back of Madam Arcati's long dead husband is a new completely unnecessary, yet predictable and not funny twist. The death of Charles, although being the last scene of the 1945 film too, is actually absent in the play (which thankfully one can still watch on youtube with an excellent cast). Nonetheless, in the old film it is just a one-minute add-on which does not destroy the plot (it is an obvious and common thing to do at the time), which is not the case with the new one.
The story is supposed to take place in the 1930s, in a villa which looks anything but that (something between Bauhaus and Minimalism). Since the majority of the scenes were shot there, this insignificant mistake is perceived throughout the film, in an annoying way.
Although everyone's acting is excellent, the plot too blunt to save the day. If you want to watch it then go for the 1945 film, or even better, for the TV play.
The story is supposed to take place in the 1930s, in a villa which looks anything but that (something between Bauhaus and Minimalism). Since the majority of the scenes were shot there, this insignificant mistake is perceived throughout the film, in an annoying way.
Although everyone's acting is excellent, the plot too blunt to save the day. If you want to watch it then go for the 1945 film, or even better, for the TV play.