The Ghost And Mr. Chicken

Rating:
Summary: the funniest don knotts since andy griffith
Review: this is probably my favorite classic movie

Rating:
Summary: A must-see for any Don Knotts fan!
Review: Don Knotts will probably not be known as one of the all-time great actors by many people, but his works greatly entertain me and for that I thank him.

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Summary: Great mid-60's period piece.
Review: This is a really fun movie to see if you remember anything about the 60's. All the familiar character actors are here. Lots of adult level one-liners if you pay attention.

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Summary: Orange is great!
Review: I loved this movie. Just loved it. The part when Alex starts to sing, I-What? The ghost and Who? Oh that junk. This ain't the Clockwork Orange homepage? Knotts? END END

Rating:
Summary: The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
Review: A classic Don Knotts film of the highest degree. I love the surprise appearance of the actor that played Ottis the town drunk in Andy Griffin show playing a town drunk in the start of the film. Don Knotts plays a guy who wishes to be a real reporter more than anything. When he writers a story about the town murder house it will take all his strength to survive being the town laughing stalk and surviving the night of laughs alive.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful, one of my all time favorites
Review: i was primarily a don knotts fan due to his lovable role as barny phife on the andy griffeth show. when i saw this movie at the video rental store starring my favorite tv personality next to lucielle ball and the gang, i immdediatly rented it. that was when i was twelve, now fourteen i still enjoy this comedy and love the DVD version of this classic. it's enjoyable for people of all ages as i found out growing up with this wonderful movie. give it a try, i know you'll love it!!!!

Rating:
Summary: The Classic Chicken
Review: Last night was spent in watching an almost-delicious movie. I say almost because it has one feature which makes it less than highly recommended, but I shall expound upon that in a little bit. It was "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken." It stars the inimitable Don Knotts as Luther Heggs, the frightened type-setter of a small-town newspaper who is determined to work his way up to the glories of reporter-hood. Y'all, this movie is hysterical. You'll be so scared that you'll laugh yourself to death. (Thus says the movie trailer.) It's chock-full of humor and just enough spookiness to give you goosebumps. You see, Luther has the chance of a lifetime to hit it big, thanks to tips from the mysterious Scotch janitor in the basement of the news office. The Simmons house once had a murder in it, and the 20th anniversary of the murder has come. Luther sneaks a filler story about it into the newspaper, and the town goes wild with delight. (And here I'll warn about the weird thing. There is some kind of weird spiritist society in the town, made up of old women who go around chanting weird things and talking about "communicating with the divine," and "cosmic importance." We fast-forward through this, and in the movie the ladies are very definitely made out to be ridiculous - not portrayed as legitimate or real, but wacky. We still prefer not to watch it, as they are spookily occult at a few points, but only a few points.) But, to do a really good story on the murder house, the newspaper decided it would be great to have someone spend the night in it on the 20th anniversary, and write a report on it. Guess who is elected? Luther. The abashedly awkward and terrified bumbling hero who discovers he's the bravest man in town. What follows is a night full of laughs, goosebumps, and intrigue. The Simmons house has more mystery to it than a 20-year-old murder, and Luther Heggs is the man to crack the mystery, despite his bumbling terror. Knotts is a hoot as he runs from his own reflection and attacks a dress form, and every moment is full of his inimitable facial expressions. But when the organ in the top floor of the old mansion starts playing at midnight, keys moving, but no one sitting at the keyboard, it's enough to give goosebumps to the toughest of us. The music is deliciously spooky. Of course, there's no ghost. But the question remains. How is the organ playing, why is the mystery house going to be bulldozed, and how did the murder really happen? Luther stumbles upon a more tangled web than just the old cobwebs hanging from the mansion's deserted walls. I definitely recommend this as a good clean movie, with few disclaimers: the spiritist society is the biggest one, there is one point where a lady refers to a dress having yellow flowers across the "bosom," and the fair, sweet Elma wears dresses that are quite low in the neck. So you've been warned of the bad, and that's all there is to it. It's "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken," and if you don't watch this movie, you're chicken. ;)

Rating:
Summary: You can't go wrong with Don Knotts and a haunted house
Review: It's almost too easy: put Don Knotts in a haunted house, and you're guaranteed to have a funny movie. I'm sure many of us still remember the classic haunted house episode of The Andy Griffith Show as one of our favorites. Don Knotts had just left his Emmy-winning role of Barney Fife (and he left the show because the plan all along had been to end the show after five seasons - but then the show didn't end), but the Mayberry stamp can certainly still be seen in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. There were cameos from such familiar faces as "Otis" and "Clara," and the idea for a running gag featuring an off-screen character yelling "Attaboys" throughout the film can be attributed to Andy Griffith himself. You'll also see the grouchy old man who kept trying to shut down the Hooterville Cannonball in Petticoat Junction and Dick Sargent of Bewitched fame. Knotts was fortunate indeed to have Joan Staley, a former Playboy Playmate, as his leading lady - Thelma Lou has nothing on her, let me tell you.

Knotts plays Luther Heggs, a character very much in the Barney Fife vein. Heggs is a typesetter at the local paper, but he dreams of being a real reporter. His attempt to get a real scoop winds up making him a laughingstock all over town; to make matters worse, his mean supervisor at the paper has a thing going with Alma Parker (Staley), the subject of his own affections. Heggs gets what could be his big break when the editor asks him to write an article on the old Simmons mansion, a spooky old place reportedly haunted for the past twenty years - since the night Mr. Simmons killed his wife and then took a swan-dive off the upper floor. There's only one thing that can convince a terrified fellow to spend a night in a haunted house, and it isn't a desire to show his boss or anyone else what he is made of; no, the only thing that will work here is a desire to impress a lady, and so Heggs settles in for the scariest night of his life. His story about the ghostly manifestations he witnessed makes him a town hero, but it raises the ire of the surviving Simmons descendant who is eager to tear down the house for reasons of his own. And so it is that Heggs has to prove to a court of law that he saw what he said he saw.

It's a pretty simple plot that is easily predictable from the very start, but this movie works because it is funny. The whole thing might have fizzled with another actor, but Don Knotts makes everything hilarious - he is a master of physical comedy (bettered only by Tim Conway). He is truly in his element here as a reluctant hero - there's very little difference between Luther Heggs and Barney Fife, when it comes right down to it. They really ought to slap a "guaranteed funny" label on the front of this one.

Rating:
Summary: Comedy Classic
Review: Don Knotts is probably one of the least appreciated comedic actors in America. That's too bad because he has entertained and made a couple of generations laugh at his timeless and pretty much wholesome humor. Ghost and Mr. Chicken was one of the best movies Don Knotts did. So glad it's out on DVD.

And they used Bonami!

Rating:
Summary: Attaboy Luther!
Review: Luther Heggs, played by Don Knotts, dreams of being a newspaper reporter. To get his big chance he spends the night in the haunted Simmons mansion on the eve of the 20 year anniversary of the murder-suicide of Old man Simmons and his wife. After reporting on his terrifying night in the mansion, Heggs is sued for libel by Nick Simmons, the Simmons heir. Being known for his "wild flights of imagination" Heggs must prove that he didn't make the whole story up and in the process reveals the true murderer.

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken also features Dick Sargent as the newspaper editor, and Joan Staley as Heggs' love interest. Released in 1966 by Universal Pictures, in Technicolor, with a running time of 90 min., this movie was set in the 1950's in small-town Rachel, Kansas. Alan Rafkin directed.

I give The Ghost and Mr. Chicken five stars. This movie has everything, comedy, romance, and ghosts; and is classic "Don Knotts". It has all the spooky clichés, black cats, secret passageways, and creepy organ music, just to name a few. This would be a great Halloween movie for the family.