The Ghost And Mr. Chicken

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	The Ghost And Mr. Chicken
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Rating: 4 stars

Summary: The World's Bravest Coward!
Review: Luther Heggs (Don Knotts), meek newspaper typesetter, drives his '58 Edsel down Warren Harding road one stormy night. As Luther passes the local "haunted" house, he mistakenly believes he witnesses a murder. Luther's misunderstanding gives the newspaper editor the idea to investigate the supernatural reputation of the infamous Simmons mansion, and its 20 year-old unsolved murder case. To prove the house isn't haunted, the editor tells Luther to spend the night. Luther very reluctantly agrees, with hilarious results.

After his gig as Barney Fife ended on the "Andy Griffith" show, Don Knotts moved his "Nervous Norris" comedy style to the big screen. Arguably, "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" is the best of his string of mostly forgettable Grade B comedies from the mid-'60s. Luther Heggs is a thinly disguised clone of Barney Fife. Luther dresses in Barney's salt-and-pepper gray Sunday suit, bow tie, and battered straw hat. What's more, Luther studied judo and karate by mail. He goes around karate chopping thin air to display his talent for the delectable Alma (Joan Staley). Nostalgia buffs can test their memories by spotting familiar TV character actors of old that comprise much of the supporting cast. Hal Smith (Otis Campbell in "Andy Griffith") has a bit part as the town drunk. Dick Sargent ("Bewitched") is the newspaper editor. Charles Lane (Homer Bedloe of "Petticoat Junction") is the skinny lawyer. George Chandler ("Lassie," "Ichabod and Me") is the judge. Lurene Tuttle ("Julia") runs Luther's boarding house. Grandma Walton herself, Ellen Corby, is the retired schoolteacher.

Rachel, Kansas (the Mayberry of the Mid-West) just oozes small town atmosphere. This movie is fine for "G" rated comedy fans, especially those that enjoyed Don Knotts' brand of spastic humor in "Andy Griffith." It has the look of an old TV show filmed in Technicolor and expanded to feature length. Only the canned laughter is missing. The old lady with the "Bon Ami" fixation proves the down-home humor of the script. Don Knotts will never be a threat to the great movie comedians, but kids and aging baby boomers alike can enjoy this movie. The VHS copy includes the original theatrical trailer. Put your brain on hold and enjoy the nonsense. ;-)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 'atta boy Luther
Review: This is a sentimental movie for me. I remember well going to see this as a 10-yr-old boy with my mom & late dad. For weeks after seeing it, my dad would say "Atta boy, Luther" any time any of us kids did anything right. My mom would say "...and they used Bon Ami" whenever appropriate. I thought it was one of the funniest movies I'd ever seen as a kid. On the other hand, I was scared to death when the organ started playing by itself (pretty tame by today's standards). As it's said, "They don't make 'em like this anymore". Any fan of Don Knotts should see this light-hearted film. It's not CITIZEN KANE, but it's enjoyable as a look at the mid-sixties pop-comedy genre.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Don Knotts at His Finest
Review: This one's a classic. If you like Barney Fife, don't read further, just order this and enjoy it. You WILL like it. He's the same character as Barney was only in a different setting. The best of Barney's character (fear, trying to do what is right, messing up everything, fear, and finally redemption) is in this movie!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "Calm? Do 'murder' and 'calm' go together? Calm and murder?"
Review: Of the films that Don Knotts made with Universal Studios after he left the highly successful Andy Griffith Show, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) has always been my one of my favorites. This was the first of five films Knotts made with Universal from the mid 60's until the early 70's.

Helmed by veteran television director Alan Rafkin, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken stars Don Knotts as Luther Heggs, a typesetter at a small town newspaper with dreams of someday becoming a reporter. While driving home one dark and stormy night, Luther, passing the old Simmons place, a local haunted house where a particularly brutal murder-suicide occurred some twenty years past, happens upon a murder victim, to which he gets all flustered in typical Knotts fashion as he sees his big chance to get a scoop and hopefully achieve his dreams of becoming a real newspaper man. After taking a number of photos, he rushes off to the police station to report the crime, only to learn that the man wasn't murdered, and Luther finds himself in the uncomfortable position of having to deal with being a laughingstock, particularly by a his coworker Ollie, who is a reporter and works at the same paper as Luther. Ollie is also involved with Alma, a local woman who Luther has pines for, but finds himself unable to tell her.

Anyway, as the eve of the 20th anniversary of the murder-suicide at the Simmons house approaches, Luther's newspaper, owned and operated by George Beckett (Dick Sargent), decides to try and capitalize on the event by having someone spend the night in the old Simmons place, and document any strange or unusual happenings. We also learn that old man Simmons, who supposedly killed his wife and took his own life many years back, has a nephew, Nick Simmons, who is in town and trying to clear the bank lien on the house so he can demolish it, for whatever reasons. Well, Luther does spend the night, or, at least part of the night, that is until strange things do start happening, odd noises, secret passages, maniacal laughter, mysterious organ music, portraits running with blood, etc., and Luther is driven from the house. His spectacular story is printed, and interest is renewed in the Simmons house, causing Nick Simmons problems in gaining clear access to do with the house as he pleases, and results in him bringing a libel lawsuit against Luther and the newspaper. During the trial, it's decided that the only way to clear things up is to actually go to the Simmons house and try to re-enact the events as Luther related them, and determine once and for all the truth. At the house, the procession finds the spirits that haunted Luther previously unresponsive, and things certainly look bad for Luther. Is the house truly haunted? What was the nature of the crime committed so many years ago?

Knotts is great, performing his 'nervous man' routine, and a number of Andy Griffith Show regulars make brief appearances in the film including Hal Smith as Calver Weems (he was Otis, the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show), and Hope Summers as Suzanne Blush (she played Clara Edwards on The Andy Griffith Show). One of my favorite scenes is when the town is having a celebratory picnic for Luther after his article detailing his night spent within the Simmons house (exaggerated quite a bit by his editor to make Luther seem braver than he actually was) and Luther has to get up in front of everyone and deliver a speech. Suffering from a severe case of stage fright, and losing his notes to a convenient gust of wind, Luther tries to wing it, with hilarious results. Here's a snippet 'I have been called brave. What is brave? Let me clarify this. Of course we all know this is short for brave-r-y. That goes without even being said. But is also a symbol of another thing....' There is also a couple of running gags throughout the film, one being someone off-screen yelling out 'Atta boy, Luther!' at certain points in the film. What makes Knott's performances so great in this film and other roles of a similar nature? I guess it's his willingness for self-deprecation, presenting himself as a buffoon, allowing the audience to derive much laughter at his meek, nebbish characters. All of his Universal pictures follow a similar format, showing a bumbling but likeable character with lofty aspirations, thrust into a situation allowing for a great downfall, and then redemption in the end, as the underdog ends up in a much better position than when the film started.

Universal presents here a really good-looking wide screen print. Special features include a theatrical trailer, and recommendations that list Knott's four other Universal films, including The Reluctant Astronaut (1967), The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968), The Love God? (1969), and How to Frame a Figg (1971). Atta boy, Luther? I say Atta boy, Don, for giving us much to laugh about, and entertaining so thoroughly.

Cookieman108

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: GHOSTS IN RACHEL, KANSAS
Review: A purposely corny but funny venture into the sixties. Don Knotts is in his element as Luther Heggs, the timid typesetter who dares to spend the night in the town's local haunted house. The old ladies who are residents of the boarding house in which Luther lives are a riot (and they used Bon Ami!) The organ music is creepy and the victrola scene is startling. It's filled with such familiar faces as Ellen Corby (Grandma Esther of the Waltons) Reta Shaw, (she says to her husband after balling him out "Milo, you didn't eat your tapioca") Hope Summers (Clara on Andy Griffith), Dick Sargent, (Bewitched) Nydia Westman, Jesslyn Fax and the once-great radio actress Lurene Tuttle. A key role is played by the elusive Philip Ober (he was married to Vivian Vance for 20 years.) Don Knotts has rarely been better (his scene in the sleeping bag is priceless), and Joan Staley is very nice to look at. Fun for people who are in the mood for lightweight fluff from a bygone era.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 'atta boy Luther
Review: This is a sentimental movie for me. I remember well going to see this as a 10-yr-old boy with my mom & late dad. For weeks after seeing it, my dad would say "Atta boy, Luther" any time any of us kids did anything right. My mom would say "...and they used Bon Ami" whenever appropriate. I thought it was one of the funniest movies I'd ever seen as a kid. On the other hand, I was scared to death when the organ started playing by itself (pretty tame by today's standards). As it's said, "They don't make 'em like this anymore". Any fan of Don Knotts should see this light-hearted film. It's not CITIZEN KANE, but it's enjoyable as a look at the mid-sixties pop-comedy genre.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The World's Bravest Coward!
Review: Luther Heggs (Don Knotts), meek newspaper typesetter, drives his '58 Edsel down Warren Harding road one stormy night. As Luther passes the local "haunted" house, he mistakenly believes he witnesses a murder. Luther's misunderstanding gives the newspaper editor the idea to investigate the supernatural reputation of the infamous Simmons mansion, and its 20 year-old unsolved murder case. To prove the house isn't haunted, the editor tells Luther to spend the night. Luther very reluctantly agrees, with hilarious results.

Knotts stars as Luther Heggs, an aspiring journalist who works in the typesetting room of a newspaper in the small town of Rachel, Kansas. A bumbling, nerdy milquetoast--for Knotts, what other role is there?--Heggs badgers the editor of his paper into letting him do a feature on the goings-on at a local long-abandoned house that is purportedly haunted. Rumor has it that the previous occupant and his wife were murdered, and most of the rubes in this Kansan town now believe the spirits of those unfortunate two still occupy the house during the wee hours of the night. Heggs' editor agrees to let the nerdy typesetter do the story, but only if he agrees to sleep in the house for a full night and use this experience as the foundation for the article. With a great degree of trepidation, Heggs accepts the editor's challenge, but really only because he wants to impress a girl he has a crush on. Although his bravery is only a front, Heggs does manage to uncover more about the strange doings at the house than anyone ever suspected.

For adult filmgoers, THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN offers little more than a modicum of entertainment or literary value, though the pre-teen crowd will likely find it to be thoroughly enjoyable. Part of the film's inability to capture the interest of a truly discerning audience is due to the performance of star Don Knotts. Knotts was nothing short of sublime as Deputy Barney Fife during the 5+ years that he was with THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, but he simply doesn't have the comedic range to carry an entire feature film. His rubbery facial expressions, gangly and awkward body movements, and adeptness at portraying ineptness can be downright hilarious--but only in small doses. On TV, Knotts' performance was buffered because his screen time was interspersed with that of co-star Griffith and other comedy actors of varying styles. But in a 90-minute movie where nearly every scene centers around Knotts, his one-note comedic style rapidly wears thin.

In spite of a few genuinely humorous moments, the overall script is fairly cliché and formulaic. In the scenes that take place in the haunted house, every trite bump-in-the-night gag is resurrected and used as a springboard for Knotts' bug-eyed and rubbery scared-of-the-dark routine. And the filler between non-spook segments is rather dull, too, consisting of mainly shopworn jabs at easy targets like small-town drunks, neighborhood gossips, henpecking wives and their henpecked husbands, spiritualism and the occult, and small-town life in general.

All of the primary characters in the film are little more than cardboard cut-outs with crystal-clear motivations and transparent personalities. It goes without saying--especially now, with 40 years of cinematic retrospection--that Knotts' Luther Heggs will be a bumbling nerd with a heart of gold. In step with the syrupy early-60s family-film formula, Heggs' love interest, Alma (Joan Staley), is the small-town beauty who seems not the least bit aware of her ravishing assests, and she acts like it's totally natural for her to be attracted to a homely, inept gent like Heggs. And newspaperman Ollie Weaver (Skip Homeier), Heggs' rival both professionally and personally, exudes that smarmy machismo typical of the muscle-bound jerk who is likely to spend his Sunday afternoons at the beach kicking sand into the faces of the proverbial 98-pound weaklings. Most of the peripheral characters are also perfunctory to the extreme, serving mainly as background props and contributing little, if anything, of significance to the actual plot.

To be fair, it must be pointed out that THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN is not without its share of assets. The greatest of these is Joan Staley, who plays Luther's love interest, Alma. A mere 8 years prior to appearing in this film, the comely Ms. Staley appeared in Playboy as the centerfold Playmate for November 1958. Not only pretty, Ms. Staley is also a fine actress and brings a bit of thespian respectability to this film. Also notable is the appearance of Dick Sargent in the role of Heggs' editor. Genre fans will recognize Sargent from his role as the "Second Darrin" on TV's BEWITCHED. And it's fun to watch for the other well-known comedy and character actors--actors such as Reta Shaw, Philip Ober, Charles Lane, Ellen Corby, James Millhollin, and Sandra Gould, among others--in minor supporting roles.

In 1948, Universal Pictures started what would become a long string of entertaining and successful horror-themed comedy films with the release of the excellent ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN. But that winning streak ultimately ended in 1966 with THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN. It is a mediocre film that, in spite of a few laughs, ultimately fails. It can easily be argued that the reason for this failure is twofold: One, star Don Knotts has a limited comedic repertoire that is just not capable of sustaining a feature-length film; and two, in their attempt to create what they perceive as a family film, the filmmakers use an excess of cinematic and literary clichés that effectively dumbs down the script and thereby vitiates the charm of the comedy-horror hybrid.

Universal's DVD offers a nearly pristine anamorphic widescreen digital transfer of the film in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. However, with no extras other than the film's theatrical trailer, only hardcore fans of Don Knotts are likely to want to purchase this disc.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Hilarious Don Knotts comedy
Review: Even an excruciating sunburn, acquired earlier in the day at the beach, was forgotten on that long-ago summer night when I saw Don Knotts in "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" when it played as the supporting feature to "Munsters, Go Home" at the drive-in. Now, many years and hundreds, if not thousands, of movies later, I still find it hilarious.

Knotts is one of the funniest comics of all time (it's not for nothing that he won 5 Emmys for "The Andy Griffith Show"), and he's at his best here. He also recieves terrific support from a fine cast of familiar character actors. In some ways, I could even identify with the hapless hero. Like him, I, too, ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from the inside out, avoiding and throwing out the crust (now my favorite part, but you probably don't care about that).

"The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" even manages to be genuinely spooky at times (that organ music - yikes!). Knotts made quite a few movies after this, but none approach the silly charm of this comedy classic.

"Attaboy, Luther!"

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "Calver! What're you doin' here? You're dead!"
Review: As a big-screen comedian, Don Knotts was never funnier, more endearing, or more inspired than in this silly, oddly charming small-town comedy. It's one of those pleasant memories from childhood, and I'm delighted to discover how well it holds up. Knotts' character, Luther Hegg, is little more than an extension of, or variation on, Barney Fife; he's what Barney might become if Andy wasn't around to calm him with a wink to the audience. And Knotts gives into the foolishness with enormous conviction: the goggle-eyed, wild-haired terror; the slightly self-important preening of a little man who just KNOWS he could be a big deal with the right break; the false bravado that quickly succumbs to cowardice of the first rank (a schtick Bob Hope would have been proud to own); and, curiously, the essential heartbreak and loneliness Knotts is too good an actor to sentimentalize or imbue with undue self-pity.

Aside from the star's peerless, bug-eyed takes, what makes this unpretentious trifle of a movie so pleasurable are its relative intelligence and its canny observation of character. They've been making inexpensive showcase comedies for rising comedians for aeons now, and most of them are dumb to the point of inanity (today they're both stupid AND gross.) But the screenwriters and the director of this movie have a fondness for even the smallest of characters, and there are wonderful touches, like the way the old man in the boarding house casually takes an egg off the cozy of the bickering old woman next to him at the breakfast table, cracks it open, and eats it. No one notices, and the filmmakers don't beat us over the head with it; it's there, on the periphery, if we want to enjoy it. Can you imagine the people behind David Spade movies having the grace to do that?

Every role, however small, is written and performed as completely individual. The voices are unique, just right for the performers and for the town itself. The verbal one-upsmanship of the elderly women in the boarding house is a perfect example; you get the feeling they've been at it for years now. Add in Vic Mizzy's memorable, idiosyncratic hipster-like score with its variations on two simple rhythmic themes, a beautiful digital transfer, and Technirama 2:35:1 widescreen, and - voila! - 90 minutes of simple joy, done to a T.

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