The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

If I hadn't done a post on The Ghost Goes West for Halloween, I probably would have done one on The Ghost and Mr. Chicken instead.

Don Knotts plays the man who's chicken, a man named Luther Heggs. Luther is a typesetter at the newspaper in the small town of Rachel, KS. He'd like to be a reporter instead of just a type-setter, which would also help him in winning the heart of his girlfriend Alma (Joan Staley). The problem is that Luther is known for telling tall tales, which is something you don't really want in a reporter who should probably be giving readers the facts.

But Luther might just get the chance to write that story. The town has a famous murder case in the past, at the old Simmons place 20 years ago. Legend has it that as a result of that murder, the house is haunted, and you can even hear the organ play all by itself at midnight. With the anniversary coming up, it would be a good time to send somebody to the haunted house to see if it really is haunted. (You'd think they'd send multiple people to have witnesses, but that's another story.)

Besides, they may not get another chance to send somebody into the house, as the dead owners' nephew Nicholas Simmons (Philip Ober) is looking to tear the house down and rebuild. (Here again, if he really didn't want the story out there, couldn't he get an injunction?) But Luther goes into the house, and sure enough, he sees a lot of things that would lead anybody who saw them to think that the place might indeed be haunted. So he writes a story about what he saw.

This is why he should have had witnesses, so that somebody would believe him. Nicholas is none too happy about the story, and sues Luther and the newspaper for libel. The courtroom scenes are idiotic, but the judge comes up with a reasonable suggestion that perhaps the interested parties could go back to the house one night to see what really happens inside the house. Naturally, this time nothing happens, dashing Luther's hopes. Perhaps nothing will happen until there's only one person alone in the house....

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken is a natural vehicle for the comedic talents of Don Knotts. So, if you don't like Don Knotts, you're probably going to have some problems with this movie. I tend to prefer Knotts in a supporting role, so I'm one of the people who had some problems with the movie, which is why I was picking it apart for plot holes. Having said that, however, Knotts' brand of physical comedy is the sort of thing that a lot of parents say appeals to their children. (I bought one of my nieces a DVD of The Incredible Mr. Limpet for Christmas several years back, and my sister said the nieces really enjoyed it.) The frights are quite mild, and it's easy to see Knotts' physical comedy appealing to kids.

I can definitely recommend The Ghost and Mr. Chicken to families. People looking for a serious prestige picture? Well, you probably knew you wouldn't be getting that with this one.