Blackbeard's Ghost

The new Godolphin College track coach, Steve Walker, spends his first night in town at Blackbeard's Inn where he inadvertently summons the ghost of Blackbeard. Blackbeard is cursed to roam through limbo, making life miserable for Walker in the process, unless he can do one good deed to send him on his way to the other side. Helping Godolphin win the big track meet (and saving the Inn in the process) might just be the good deed he needs. The 60s and early 70s were a prime-time for live action Disney movies like Blackbeard's Ghost. These were good, clean, family films with real actors, real stories, and real comedy. I hadn't seen it in years and maybe it's a nostalgia thing for me, but I found it just as entertaining and fun as ever. A lot of the comedy may be the obvious slapstick type, but it works nonetheless. The entire track meet is a hoot. I suppose my favorite bit may have been the baton pass mix-up during the relay race. Pretty funny stuff. The acting in Blackbeard's Ghost is first rate. Ustinov is very good as Blackbeard. His overacting is exactly what the role calls for. Everyman Dean Jones and the stunning Suzanne Pleshette make the perfect Disney couple. You can't help but root for them. Finally, Elsa Lanchester steals every scene she appears in. A couple of times I found her laugh-out-loud funny. It's a nice cast. Throw in the rousing, very Disney-esque Heart of Oak pirate sing-a-long and you've got a winner. I doubt a movie like Blackbeard's Ghost would be made today. Ustinov doesn't come close to the image Disney's promoting these days. Too bad, because today's kids and families are missing out. 8/10

The chronology of Disney movies that I saw growing up are almost a record of the stages of girlhood: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Lady and the Tramp," "Greyfriars Bobby," "The Moon-Spinners" and lastly, at 14, "The Fighting Prince of Donegal"—a satisfying transition out of puberty, with Peter McEnery swashbuckling his way into my adolescent heart. Three years later, I was buying tickets to "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Graduate," and "In the Heat of the Night," as well as imports from "Bedazzled" to "Closely Watched Trains." By 1968, I didn't even notice the release of "Blackbeard's Ghost." Today I appreciate vintage Disney movies not only for the purity of the nostalgia, but for the durability of the formula, and the skillful choice (if not use) of talent. I recently re-watched several, just because of the casts: "Moon-Spinners" for Eli Wallach, Joan Greenwood, Irene Papas, and (yes) Pola Negri. "Pollyanna" for Donald Crisp, Adolph Menjou, Agnes Moorehead. "Kidnapped" for Finlay Currie and the Peters O'Toole and Finch. "Swiss Family Robinson" for John Mills and Sessue Hayakawa. Family pictures, all, as is Blackbeard's Ghost. But while the others have logical plots, Blackbeard pushes the bounds of absurdity and actually becomes boring. And "Blackbeard's Ghost" for Peter Ustinov and Elsa Lanchester. There's barely a glimpse of her after the first half hour or so, but he is in almost every scene, buttressing a silly plot with his inventive light physical comedy, and managing to sell a truly ridiculous role. Beyond, ridiculous, really: as the plot hurtles forward, he develops preternatural powers more associated with superheroes than with fat drunken ghosts. Ustinov, unfortunately, is the only reason to dedicate 106 minutes to this movie. Its few other qualities lag far behind: the wildly creative sets for Blackbeard's Inn do look like they were assembled of jetsam (as the dialog says), and though Dean Jones is no Laurence Olivier (he's not even Fred Macmurray), he does a fine job as the dauntless straight man to Ustinov's spectral pirate.

I enjoyed this movie very much; there is rarely a moment where I wasn't finding it interesting. There is some great acting, especially by Peter Ustinov, playing the ghost of Blackbeard. 9/10