The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Alan Rafkin
Produced by Edward J. Montagne, Jr.
Written by Jim Fritzell
Everett Greenbaum
Starring Don Knotts
Joan Staley
Liam Redmond
Sandra Gould
Dick Sargent
Skip Homeier
Music by Vic Mizzy
Cinematography William Margulies
Edited by Sam E. Waxman
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
  • January 20, 1966 (1966-01-20)
Running time
 90 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken is a 1966 American comedy-drama film starring Don Knotts as Luther Heggs, a newspaper typesetter who spends a night in a haunted house, which is located in the fictitious community of Rachel, Kansas. The working title was Running Scared.[1] The actual title is presumably a humorous variation of the 1947 film, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.

Plot

Luther Heggs is a typesetter at the newspaper in Rachael, Kansas, but aspires to be a reporter. One night, observing what he believes to be a murder outside of an old mansion, alone and dejected, Luther begins to walk home. Then he suddenly hears the old Huntington High School organ playing creepy music. Courageously, he re-enters the mansion and discovers his friend Mr. Kelsey (Liam Redmond), the newspaper's janitor, playing the organ. Kelsey, the former gardener for the Simmons family, confesses to being responsible for the mysterious happenings Heggs witnessed (including playing the organ remotely from an additional "tuning" keyboard located under the pipes).

Cast

Production notes

This film was produced by Universal Studios, which produced countless classic horror films. Knotts was best known at the time of the film's production for his Emmy Award-winning five seasons on the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show as small town deputy sheriff Barney Fife. Andy Griffith, Knotts' costar on "The Andy Griffith Show", suggested expanding on an episode from the television show involving a deserted house (the old Rimshaw house in the episode "Haunted House" aired Oct. 1963) in which Barney, Gomer, and Andy retrieve a baseball of Opie and his friend from the house. Another Andy Griffith Show connection is a small role played by Hal Smith, who had a recurring role on the show. Knotts left the television show at the end of the 1964–65 season in order to pursue a film career. He had already starred in The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964). Knotts' popularity prompted a multiple-movie deal with Universal, starting with this movie, and followed by The Reluctant Astronaut (1967), The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968), and The Love God (1970) (as well as several others, including The Apple Dumpling Gang). The Ghost and Mr. Chicken was directed by Alan Rafkin with a screenplay by Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum; all three men had been associated with the success of The Andy Griffith Show. Several players from the television show also appear in the film including Lurene Tuttle, Burt Mustin, Hal Smith, and Hope Summers. Viewers will also recognize several actors and actresses who had appeared or were then appearing on other sitcoms of the time. The movie boasts one of the largest collection of character actors/actresses assembled in a single movie.

Universal contract star Joan Staley was known by Alan Rafkin from their work together in Broadside. Normally a blond, she had to wear a dark wig because the producers felt she was "too sexy" as a blonde (she was actually Playboy's "Miss November" 1958, but was photographed very modestly, being only partially nude) and the part called for a brunette. She wore the same wig previously worn by Claudia Cardinale in Blindfold.[2] Al Checco, Knotts' Army-days comedy partner, had an uncredited appearance in the film.

The "Simmons Mansion," a three-story Second-Empire Victorian house, stands on Colonial Street on the Universal Studios lot in California and was built for the 1946 film So Goes My Love. It appeared as the Dowd house in the 1950 film Harvey, and, with several alterations to the architecture, served as the home of Gabrielle Solis in Desperate Housewives (2004 - 2012).[3] But according to horror movie host Svengoolie (aka Rich Koz, who featured The Ghost and Mr. Chicken in his 2012-2013 season on the ME TV broadcast network), the mansion was also the home of the Munsters. The popular but short-lived 1964-66 TV sitcom, and the related 1966 movie, Munster Go Home, were both produced by Universal Studios.

The Mr Chicken mansion is actually not the Munster house, although they are next door to each other on the new Colonial street, with the Munster house on the right. Originally they were on the old Colonial street, near New York street and Courthouse square, with the Munster house to the left of the Mr Chicken mansion, and that is where this movie was filmed.

Knotts personally called the Bon Ami company president to get permission to mention the cleaning product's name in one of the film's running gags.

Home media

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken was released on VHS on April 30, 1996. Universal released the film on DVD September 2, 2003 and again on January 9, 2007.

Soundtrack

On July 12, 2005, Percepto released the soundtrack on Compact Disc. Composer Vic Mizzy used the old tune Mr. Ghost Goes to Town as his main theme. Mizzy's haunted house organ theme also appeared in the 1967 film Games.

CD cover art
  1. Gaseous Globe
  2. Main Title
  3. Luther Has a Scoop
  4. Laugh's on Luther
  5. Bashful One
  6. Kelsey's Tale
  7. Twenty Years Ago
  8. Super S'Luther
  9. Clock Watchers
  10. Oh, Chute
  11. Rickety Tik Phono
  12. Creepy Jeepers
  13. Haunted Organ
  14. Hero to the
  15. Hero's Picnic
  16. Picnic Table
  17. Speech Is Over
  18. Alma Matters
  19. Back to the Mansion
  20. Chick-Napped
  21. Plucky Chicken
  22. Wedding & Finale
  23. When in Southern California, Visit Universal City Studios (promotional tag)

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/19331/The-Ghost-and-Mr-Chicken/notes.html
  2. ↑ p.62 Lisanti, Tom Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Biker, Beach, and Elvis Movies McFarland, 2001
  3. ↑ The Studio Tour.com – Colonial Street

External links

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