Blackbeard's Ghost (1968)

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Bill Walsh (screenplay) &
Don DaGradi (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

8 February 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Ghost-to-Ghost Laughs!

Plot:

In this comedy, Peter Ustinov is the famous pirate's ghost that returns to our time. Blackbeard has...

Plot Keywords:

Pirate | Ghost | Football Coach | Track And Field | Inn

Cast

Peter Ustinov	...	Captain Blackbeard
Dean Jones	...	Steve Walker
Suzanne Pleshette	...	Jo Anne Baker
Elsa Lanchester	...	Emily Stowecroft
Joby Baker	...	Silky Seymour
Elliott Reid	...	TV Commentator
Richard Deacon	...	Dean Wheaton
Norman Grabowski	...	Virgil
Kelly Thordsen	...	Motorcycle Officer
Michael Conrad	...	Pinetop Purvis
Herbie Faye	...	Croupier
George Murdock	...	Head Official
Hank Jones	...	Gudger Larkin
Ned Glass	...	Teller
Gil Lamb	...	Waiter

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | UK:U | USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1975) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | West Germany:6 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

Final film of William Fawcett.

Goofs:

Factual errors: A properly functioning Colt automatic pistol does not fire if it is dropped, or if it is incorrectly gripped, yet it does during the run-in with the motorcycle officer.

Quotes:

[telling Steve Walker about Blackbeard's tenth wife]
Mrs. Stocroft: Aldetha was a witch, you know. She never forgave the Captain for denouncing her to the authorities. When they were burning Aldetha at the stake, she put a terrible curse on him. As the flames crept higher and higher, she screeched her dying words:
[raises her voice and startles Steve]
Mrs. Stocroft: "EDWARD TEACH, sometimes known as Captain Blackbeard, when you come to die, may your body and soul be racked between this world and the next, always to be alone! May this curse hold fast and true, may you be held forevermore in limbo, until such time as there be found in you, most wicked of all villains - "
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Age of Believing: The Disney Live Action Classics (2008) (TV)

From the Newton School

Watching Blackbeard's Ghost yesterday put me in mind of the late Robert Newton and his portrayal of Blackbeard in a classic film from the Fifties. Had Mr. Newton not died of chronic alcoholism in 1957, I'm sure he would have been the Disney studio's choice to play Blackbeard.

With Robert Newton not being available, the studio got another actor famous for a bravura performance, that of Nero and Quo Vadis. Who'd have thought that Peter Ustinov would have gotten another role that called for flamboyant overacting. Ustinov's Blackbeard is a combination of Newton's Blackbeard and his own Nero. And he dominates the film completely.

Dean Jones who was Disney's major leading man at the time who played the roles Kurt Russell was too young for, borrows a great deal from that other actor, who's career Disney rejuvenated, Fred MacMurray. In fact the similarities between this and Absent Minded Professor and Son of Flubber are too obvious to be missed.

Still those were two pretty funny films and Blackbeard's Ghost is in a great tradition.

Dean Jones is the new track coach at Godolphin College and he stays at the inn that's run by the descendents of the crew of none other than Edward Teach better known as Blackbeard. But they are a harmless bunch of senior citizens led by Elsa Lanchester. Yet that inn is coveted by gangster Joby Baker who's bought the mortgage.

Jones finds a faded piece of paper in an old bedwarmer and it's a spell that makes the ghost of old Blackbeard visible to him only. After that Jones plays straight man to a hilarious Ustinov. Blackbeard and is doings cause some romantic problems for Jones with Suzanne Pleshette, but in Disney tradition in the end the old buccaneer sets everything to right and escapes the limbo he's consigned to.

For Peter Ustinov fans, this is a must. You can see it in his face and his performance how much of a good time Ustinov was having with this part. It will translate into your enjoyment as well.