The Ghosts of Buxley Hall (1980) (TV)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Bruce Bilson

Writers:

Sy Gomberg (adaptation) &
Rick Mittleman (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

21 December 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Fantasy | Comedy

Plot:

Ghosts and a young cadet try to save a military academy from being closed.

Plot Keywords:

Military | College | Kids And Family

Cast

Dick O'Neill	...	General Eulace C. Buxley
Victor French	...	Sergeant Major Cheater B. Sweet
Louise Latham	...	Bettina Buxley
Rad Daly	...	Jeremy Ross
Monte Markham	...	Colonel Joe Buxley
Ruta Lee	...	Ernestine Di Gonzini
Vito Scotti	...	Count Sergio Luchesi Di Gonzini
Don Porter	...	Judge Oliver Haynes
Steve Franken	...	Virgil Quinby
Renne Jarrett	...	Emily Wakefield
Christian Juttner	...	Cadet Captain Hubert Fletcher
Tricia Cast	...	Posie Taylor
Guy Raymond	...	Ben Grissom
John Myhers	...	E.L. Hart
Joe Tornatore	...	Vincent

Runtime:

120 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Wilmington, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Fun Made For TV Disney Movie

I caught this one SEVERAL years ago on the Disney Channel. I remember originally seeing it on the Wonderful World of Disney in 1980(I think WWOD was on CBS at the time;but I was only 4). Buxley Hall Military Academy for Boys is steeped in tradition, founded by Gen. Eulace Buxley in the 1800's and now run by his relative. The problem is enrollment is way down, it owes money and the bank wants to foreclose. The only way to save Buxley is to make it co-ed with a girl's school. Of course Col. Joe Buxley hates the idea and doesn't warm up to the house mother or the noisy girls. In comes Jeremy Ross who lost his parents. Jeremy's uncle would like to enroll him and if Jeremy likes it, the uncle will pay off the school's debt. The problem is Jeremy's leech of an aunt and her gigolo husband are fighting Jeremy's uncle for custody(which includes the boy's sizable inheritance). If they can secretly make his life miserable at school, he'll beg to leave and they can offer him a more "stable" home than his single uncle can. But that's not going to happen soon because Jeremy finds a friend in young Posie(who despises the military school's stiff rules). Jeremy is also protected by the GHOSTS of Gen. Buxley, his wife Bettina and Sgt. Chester Sweet. Together the ghosts plot to save Buxley from demolition and Jeremy from his relatives.

Overall a fun, kid friendly movie with plenty of the common, goofy sight gags involving ghosts. Character actor Guy Raymond plays Ben Grissom the drunken caretaker who often see's ghostly activity but no one behind it. Coincidentally Raymond played Ed Peavey in the TV Show "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir" and had many of the same reactions. You can catch Monte Markam in a post "The New Perry Mason" role and Victor French in a pre "Little House on the Prarie"/"Highway to Heaven" role. Also memorable, character actor Vito Scotti playing another accented character(at least he plays an Italian) and actress Ruta Lee in an over the top comical performance. Another coincidence, Rad Daly who played Jeremy and Tricia Cast who played Posie, appeared together a year earlier in the TV version of the "Bad News Bears." Rad played Josh Matthews the snobbish baseball player of the elite team always razzing the bears and Cast played Amanda Whirlitzer.