William Castle's second outing for 1967 reteamed him with the star comic, Sid Caesar, from his previous effort, THE BUSY BODY; while the latter film was definitely no great comedy, it got by on the strength of its starry cast. Despite the appearance here of such familiar character actors as John Astin (as a shrink – with the director in a cameo as one of his patients!), Jay C. Flippen (a bartender named "Mother"), John McGiver (Caesar's rich seafaring relative), Nestor Paiva (one of the ghosts' father in the prologue), Harvey Lembeck (wasted as McGiver's first mate), Jesse White (a patron of Flippen's dive) and housemaid Mary Wickes, these ingredients fail to gel satisfactorily this time around.
Conversely, while THE BUSY BODY had treated the popular 1960s theme of collective greed, THE SPIRIT IS WILLING goes back to that old warhorse of new tenants inhabiting a house haunted by its previous residents – but it emerges as decidedly a long way away from such delightful prototypes like Rene' Clair's THE GHOST GOES WEST (1935) or the odd-duck Abbott and Costello vehicle THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES (1946); besides, its maritime setting is likewise reminiscent of such classier properties like Joseph L. Mankiewicz's THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (1947) and Albert Lewin's PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN (1951). Tellingly enough, while THE BUSY BODY has been granted an official DVD release (albeit from Legend Films rather than Paramount itself) via a nice-looking print that respects its original aspect ratio, its lamer follow-up still languishes in fullscreen VHS copies floating around among enterprising collectors over the Internet (which is how I acquired it) despite having recently been legitimately issued on BluRay by Olive Films!
Aging magazine editor Caesar is given forced leave from work and decides to takes his wife Vera Miles and rebellious son Barry Gordon to a summer vacation in a creaky New England mansion that was the site of a triple murder by meat cleaver 70 years before. This event, depicted in the film's prologue, is the only concession to Castle's previous cult efforts in the Horror genre; indeed, Vic Mizzy's jaunty score – tying it, along with Astin's presence, to the concurrent TV hit, "The Addams Family" – equates it more with harmless Disney kiddie fare like the contemporaneous (and similarly-themed) BLACKBEARD'S GHOST than the "with-it" ghost comedy that the theatrical poster promised. Having said that, lovely young actress Jill Townsend comes off best among the cast in her triple roles as the ill-fated, ghostly maid (in a perennial embrace with her sea captain lover), Gordon's new (and somewhat older) friend and her sexy librarian sister (who takes up with Caesar, much to Miles' chagrin). For the record, the three ghosts are initially only visible to the youngsters – despite an over-reliance on a cellar-door- which-opens-and-closes-of-its-own-accord-gag – but, eventually, Caesar, Astin and McGiver (who ultimately joins their ranks!) do too during the climactic costume party.
Conversely, while THE BUSY BODY had treated the popular 1960s theme of collective greed, THE SPIRIT IS WILLING goes back to that old warhorse of new tenants inhabiting a house haunted by its previous residents – but it emerges as decidedly a long way away from such delightful prototypes like Rene' Clair's THE GHOST GOES WEST (1935) or the odd-duck Abbott and Costello vehicle THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES (1946); besides, its maritime setting is likewise reminiscent of such classier properties like Joseph L. Mankiewicz's THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (1947) and Albert Lewin's PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN (1951). Tellingly enough, while THE BUSY BODY has been granted an official DVD release (albeit from Legend Films rather than Paramount itself) via a nice-looking print that respects its original aspect ratio, its lamer follow-up still languishes in fullscreen VHS copies floating around among enterprising collectors over the Internet (which is how I acquired it) despite having recently been legitimately issued on BluRay by Olive Films!
Aging magazine editor Caesar is given forced leave from work and decides to takes his wife Vera Miles and rebellious son Barry Gordon to a summer vacation in a creaky New England mansion that was the site of a triple murder by meat cleaver 70 years before. This event, depicted in the film's prologue, is the only concession to Castle's previous cult efforts in the Horror genre; indeed, Vic Mizzy's jaunty score – tying it, along with Astin's presence, to the concurrent TV hit, "The Addams Family" – equates it more with harmless Disney kiddie fare like the contemporaneous (and similarly-themed) BLACKBEARD'S GHOST than the "with-it" ghost comedy that the theatrical poster promised. Having said that, lovely young actress Jill Townsend comes off best among the cast in her triple roles as the ill-fated, ghostly maid (in a perennial embrace with her sea captain lover), Gordon's new (and somewhat older) friend and her sexy librarian sister (who takes up with Caesar, much to Miles' chagrin). For the record, the three ghosts are initially only visible to the youngsters – despite an over-reliance on a cellar-door- which-opens-and-closes-of-its-own-accord-gag – but, eventually, Caesar, Astin and McGiver (who ultimately joins their ranks!) do too during the climactic costume party.