******SPECTRAL SPOILERS!******

And now for something completely different…

As a kid, options for ‘family-safe’ Halloween entertainment in our primitive, pre-streaming era were a bit limited, with some exceptions, such as CBS’ annual broadcast of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” (1966), Halloween variety specials, and Halloween-themed episodes of TV shows. “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966) was another one of these seasonal offerings my siblings and I would occasionally catch on the the family’s 25” Zenith whenever we could (this was during TV’s dark ages; if you missed a program, you missed it).

Speaking for myself, I lost my own ‘horror virginity’ at a ridiculously young age, growing up with intense horror programs like Rod Serling’s “The Night Gallery,” as well as movies like “Night of the Living Dead,” and “The Exorcist” (which I saw theatrically at the traumatizing age of seven years old). So ‘safe’ horror episodes of TV shows were usually a bit too tame for me. However, I have a soft spot for comedy, and the late comic actor Don Knotts (1924-2006) had one of those wild, rubber faces and pitch-perfect comic delivery that could bring an involuntary smile to just about anyone. With his forever-frightened demeanor, Knotts was a natural for the horror-comedy genre.

Knotts was already a TV mainstay with his role as bumbling sheriff’s deputy Barney Fife in “The Andy Griffith Show” (1960-1968), and he later joined the cast of “Three’s Company” (1977-1984) as replacement landlord Ralph Furley, but he’d also made a slew of movies which were very popular in my childhood, including “The Incredible Mr. Limpett” (1964), “The Reluctant Astronaut” (1967), “The Apple Dumpling Gang” (1975) and, of course…

“The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966)

Note: The opening of the movie establishes Luther as a nervous, overreacting wannabe-hero, not too unlike his Barney Fife character from “The Andy Griffith Show.” This is not too surprising, given Don Knotts’ pal Andy Griffith (1926-2012) gave uncredited help with the story outline, which extended a haunted house story from his own series. The coward-meets-haunted house story (a longtime staple in horror and comedy) was also used in a 1974 episode of TV’s “Happy Days” titled “Haunted,” which starred then teenaged-actor and future director Ron Howard, who also played young ‘Opie Taylor’ on “The Andy Griffith Show.”

Note: Speaking of horror-comedy, actor Dick Sargent (1930-1994) who plays Luther’s patient editor Beckett, also played the ‘new’ Darrin Stevens for the last three seasons of TV’s “Bewitched” (1964-1972) after Dick York (1928-1992) was forced to leave the series due to deteriorating health stemming from a severe back injury years earlier. Both York and Sargent (Sargent-York?) would die at nearly the same age within two years of each other, with Sargent succumbing to prostate cancer. Before he died, Sargent also made headlines when he publicly came out as gay in 1991. Talented “Bewitched” star Elizabeth Montgomery would die in 1995 from colon cancer, a year after Sargent, at age 62.

Note: Irish-born actor Liam Redmond (one of the few authentic Irish actors playing Irishmen in 1960s American movies and TV) also costarred in director Stanley Kubrick’s 19th century historical epic “Barry Lyndon” (1975).

Note: I loved that poor Luther works as a typesetter for his newspaper; a role that’s been largely supplanted by computer technology in 21st century media. In those bygone days, typesetting was all done manually; with metal type-blocks, dyes, stamps, etc. I was on staff for my own school newspaper a million years ago, and one task each of us despised was typesetting–something my journalism teacher insisted we each took a turn doing, at least once a month. Typesetting was a massive pain in the ass, and I’m not at all sorry it’s largely gone the way of the dodo bird.

Note: Love interest Alma Parker is played by Joan Staley (1940-2019), who wore a brunette wig for the film because veteran TV director Alan Rifkin (1928-2001) thought she looked too much like a Hollywood bombshell with her flaxen hair. Staley would also land roles in TV shows such as “Perry Mason,” “The Munsters,” and “Batman.” The actress’s ‘date’ scenes with Don Knotts in this film are mined for maximum comedic gold; they’re both hilarious, and painfully awkward to watch–a tribute to both Knotts and Staley.

Note: The old Simmons house (a facade, not a real house) is not “The Munsters” house, nor is it the house from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” either; though it did use pieces of the latter house’s outer facade. The Psycho house was also located on the Universal backlot, but it’s situated on a hilltop. The Simmons house facade is located right next door to the Munsters house, on the same ‘street’ of Universal Studios backlot where “Desperate Housewives” was filmed decades later.

Note: Handsome, deep-voiced Skip Homeier (1930-2017) began as a child actor, playing a Nazi youth in “Tomorrow the World!” (1943). A veteran of countless TV shows (“Mission: Impossible,” “The Addams Family,” “The Outer Limits”), Homeier would also play an evil alien Nazi from the planet Ekos in the controversial Star Trek episode, “Patterns of Force” (1968), as well as a delusional, unintentionally hilarious space hippie in the third season episode, “The Way to Eden” (1969).

Note: While I was never the biggest fan of “The Andy Griffith Show,” I have to admit, I could watch Don Knotts’ doing physical comedy on a loop ad infinitum. The scenes of his bulging-eyed Luther Heggs jumping at his own reflection in a mirror, or doing his faux karate moves (a gag he’d use off and on again in other shows) are priceless. Knotts was a human cartoon character, on a par with the physical comedy of Lucille Ball, and it’s no wonder he so perfectly played a man who turned into an animated fish in 1964’s “The Incredible Mr. Limpett.”

Note: I was surprised to see a more realistic-looking stage blood used in the stabbed-portrait shot. Many movies made during the 1960s and early 1970s (especially family-friendly films), tended to use more obvious stage blood, which skewed closer in color to pink or orange than deep red.

Note: Great synergy between the three actors in a continuous take, with Knotts’ Luther babbling, Sargent’s Beckett translating, and Homeier’s Ollie typing. The comedy is broad, yes, but so deftly performed that it’s fun to watch.

Note: Actor James Millhollin was a veteran of Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone” (“The After Hours”). Milhollin would reunite with Don Knotts in “How to Frame a Figg” (1971). Actress Reta Shaw was perhaps best remembered as the housekeeper on “The Ghost & Mrs. Muir” (1968-1970); the short-lived supernatural TV series based on the 1941 supernatural romantic comedy.

Note: Minor quibble, but it might’ve aided the movie a bit if some of the ladies in Halcyon’s group looked a little more eccentric instead of prim, proper church ladies. On the other hand, making them look like church ladies in a small Midwestern town also upped their ‘moral authority’ quotient during the later court scenes.

Note: Another scene that shows off the range of Don Knotts, as he seems genuinely nervous at public speaking; his soft, wavering voice, blank stare, shaking hands and other nervous ticks are surprisingly authentic.

Note: Nice that Dick Sargent’s editor Beckett is given some moral backbone to stand by his reporter, right up until nearly the end of the movie. A typical news editor in movies is too often played as an angry, uptight cliché (“You got 24 hours, kid!”) rather than a stalwart champion of the First Amendment. This is especially true now, given that freedom of the press–the 4th Estate itself–is under direct attack from the hostile current administration of the United States.

Note: This first real date between Luther and Alma is terribly awkward, yet sweet-natured and extremely relatable. Sometimes, I honestly wonder how two human beings (of any gender or sexuality) are ever able to connect, and I’ve been married for over a quarter century. As comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said, “What is a date, really, but a job interview that lasts all night? The only difference is, not many job interviews is there a chance you’ll end up naked at the end of it.”

Note: As a longtime Star Trek fan (duh, right?), the judge’s unorthodox choice of relocating the jury and spectators to the old Simmons house very much reminded me of the classic Trek episode “Court-Martial” (1966), where Capt. Kirk’s own trial for manslaughter/culpable negligence was moved from Starbase 11 to the starship Enterprise (the alleged ‘scene of the crime’). Few trial judges relocate their juries to the crime scene, though it has been done for some high-profile cases in the United States, including the O.J. Simpson murder trial and the trial of serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

Note: Even in the mid-1960s, self-playing pianos and organs were very much a thing. I realize this is a broad comedy, but you’d think Judge Nast (George Chandler) might’ve at least looked under the organ for some kind of remote keyboard or other automating devices, to verify Luther’s claim that the organ played by itself. Perhaps the sight of the replaced (un-stabbed) portrait earlier already shattered his faith in Luther’s shaky testimony.

Note: We knew that Kelsey had to come into this, after his character exchanged a silent, frowning glance at Nicholas Simmons at the start of the trial earlier. It also gives Kelsey ample motive for prompting Luther (and his editor) to make a story of spending a night in the Simmons house, where he could arrange all the ghostly effects and spark new interest in the cold case of Mrs. Simmons’ murder. For such a broad comedy, the central murder-mystery is surprisingly well constructed.

Note: One minor nit of this climactic ‘hero’ scene is when Luther delivers one of his patented ‘karate chops’ to Nicholas’ neck–yet he doesn’t even react. You’d think, at the very least, Nicholas might’ve flinched (does he not have nerves in his neck?). Maybe it was meant to convey that Luther’s ‘chop’ was so weak that Nicholas couldn’t even feel it…?

Note: The villain tied up, the hero exonerated, and the mystery solved. This was a classic “Scooby Doo” ending a good three years before Hanna-Barbera’s ghost/monster-mystery cartoon series “Scooby Doo” first aired.

Note: I love that the ending doesn’t wash away all of the supernatural shenanigans with rational explanations. The organ playing the credits music during Luther and Alma’s wedding feels almost like a ‘thank you’ gift from the late Mrs. Simmons for solving her murder and giving her peace. This bit reminded me of the chilling, haunted music box seen playing after its house burns down at the end of “The Changeling” (1980), starring the late George C. Scott (one of my all-time favorite haunted house movies).

The End.

Summing It Up

When I was younger, I used to assume “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” was made for TV, given that it was cowritten by star Don Knott’s longtime friend and costar Andy Griffith and expanded from a Halloween episode of “The Andy Griffith Show.” It wasn’t until years later when I saw the movie in its native widescreen format that I realized it was a theatrical release.  With it’s cast of 1960s TV guest-role actors (Dick Sargent, Skip Homeier, Ellen Corby, etc), TV writers (Jim Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum) and director (Alan Rifkin), the movie has a very made-for-TV look and feel. Not a putdown, just an observation. With that in mind, I expected my standard for reviewing this movie was going to be a little bit curved. What I didn’t expect during this rewatch was rediscovering how much I really enjoyed “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.”

Buoyed by the high-energy comedic stylings of Don Knotts, I found more layers to the movie’s murder-mystery subplot and its coterie of eccentric characters than I remembered. Granted, the movie is very much a product of its time, with its whitebread cast (save for a handful of Black extras) and Addams Family/Munsters-vibe. Even the music is composed by Vic Mizzy (1916-2009) who created the theme for “The Addams Family” TV series (1964-1966). However, the story and dialogue are better constructed than I initially expected, and some of the lines still gave me a few smiles and chuckles. Overall, that’s not too shabby for a nearly sixty-year old comedy. Save for some dated references and technology, I could’ve easily imagined this being remade in the 1990s with Jim Carrey, but that window is long gone (one strategically-used smartphone could undo the entire plot). All the same, the original works well enough as a period piece.

While “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” was widely considered a family comedy in its day, younger audiences these days might get bored with the movie’s talky storylines, which delve into Luther’s awkward courtship of Alma and the Simmons murder mystery. However, I think adults ‘of a certain age,’ or even a few patient, forgiving younger viewers might still enjoy this sweet-natured comedy that’s makes a nice fit for the Halloween season (though a bit tepid for Halloween night). If nothing else, watching gifted funnyman Don Knotts at the height of his comedic powers is a genuine treat.

Where to Watch

“The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” is, as of this writing, on Starz as part of their Don Knotts collection. The movie can be digitally purchased/rented from others platforms, including iTunes and Amazon Prime. It can also be bought on DVD and Blu-Ray from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and GRUV.com.