Movie: Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)
Don Knotts, Joan Staley, Dick Sargent Star in Comedy Film
Taking a break as Deputy Barney Fife from TV's The Andy Griffith Show, bug-eyed Don Knotts returned to the silver screen in 1966. The movie was The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, with Knotts playing a fidgety small-town newspaper typesetter who gets caught up in an old murder mystery. Joan Staley, Dick Sargent, Liam Redmond, Skip Homeier and Reta Shaw appear in ghostly support. Attaboy, Luther!
Screenplay, Director, Music
James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum, with Andy Griffith lending an uncredited hand, wrote The Ghost and Mr. Chicken for Universal Pictures. Directing the movie was Alan Rafkin, who had helmed 26 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show from 1964-67. Vic Mizzy composed the music score.
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken Cast
Don Knotts (1924-2006) garnered the starring role of Luther Heggs. Other cast members included Joan Staley (Alma Parker), Liam Redmond (Kelsey), Dick Sargent (George Beckett), Skip Homeier (Ollie Weaver), Reta Shaw (Mrs. Halcyon Maxwell), Lurene Tuttle (Mrs. Natalie Miller), Philip Ober (Nicholas Simmons), Harry Hickox (Police Chief Art Fuller), Charles Lane (Whitlow), Robert Cornthwaite (Springer), Cliff Norton (Charlie), Ellen Corby (Miss Neva Tremaine), Burt Mustin (Mr. Dellagondo) and Hal Smith (Calver Weems).
The Minneapolis-born Joan Staley (birthdate 5/20/40) was a November 1958 centerfold for Playboy magazine.
Tapped to voice the off-screen cry of "Attaboy, Luther!" was co-writer Everett Greenbaum.
Budget, Filming Locations
Budgeted at $700,000, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken was filmed from June to July 1965.
The entire movie was shot on the backlot at Universal Studios in Hollywood. The spooky Simmons mansion, as prominently featured in the film, was first built for the movie So Goes My Love (1946) and was also used in Harvey (1950). It now serves as the home of Gabrielle and Carlos Solis on ABC-TV's Desperate Housewives.
Luther Heggs, Simmons Mansion Murder Mystery
Mousy Luther Heggs works as a typesetter for the Rachel Courier Express. But what he reallys wants to be is a full-fledged reporter.
Editor George Beckett invites Luther to earn his journalistic wings by spending a night in the old Simmons mansion. Twenty years before, the old house had been the scene of a grisly murder-suicide, and is purported to be haunted.
Luther takes the challenge, where he experiences a host of strange events: an organ playing itself, an oil portrait whose subject bleeds from protruding garden shears, a sliding bookcase that reveals a hidden staircase.
Luther's first-person account in the newspaper is a hit with both the locals and Luther's romantic interest, Alma Parker. But Nicholas Simmons, a nephew of the house's murdered couple, isn't amused, suing Luther and his newspaper for libel.
With Luther's fragile reputation on the line, the judge assembles everyone in the Simmons mansion just before midnight. When the alleged events fail to take place, however, Luther is made out to be a liar and a fraud -- for now.
Release, Reviews
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken was released on January 20, 1966. The movie was often double-billed with another horror comedy, Munster, Go Home! (1966).
"Don Knotts is surprisingly funny as a bug-eyed typesetter for a newspaper who yearns to be a reporter," says TV Guide.
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken DVD
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken is available on DVD from Universal Studios (2003).
"That's right, karate...made my whole body a weapon," a boastful Luther Heggs explains after a little tussle.
Barney Fife would be proud.
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