Blackbeard's Ghost

Starring:Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette, Elsa Lanchester, Joby Baker, Elliott Reid, Richard Deacon, Norman Grabowski, Kelly Thordsen, Michael Conrad, Herbie Faye, George Murdock, Hank Jones, Ned Glass, Gil Lamb, Alan Carney, Ted Markland, Lou Nova, Charlie Brill, Elsie Baker
Director: Robert Stevenson
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

In the moody prologue, amid a raging storm that evokes Hollywood golden-age high-seas swashbucklers, a foreboding scroll recounts the legend of one of the bloodiest pirates in the history of the Caribbean. Leave it to Disney to turn him into a fun-loving old prankster with a whimsical side. Peter Ustinov mugs shamelessly as the bombastic but harmless apparition who renounces his wicked ways to become the mischievous school spirit of the local college, much to the annoyance of straight-arrow track coach Dean Jones. Made in the heyday of Disney's live-action family comedies, Blackbeard's Ghost is all haphazard but high-energy slapstick and squeaky-clean romance (courtesy of contemporary schoolmarm Suzanne Pleshette) performed with more gumption than grace, but there's a nostalgic innocence to the whole overplayed affair. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Award-winning actor Peter Ustinov stars in this hilarious fantasy as the ghost of the legendary pirate Blackbeard. The once blackhearted scoundrel materializes in a small New England town, cursed to wander in limbo until he performs a good deed. He gets his chance when he decides to help a local college track team--that hasn't a ghost of a chance of winning! Blackbeard finds himself full of team spirit, and dispensing his own brand of invisible coaching--in this warmhearted comedy that will have you laughing from his first fade-in to his final fade-out!

Customer Reviews:

Blackbeard's Ghost.......2007-06-30

Though I think this is a fun movie, I was shocked at the terrible quality of both the audio and video. Disney should be ashamed to have released anything this bad.

A similar Disney movie with Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette, "The Ugly Dachshund", was released on a DVD with excellent quality.

It's almost as if some Disney executive wanted to save production costs by issuing a few cheap editions, hoping we would by them after being baited by the nice ones. I fell for it, and I regret it.

I won't purchase any more Disney DVD's in full-screen. I'll wait for widescreen, remastered.

Funny Ghost Story.......2007-06-26

This movie has its problems, not the least of which is that this version of the DVD is in full screen and the movie was originally filmed in widescreen. This movie could also do with some restoration. However, those are details and have little to do with the movie itself, which has always been one of my favorites. Peter Ustinov is funny as Edward Teach, and the chemistry between Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette works well.

Steve Walker (Jones) is the new track coach. Jones is unfortunately booked into an inn that was produced from parts of ships used by Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard. Walker finds an old parchment and reads the words on it. The words release Blackbeard's ghost from the limbo he was trapped in, but his ghost is visible only to Jones.

The hilarity of this movie plays on the more humorous parts of movies about invisible people. Blackbeard can move objects but no one can harm him. Blackbeard decides to try and do a good dead in order to move on to the next life, and the victim of his attempts at good deeds is Steve Walker. Blackbeard's mayhem follows Steve wherever he goes, much to the amusement of the audience. Virtually every scene that Peter Ustinov appears in is funny. Indeed, Ustinov probably could have made the movie without his co-stars, but having Dean Jones as a victim of Blackbeard's good deeds likely made the script easier to write.

Blackbeard is a caricature of a carousing pirate, which means that he drinks and speaks of moderately uncouth things. I wondered whether parents should exclude small children from watching this film. I think that the cartoonish nature of Blackbeard and the fun he has are more charming than threatening and parents can always explain that ghostly pirates can do the things Blackbeard does, but not real people. Thus, I think even small children will find some humor in Blackbeard.

This movie is less than perfect, but I keep watching it. Jones has appeared in many Disney movies, but this one is one of his better appearances. Jones and Pleshette have also appeared together in several Disney films, and the chemistry between the two was at its best in this film. I am unable to say enough positive things about Peter Ustinov. Ustinov is a brilliant and natural actor who hams it up in a way that makes Blackbeard's ghost his own. Fans of pirate movies, Peter Ustinov, Suzanne Pleshette, Disney Movies, Dean Jones, and Elsa Lanchester should have this movie in their collection.

Enjoy!

GREAT MOVIE FOR ANYBODY!!!.......2007-05-07

This is a movie I remember loving as a kid. So many movies though, when you look at them again when you're older, lose some or all of their charm. This is not the case with Blackbeard's Ghost. I still laughed myself silly watching this Disney gem! The movie has got it all; swashbuckling pirates, ancient curses, goofy antics and schemes, awkward guy trying to get the self assured girl, and lots of old time Disney movie comfort factor-you know, the kind of movie you just feel really good after watching. I recommend this movie for anybody and I'm sure you'll enjoy it too.

Just Plain Fun.......2007-01-21

As usual for a Disney release, there are no extras and the print quality leaves something to be desired. Also, the plot, about the ghost of the famous pirate being brought back from purgatory to perform a good deed, is a bit coy and silly. But Peter Ustinov, full of side-wise wit and under-handed sexiness, plays Bluebeard, and that makes it worth the ride. And truth be told, he has a very good foil in the under-rated Dean Jones, whose exasperation at the supernatural intrusion into his already-hectic life is almost as funny as Ustinov's, er, intruding. Alas, Suzanne Pleshette, she of the sexy growl and the sultry eyes, is given little to do in the movie, even as Jones' love interest (it would have been a lot more fun to see her paired up with Ustinov--kiss your "G" rating goodbye).

There's also the usual covey of accomplished character actors on display, particularly Elsa Lanchester as Jones' landlady, who's trying to defend her property from gangsters trying to turn it into an off-coast casino, and the script and direction, by several of the folks involved with MARY POPPINS, ensure that the pace is brisk and the amusing banter is plentiful. Basically just a time-waster, but all time-wasters should be so amusing . . .

Excelent Movie, I Still Love it !!.......2006-11-02

This movie is as good as I remember it. Even my wife who had never seen it got a lot of laughs. The special effects may not be up to par for today's standards, but you won't mind.

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