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The Ghost And Mr. Chicken - 1966
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Our next film is 1966's "The Ghost And Mr. Chicken", a film in which we find a mansion that is haunted, an organ that is played by a ghost, and a whole town galvanized by the mystical goings on after a years-old murder/suicide.
The film's cast includes Don Knotts, Joan Stanley, Liam Redmond, Dick Sargent, Skip Homeier, Reta Shaw, Lurene Tuttle, Philip Ober, Charles Lane, Jesslyn Fax, Nydia Westman, George Chandler, James Millhollin, and Ellen Corby.
Luther Heggs is an excitable typesetter for small-town newspaper Rachel Courier Express in Rachel, Kansas. He's desperate to get out of setting type and start writing actual stories for the newspaper.
He gets a story idea from Mr. Kelsey, who tells him that the twentieth anniversary of a famous town murder/suicide is coming up. Luther writes up the story and is an instant success in town.
The story revolves around the Simmons Mansion. Mr. Kelsey used to be the gardener there. Old Mr. Simmons was supposed to have murdered his wife in cold blood, and then set down at his organ high up in the attic of the house to play, with the blood from his wife's body spattering on the keys. Apparently, on the anniversary of the murder, the organ is still said to play, and the blood is still on the keys (and they used Bon Ami!). The whole house gives Luther the creeps.
Luther is ultimately assigned to spend the night in the mansion on the anniversary of the murder. He gets even more nervous when he hears stories his roommates at his boarding house tell him.
Luther nervously enters the house and trembles at each and every noise the house makes. He sees a picture of the late Mrs. Simmons on the wall of the house.
Accidentally, Luther discovers a hidden passageway with a staircase leading upwards.
He follows the staircase up to the highest point of the house and sees the organ of Mr. Simmons with the blood-stained keys.
And he becomes terrified when the organ begins to play with no one apparently sitting to play it.
As he runs out of the house, he pauses at the portrait of Mrs. Simmons. He finds a pair of gardening sheers lodged in the throat of Mrs. Simmons with blood streaming down. This was the way Mrs. Simmons was said to have been murdered.
By the time he makes it back to the newspaper office, Luther is too shaken up to even type out his story. He dictates it to his rival Ollie.
The town is electrified by the newspaper story, and Luther is quickly branded the town hero. Even the occult society of Rachel gives Luther their highest blessing ("Taro, Karo, Solomon"!).
The nephew of old Mr. Simmons, Nicholas Simmons, however, feels differently. He wants to sue Luther and the newspaper for libel. He wants nothing more than the Simmons Mansion torn to the ground quickly. He vows to take Luther to court.
While all of this is going on, Luther is romancing popular town beauty Alma Parker. He impresses her with his apparent skill in karate. "I’ve been studying it by mail for years. My whole body’s a weapon."
The libel suit goes to court, and things quickly go south for Luther. Nicholas Simmons tries to portray Luther as mentally unbalanced. His former elementary school teacher portray Luther in the most positive light. Completely not understanding what she's done, after her testimony, Miss Tremaine goes up to Luther and says, "I hope I helped you, Luther".
Finally, the judge decides that the only way to settle the case is for Luther to take himself and members of the jury on a tour of the mansion to see if what Luther says is true or not.
Luther plays the role of tour guide to the hilt. "Now let me have your attention for just one
minute. Now, I’m gonna take you on a tour duplicating my
movements of that night. Now, you’re apt
to see some pretty frightening
things, but don’t panic. You’re in no
real personal danger. Now, you ladies of the jury, stay close
together, hold hands if you wish," he says.
While things don't go as Luther hoped, he and Mr. Kelsey stumble upon what really happened on the night of the murder/suicide twenty years before, and it's completely unexpected.
After all is said and done, Luther and Alma get married and they leave to begin their life together. But not before hearing some eerily familiar organ music being played by apparently no one.
Cast rundown:
Don Knotts....................................Luther Heggs
Joan Stanley..................................Alma Parker
Liam Redmond...............................Mr. Kelsey
Dick Sargent..................................George Beckett
Skip Homeier..................................Ollie Parker
Reta Shaw.....................................Mrs. Halcyon Maxwell
Lurene Tuttle.................................Mrs. Natalie Miller
Philip Ober.....................................Nicholas Simmons
Charles Lane..................................Lawyer Whitlow
Jesslyn Fax....................................Mrs. Hutchinson
Nydia Westman..............................Mrs. Cobb
George Chandler.............................Judge Harley Nast
James Millhollin..............................Mr. Milo Maxwell
Ellen Corby.....................................Miss Neva Tremaine
And that's it for The Ghost And Mr. Chicken. The use of the product "Bon Ami" is mentioned often during the film. In order to gain permission to use the product by name, Don Knotts called up the company and made a plea on behalf of the film company, which was granted.
