''Blackbeard's Ghost'' is a 1968 American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engli ...

and starring

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov ; 16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, filmmaker and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits ...

, Dean Jones, and

Suzanne Pleshette Suzanne Pleshette (January 31, 1937 – January 19, 2008) was an American theatre, film, television, and voice actress. Pleshette started her career in the theatre and began appearing in films in the late 1950s and later appeared in prominent ...

. It was produced by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

and Bill Walsh. It is based upon the 1965 novel of the same name by Ben Stahl and was shot at the Walt Disney Studios.

Plot

Steve Walker ( Dean Jones) arrives in a

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

seacoast fictional town, called Godolphin, to take the position of track coach at Godolphin College. The night of his arrival coincides with a charity bazaar at the hotel where he will be boarding—Blackbeard's Inn, named after the notorious English

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

Captain Edward Teach and now run by the Daughters of the Buccaneers, elderly descendants of the pirate's crew. The inn had been built from timbers of ships that had run aground in the bay. The owners are attempting to pay off their mortgage to keep the inn from being bought by the local crime boss, Silky Seymour (

Joby Baker Joseph N. "Joby" Baker (born March 26, 1934) is a Canadian-born actor and painter. Career Baker was born in Montreal, Quebec. An early role in his career was in a 1958 episode of ''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show'', "Ronnie Makes A Recor ...

), who wants to build a casino on the land. Steve quickly discovers his track team's shortcomings and runs afoul of the dean of Godolphin College, its football coach, and Seymour. He also makes the acquaintance of attractive Godolphin professor Jo Anne Baker (

), who is anxious to help the elderly ladies save Blackbeard's Inn. After a bidding war with the football coach at the charity

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition e ...

, Steve wins an

antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

bed warmer once owned by Blackbeard's 10th wife, Aldetha Teach, who had a reputation of being a

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

. Inside the hollow wooden handle of this bed warmer is hidden a book of magic spells that had once been the property of Aldetha. Steve recites, on a lark, a spell "to bring to your eyes and ears one who is bound in

Limbo In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Euro ...

", unintentionally conjuring up the

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...

of Blackbeard (

), who appears as a socially-inappropriate drunkard,

curse A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particula ...

d by his wife to an existence in limbo unless he can perform a good deed. Steve and Blackbeard are bound to one another by the power of the spell, and only the very reluctant Steve can see or hear the ghost. As a result, Steve must deal with the antics of the wayward pirate while attempting to revive Godolphin's track team and form a relationship with Jo Anne. Steve is falsely arrested for drunk driving when Blackbeard attempts to drive Steve's automobile, steering it like a pirate ship. Because the arresting officer can't see Blackbeard, and because Blackbeard crashed the cop's motorcycle into a tree, Steve spends a night in jail. While in jail, Steve reminds Blackbeard that if he does a good deed, his curse will be broken. Steve asks Blackbeard for his treasure to help the Daughters of the Buccaneers save the inn, but Blackbeard admits that he spent all of the money. Steve decides not to trust Blackbeard. Steve is released from jail the next morning due to lack of evidence but is put on probation with the college, forced to win the big track meet or be fired from his position. The problem is that Steve's team is sorrowfully weak and ordinarily do not stand a chance at winning. Blackbeard is firmly told by Steve, more than once, not to interfere with the boys on his team or the opposing team either. But Blackbeard creates further complications by stealing one of the Inn's mortgage payments and betting it on Steve's track team. Blackbeard's intention is to use his ghostly powers to help Godolphin win the track meet, and then use the winnings to pay the mortgage in full. Steve is at first outraged by the pirate's interference, but he decides the greater good is to win the money for the sake of the Inn. He also accepts the pirate's help in shaking down Silky Seymour and his thugs after Seymour refuses to pay out the winnings from the bet. With the mortgage paid, Blackbeard has performed his good deed and is released from the curse. After Steve asks the ladies and Jo Anne to recite the spell, thereby rendering Blackbeard visible to them, Blackbeard bids them all a cordial goodbye and departs to join his former crew, leaving Steve and Jo Anne to pursue their future together.

Cast

Reception

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'' gave the film three stars out of four and called it "Disney's best since '' The Absent-Minded Professor'' and a splendid vehicle for the many talents of Peter Ustinov." Howard Thompson of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "The Walt Disney people have delivered a delightful seasonal goody for the young and young-hearted, called ''Blackbeard's Ghost''. After a couple of limp herrings, the master's live-action unit is back on sure footing with the neat, perky and flavorsome little comedy-fantasy that arrived yesterday at neighborhood theaters." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' declared: "The inspired direction makes it all come alive via firstrate special effects and sight gags, and through a fanciful script that, in a most adroit way, is neither too literate nor too sketchy. Ustinov plays his part to the hilt: mugging and cutting up, as the wandering spirit who must do a good deed to achieve repose."

Charles Champlin Charles Davenport Champlin (March 23, 1926 – November 16, 2014) was an American film critic and writer. Life and career Champlin was born in Hammondsport, New York. He attended high school in Camden, New York, working as a columnist for the ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' praised the film as "a warm and wacky diversion which could not really have been assembled much better." ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' wrote, "Peter Ustinov's exuberant professionalism just about rescues what would otherwise have been a disaster. The basic idea contains a pleasant germ of fantasy, but this is dissipated by a ponderous and self-indulgent script which seems determined to make a mountain out of a molehill. Robert Stevenson's direction is equally pedestrian, and the rather silly fantasy of the crazy sports sequence is a feeble echo of a similar scene in the Marx Brothers' ''

Horse Feathers ''Horse Feathers'' is a 1932 pre-Code comedy film starring the Marx Brothers. It stars the Four Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo), Thelma Todd and David Landau. It was written by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, S. J. Perelman, an ...

''." The film earned $5 million in theatrical rentals in North America. ''Blackbeard's Ghost'' has a

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

approval rating of 82% based on 11 reviews.

Comic book adaptation

* Gold Key: ''Blackbeard's Ghost'' (June 1968)

References

External links