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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

The Ghost And Mr. Chicken (1966)

Starring Don Knotts, Joan Staley, Liam Redmond, Dick Sargent, Skip Homeier
Directed by Alan Rafkin
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A meek typesetter for a small town newspaper is given the opportunity to write a feature story, but must spend the night in a haunted house where a murder took place 20 years before.

Playing a role not too different from his Barney Fife persona on The Andy Griffith Show, Knotts is charming as the easily spooked Luther Heggs, whose meekness extends from putting up with a boorish writer at the paper to his timid courtship of the town beauty.  It's not riotously funny, but gently amusing at times, and good-natured throughout, a fine counterpoint to the more raucous and ribald comedies of today.   Vic Mizzy contributes a whimsical music score, and though there's nothing particularly frightening in the haunted house, Knotts does a nice job of entertaining the audience with his fearful reactions.

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