Blackbeard's Ghost
Encyclopedia
Blackbeard's Ghost is a 1968 live-action fantasy
comedy
Disney film
starring Peter Ustinov
, Dean Jones
, and Suzanne Pleshette
, directed by Robert Stevenson
. It is based upon the novel of the same name by Ben Stahl
and was shot in Walt Disney Studios
. The Disney Channel
aired this film until the late 1990s. This film is remade in India as Chamatkar
starring Shahrukh Khan
and Urmila Matondkar
.
) arrives in the seacoast town of Godolphin, North Carolina, to take the position of track coach at the local college. The night of his arrival coincides with a charity bazaar at Blackbeard's Inn, a hotel run by the elderly descendants of the pirate's crew, where Steve will be boarding. The owners are attempting to pay off their mortgage in order to keep the inn from being bought by the local crime boss, Silky Seymour (Joby Baker
), who wants to build a casino on the land. In quick succession, Steve discovers his track team's shortcomings and runs afoul of the dean of Godolphin College, its football coach, and Seymour; but he also makes the acquaintance of an attractive Godolphin professor, Jo Anne Baker (Suzanne Pleshette
), who is anxious to help the elderly ladies save the Inn. A bidding war with the football coach at the charity auction nets Steve an antique bed warmer
, once owned by the wife of Captain Blackbeard, named Aldetha Teach, (who is the spitting image of Jo Anne, and was a witch). Inside this bed warmer is hidden a book of magic spells, that had once been the property of Blackbeard's wife. Steve recites one as a lark, unintentionally conjuring up the ghost
of Blackbeard
(Peter Ustinov
), who appears as a socially-inappropriate drunkard whose wife cursed him to an existence in limbo
unless he can perform a good deed.
The two 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. Things get more complicated when the pirate steals one of the Inn's mortgage payments and bets it on Steve's track team. Blackbeard's intention is to use his ghostly powers to help Godolphin win the Broxton Relay track meet, and thereby pay the mortgage in full. Though Steve (who is an overly scrupulous man) is at first outraged over the pirate's interference during the meet, he eventually decides the greater good is to win the money for the sake of the Inn, and help the old ladies whom he also has grown fond of. 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.
Finally, with the mortgage paid, Blackbeard has performed his good deed and is released from the curse. After Steve has revealed him to the ladies and Jo Anne, Blackbeard bids them all a cordial goodbye and departs to join his former crew, leaving Steve and Jo Anne to pursue their future happily together.
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
Disney film
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
starring Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
, Dean Jones
Dean Jones (actor)
Dean Carroll Jones is an American actor. Jones is best known for his light-hearted leading roles in several Walt Disney movies between 1965 and 1977, most notably The Love Bug.-Early years:...
, and Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
, directed by Robert Stevenson
Robert Stevenson (director)
Robert Stevenson was an English film writer and director. He was educated at Cambridge University where he became the president of both the Liberal Club and the Cambridge Union Society....
. It is based upon the novel of the same name by Ben Stahl
Ben Stahl (artist)
Ben Stahl was an American artist, illustrator and author. He showed precocious talent, winning a scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago at age twelve. His artwork appeared in the International Watercolor Show at the Art Institute when he was sixteen...
and was shot in Walt Disney Studios
Walt Disney Studios (Burbank)
The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, United States, serve as the international headquarters for media conglomerate The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Studio's house offices for each of the company's divisions along with creative spaces designed for movie production. The Walt Disney...
. The Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
aired this film until the late 1990s. This film is remade in India as Chamatkar
Chamatkar
Chamatkar is a Hindi movie which was directed by Rajiv Mehra and released in India in 1992. It cast Naseeruddin Shah and Shahrukh Khan in pivotal roles....
starring Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....
and Urmila Matondkar
Urmila Matondkar
Urmila Matondkar is an Indian film actress.Matondkar, who made her screen debut as a child artist in the 1980 film Kalyug, debuted as an adult in Narasimha...
.
Plot
Steve Walker (Dean JonesDean Jones
Dean Jones is the name of:*Dean Jones , an Australian cricketer*Dean Jones , an American actor*Dean Jones , the singer of Extreme Noise TerrorSee also:*Jones...
) arrives in the seacoast town of Godolphin, North Carolina, to take the position of track coach at the local college. The night of his arrival coincides with a charity bazaar at Blackbeard's Inn, a hotel run by the elderly descendants of the pirate's crew, where Steve will be boarding. The owners are attempting to pay off their mortgage in order to keep the inn from being bought by the local crime boss, Silky Seymour (Joby Baker
Joby Baker
Joby Baker is a Canadian born actor and painter.He was born in Montreal, Quebec. In the early 1960s he made guest appearances in TV series including Dr. Kildare and The Dick Van Dyke Show and appeared in the Elvis Presley movie Girl Happy...
), who wants to build a casino on the land. In quick succession, Steve discovers his track team's shortcomings and runs afoul of the dean of Godolphin College, its football coach, and Seymour; but he also makes the acquaintance of an attractive Godolphin professor, Jo Anne Baker (Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
), who is anxious to help the elderly ladies save the Inn. A bidding war with the football coach at the charity auction nets Steve an antique bed warmer
Bed warmer
A bed warmer was a common household item in cold countries, especially Northern Europe. It consisted of a metal container, usually fitted with a handle and shaped somewhat like a modern frying pan, with a solid or finely perforated lid...
, once owned by the wife of Captain Blackbeard, named Aldetha Teach, (who is the spitting image of Jo Anne, and was a witch). Inside this bed warmer is hidden a book of magic spells, that had once been the property of Blackbeard's wife. Steve recites one as a lark, unintentionally conjuring up the ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
of Blackbeard
Blackbeard
Edward Teach , better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of the American colonies....
(Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
), who appears as a socially-inappropriate drunkard whose wife cursed him to an existence in limbo
Limbo
In the theology of the Catholic Church, Limbo is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the damned. Limbo is not an official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church or any other...
unless he can perform a good deed.
The two 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. Things get more complicated when the pirate steals one of the Inn's mortgage payments and bets it on Steve's track team. Blackbeard's intention is to use his ghostly powers to help Godolphin win the Broxton Relay track meet, and thereby pay the mortgage in full. Though Steve (who is an overly scrupulous man) is at first outraged over the pirate's interference during the meet, he eventually decides the greater good is to win the money for the sake of the Inn, and help the old ladies whom he also has grown fond of. 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.
Finally, with the mortgage paid, Blackbeard has performed his good deed and is released from the curse. After Steve has revealed him to the ladies and Jo Anne, Blackbeard bids them all a cordial goodbye and departs to join his former crew, leaving Steve and Jo Anne to pursue their future happily together.
Differences from the Ben Stahl novel
In the original novel, two teenage boys (not a track coach) find the book that brings back the ghost of Blackbeard to Godolphin. In addition, Peter Ustinov portrays the pirate Blackbeard as a charming individual in contrast with Stahl's version of the character.Cast
- Peter UstinovPeter UstinovPeter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
.... Captain Blackbeard - Dean JonesDean Jones (actor)Dean Carroll Jones is an American actor. Jones is best known for his light-hearted leading roles in several Walt Disney movies between 1965 and 1977, most notably The Love Bug.-Early years:...
.... Steve Walker - Suzanne PleshetteSuzanne PleshetteSuzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
.... Jo Anne Baker - Elsa LanchesterElsa LanchesterElsa Sullivan Lanchester was an English-American character actress with a long career in theatre, film and television....
.... Emily Stowecroft - Joby BakerJoby BakerJoby Baker is a Canadian born actor and painter.He was born in Montreal, Quebec. In the early 1960s he made guest appearances in TV series including Dr. Kildare and The Dick Van Dyke Show and appeared in the Elvis Presley movie Girl Happy...
.... Silky Seymour - Elliott ReidElliott ReidElliott Reid is an American character actor from New York City.He worked regularly in radio dramas during the Golden Age of radio...
.... TV commentator - Richard DeaconRichard Deacon (actor)Richard Deacon , born in Philadelphia, was an American television and motion picture actor.-Career:The bald and usually bespectacled character actor often portrayed pompous or imperious figures. He made appearances on The Jack Benny Show as a salesman and a barber, and on NBC's Happy as a hotel...
.... Dean Wheaton - Norman Grabowski .... Virgil
- Kelly Thordsen .... Motorcycle officer
- Michael ConradMichael ConradMichael Conrad was an American television actor.-Career:Conrad had a long acting career in television from the 1950s to the 1980s...
.... Pinetop Purvis - Herbie FayeHerbie FayeHerbie Faye was an American actor who appeared in both of Phil Silvers's CBS television series, The Phil Silvers Show and The New Phil Silvers Show ....
.... Croupier - George MurdockGeorge MurdockGeorge Peter Murdock was a notable American anthropologist. He is remembered for his empirical approach to ethnological studies and his landmark works on Old World populations.-Early life:...
.... Head official - Hank Jones .... Gudger Larkin
- Ned GlassNed GlassNed Glass was an American character actor who appeared in more than eighty films and on television more than one hundred times, frequently playing nervous, cowardly or weasely characters...
.... Teller - Gil Lamb .... Waiter
- Alan CarneyAlan CarneyAlan Carney was an American actor and comedian.Alan Carney was born David Boughal in Brooklyn, New York. He had performed in vaudeville for years as a comic dialectican. After making his first film, 1941's Convoy, Carney signed a contract at RKO Pictures, in choice supporting roles in such films...
.... Bartender - Ted Markland .... Charles
- Lou NovaLou NovaLou Nova aka Cosmic punch was an American boxer and actor. Born in Los Angeles, California, the Nova was the U.S. and World Amateur Boxing Champion in 1935. After turning pro, he remained undefeated in his first 22 matches, and won 40 fights in total...
.... Leon - Charlie BrillCharlie BrillCharlie Brill is an American actor.His first motion picture was in The Beast of Budapest. He also appeared in Blackbeard's Ghost, The Amazing Dobermans and Off the Wall....
.... Edward - Herb VigranHerb VigranHerbert "Herb" Vigran was a well-known American character actor in Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1980s. Over his 50-year career, he made over 350 television and film appearances.-Career:...
.... Danny Oly - William FawcettWilliam Fawcett (actor)William "Bill" Fawcett was a character actor in Hollywood B-films and in television. His career extended from 1946 until the early 1970s. He is probably best remembered for his role as the cantankerous, rusty-voiced Pete Wilkey of the Broken Wheel Ranch on the NBC series Fury, co-starring Peter...
.... Mr. Ainsworth, Bank Official - Betty BronsonBetty BronsonBetty Bronson was an American television and film actress who began her career during the silent film era. She was a famous actress in silent and sound films.-Film career:...
.... Old Lady - Elsie BakerElsie BakerElsie Baker was an American singer and actress whose career spanned the gamut from vaudeville through silent movies to Victrola to radio to Hollywood and television....
.... Old Lady - Kathryn MinnerKathryn MinnerKathryn Elizabeth Minner , sometimes credited as Katherine Minner, was an elderly grandmother and character actress who specialized in playing "little old ladies" in movies, on various television shows, and in a series of television commercials for Southern California Dodge dealers.-Wife and...
.... Old Lady - Sara Taft .... Old Lady
External links
- Blackbeard's Ghost at UltimateDisney.comUltimate DisneyThe Ultimate Guide to Disney DVD is a website dedicated to covering Walt Disney home video releases with a focus on Disney DVD and Blu-ray. The site has been online since 2001 and acquired its own domain and online forum in 2003...
See Also
- ChamatkarChamatkarChamatkar is a Hindi movie which was directed by Rajiv Mehra and released in India in 1992. It cast Naseeruddin Shah and Shahrukh Khan in pivotal roles....
, a 1992 Bollywood film which is an uncredited remake of Blackbeard's Ghost.