The Canterville Ghost

Margaret O'Brien tries to help one of her long-dead ancestors in "The Canterville Ghost," a 1944 film also starring Charles Laughton, Robert Young, and Frank Faylen. Jessica de Canterville's (O'Brien) family owns a castle which is being used to house soldiers during their stay in the area. The castle has a very famous ghost named Sir Simon de Canterville (Charles Laughton) whose father had him imprisoned inside a wall for cowardice centuries earlier. Simon roams the castle, looking like the Cowardly Lion in royal costume. The only way he can rest for eternity is if a relative performs a courageous act in his name, i.e., by taking his signet ring and wearing it when he does the brave thing. Alas, the entire family for centuries has run the other way when danger appears, so Simon isn't having any luck. When six-year-old Lady Jessica de Canterville realizes that one of the soldiers is related to her, she begs him to help poor, tired Simon.

This is a wonderful movie, buoyed by the presence of Margaret O'Brien, surely one of the most adorable children to ever hit the screen. She's a fine actress, too - very sincere and natural. Although Mary Astor wrote in her diary that she was terrified of O'Brian during the filming of "Meet Me in St. Louis," it's kind of hard to believe. Charles Laughton turns in another masterful performance as Simon, who scares people because he thinks that as a ghost, it's what he should do. He's a riot. As Cuffy Williams, the soldier related to Jessica and Simon, Robert Young is very good as a man who begins to doubt his own courage.

"The Canterville Ghost" is loads of fun for the entire family, with plenty of comedy and some nice lessons, one of which is, when you really want something, you often need patience until you achieve it.

Peter Lawford's part in the beginning of the movie was unusual in that he first seems to be an effeminate young fellow picking flowers rather than joining in with the manly deer hunt and then we find he has a lady in there with him, and not his lady. Conveniently, he says his sword arm is sliced to the bone, although it doesn't look all that bad, and he passes the duel on to his unfortunate kinsman who is later walled up by his father. When we learn that the entire family line was made up of cowards it puts a different complexion on everyone's actions and makes for an adult sort of kids' movie. (It seems that cowardice was either common in that region or the other party in the duel was some sort of relative, too.)

What we and O'Brien and Young's characters learn in this movie is that courage is mind over matter not genetics and that anyone old or young can be terrified but not everyone folds like a cheap card table, whether confronted by a ghost or the enemy. Young teaches it to O'Brien and she later has to remind him of it. That is good to keep in mind in any era but especially in wartime when frightening rumors could send people into hysterics rendering them not only useless but dangerous. If the poor ghost had, when alive, stood up to his relatives he could have avoided the dire events. Instead, he ended up cowering in a corner in shame and allowing himself to be bricked in. This story and the Wizard of Oz have a common theme--the way you perceive yourself alters your actions.

The ghost of cowardly Sir Simon de Canterville (Charles Laughton) is cursed to haunt an English castle until one of his descendants performs an act of bravery. It's World War II and his current descendant, six year-old Jessica (Margaret O'Brien) has opened the castle up to American soldiers. One of those soldiers (Robert Young) turns out to be a long-lost descendant of de Canterville. Now all he has to do is perform an act of bravery and the ghost will be freed.

Nice family-friendly movie with MGM gloss and quality production. Laughton has a great time and it shows. O'Brien is charming and precocious. Young is solid and likable. A fun movie that should please all but the most miserable among us.

This review is somewhat biased, as I am an avid Robert Young fan, and have yet to see him in a less than stellar performance. Margaret O'Brien is also splendid, and it is hard to believe so much talent projects out of a six year old girl. Charles Laughton is memorable in his fine delivery of both pathos and comedic skills.

A highlight of the film for me is the music played by the G.I.s. at a local party. Music is classic 40's 8 to the bar, visually punctuated with awesome jitterbugging by the soldiers. A proper female British spectator comments to an incredulous priest, "I believe they call it woogie boogie." It is unknown what what the song title or who the recording artists may have been, however credits list original music for the film as provided by George Bassman.

Very, very loosely based on a short story by Oscar Wilde--so loosely that he is probably turning in his grave--THE CANTERVILLE GHOST is a charming bit of 1940s Hollywood fluff about an English ghost who runs afoul of American pragmatism. In the film version, the Americans arrive in the form of WWII soldiers, including Robert Young, who are billeted at a notoriously haunted castle where they encounter a legendary spectre much given to theatrical materializations.

Although the story is very, very slight, the cast makes it enjoyable. Child star Margaret O'Brien gives a typically enjoyable performance as the unwilling heiress to the castle, and Robert Young and his fellow actors mug their way through the script with entertaining aplomb. The greatest pleasure, however, is Charles Laughton as the ghost, which he plays most delightfully. The emphasis is on comedy rather than ghostly thrills, and although the comedy is quite mild it is expertly done. THE CANTERVILLE GHOST will never make any one's short list of "great cinematic art," but both grown-ups and kids alike will have a good time with it; recommended for an old fashioned family night.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer