User Reviews

Based on a novel by Nathaniel Benchley (son of humorist Robert and father of Peter, author of JAWS)"The Spirit is Willing" has several good comedy set ups. Unfortunately, it left out the jokes. The whole movie is like a series of jokes without punch lines.

A family headed by comedy icon Sid Caesar rents a New England house they don't know is haunted by three spooks, a husband/wife and the wife's maid, with whom the husband was carrying on. The triple murder that caused the haunting is related in gory detail before the credits.

Judging him strictly on movies like this, "The Busybody," and even "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," it's difficult for anyone of my generation, who missed "Your Show of Shows", to understand why Caesar was considered such a great comic. Any good actor with a comic bent could have played his part.

Four things make this movie worth watching.

First, there is a first-class lineup of notable supporting actors. These include, sometimes all too briefly, Mary Wickes, Jesse White, Jay C. Flippin, Harvey Limbeck, John McGiver, Byron Foulger, and Doodles Weaver. The second thing follows that almost immediately, and that's John Astin's appearance as a psychiatrist, which comes late in the movie. In his prime, Astin (from the original "Addams Family) could liven any dragging proceedings with a neat comedy turn, and he certainly earned his paycheck this time.

Third, the appearance of Jill Townsend in three roles: as one of the ghosts, as a teenager, and as the town librarian.

Last but certainly not least, is the Vic Mizzy sound. Vic Mizzy is not one of the more well-known film composer, but his work is instantly recognizable. He did the music for "Green Acres" and several Don Knotts movies (including "The Ghost and Mister Chicken" and "The Reluctant Astronaut). The Vic Mizzy sound is not only comforting in its familiarity in odd situations like ghostly manifestations, it is also tongue-in-cheek. It may be the most wryly humorous part of the film.

Most of director William Castle's later films were really not very good. While The Spirit Is Willing is fun; it is not particularly good - or brazenly funny. But it does have some funny scenes. The premise is that three ghosts, one an ugly heiress who marries a ship's captain, two, the said captain who wed this woman solely for her property, and thirdly, a pretty blonde maid with all the appropriate trimmings, have all been caught up in a love triangle the night of the first two's wedding. She(the heiress) avenges herself by hatcheting them, but not quite enough as her husband has time to return the favor. Three ghosts then materialize and the film credits begin to show us in drawings all the people that have come and gone from this haunted house. Whilst this goes on, the music of Vic Mizzy plays - and make no mistake - it is easily the most memorable thing about this film. I saw this probably twenty years plus ago and all I really remembered prior to watching it again was that it had a very catchy tune. It does. As I watched much of the film returned to my memory. Sid Caesar, lovely Vera Miles, and sometime annoying Barry Gordon(their son) rent this house. All the villagers are afraid, etc... basic stuff we would get from such films, but here we get them with a somewhat heavy-handed attempt at comedic direction from Castle. Much of it is just plain silly. What I do like about the film is that it has some good acting despite the material AND a host of small character actors given some flexibility here. Mary Wickes, Nestor Paiva, Jay. C. Flippen, Jesse White, and John Astin are in here. Astin is particularly funny. But for me, the best performance goes to that underrated performer John McGiver who knows the nuances of language about as well as any performer. I love to hear him talk. Here he plays a rich uncle who believes money is the answer to everything. The ghosts are really pretty lame, and not all that funny. But the pretty blonde, played by young, gorgeous, hot Jill Townsend is major eye candy, and she plays two other roles. She really is quite a good actress. Lots of farcial stuff here like revving up the camera speed in scenes, reverse motion here and there, and a situational comedy approach to story, direction, and just about everything else. It is not a bad movie, and I truly did enjoy seeing it again. I will not; however, confuse nostalgia with excellence. Sometimes they go hand in hand. Sometimes they do not.

With a bouncy score in the background (similar to the more famous "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken"), we learn the secret of this New England set of ghosts all killed and destined to spend eternity together in 1898. The ghastly looking Cass Daley, desperate for a husband, marries a sea captain desperate to inherit her estate and a bigger ship, and on their wedding night discovers him being a rascal. Butcher knives fly and before you know it, three are dead, their ghostly images doomed to roam the earth until Daley (believe it or not!) looses her virginity! These ghosts aren't like the sea captain from "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir"; the earthlings who come into their presence can actually feel them, not only metaphysically but flesh-wise as well.

Almost 70 years after the Maine coastline murder, the ailing Sid Caesar and his wife Vera Miles show up with their embittered teenaged son (Barry Gordon) for a "rest" and when Gordon encounters each of them, pots are thrown through windows, the living room is made a mess and Miles' meddling uncle (John McGiver) is pushed down a flight of stairs, all of the blame put on the innocent teen. The adults don't believe the legend until they meet the look-alike of one of them (Jill Townsend) who explains the story, and from there, Gordon is determined to end the curse, find the ghostly Daley a mate and convince his parents he was innocent of all the mischief they blamed him for.

A superb supporting cast includes such fun faces as Jesse White, Mary Wickes and Jay C. Flippen. Wickes proves how perfect she could have been as Tugboat Annie as the rather tough but legend-spouting caretaker who eerily reveals her situation when encountered by the ghosts. She totally reminded me of the famous "Large Marge" sequence from "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" as her story gets more and more dramatic. John Astin of "The Addams Family" plays a visitor who has his share of gay insinuations with Gordon and Astin each believing the other may be living an alternative life-style. The inclusion of this is subtle and not offensive, and amusing through each of them making light-hearted cracks at the other's expense.

While not a classic in the comedy horror genre of films like "Arsenic and Old Lace" and the "Topper" series, this is a very amusing film and one of William Castle's better later efforts. Everybody seems to be having a great time, the sets and location photography are ideal, and that musical score by Vic Mizzy (who had earlier wrote the score to "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" as well as several 60's cult classics) will stay in your head long after the movie is over.

William Castle; famous for his shock gimmicks and bizarre plots, is a director I always liked even if I didn't revere him, his films were always accessible and fun. As of late however, he's starting to become a favorite of mine. I can't say I've ever seen a truly bad film from him, even though he usually gets lumped in with Ed Wood & Coleman Francis. His films were meant to be fun, with their crazy promotional gimmicks and animated opening credits, he clearly intended his films to not be taken seriously, but in a good way. Most say the element of humor was unintentional because he was a lousy director whose films came off as camp, and that he would fail at comedy as much as horror if he had tried. Well, I just saw this film on it's entirety on Youtube, and not only is it an overt comedy, but it's a hoot from start to finish.

In the distant past in New England, a greedy but handsome sailor decided to get rich quick by marrying Felicity; the lonely horse-faced daughter of a wealthy shipping magnate, but fell in love instead with the pretty maid, Jenny. Felicity killed the maid, and then the sailor with a meat cleaver before the sailor finished her off with a knife right before bleeding to death, now the trio's ghosts haunt the local mansion.

In (then)present times the Powell family moves in to the manor for a vacation. Led by paranoid, chronic-back pain suffering father Ben(Sid Caesar), whining son Steve(Barry Gordon) and nagging mother Kate(Vera Miles). This bickering, dysfunctional clan is a hoot to watch, with everyone showing off reasons both to like and dislike them, so that we don't come to find them all annoying and hope they get killed off. The dialog exchanges are great and laugh-out-loud funny rather than dated. The characters are so well-developed that this feels like a Halloween special for a long-running sitcom in it's prime, and that's always a plus. You can just imagine all the crazy adventures this family has had before and after this film.

It doesn't take a genius to realize the house is going to be haunted, and thankfully rather than setting up some Scooby Doo fake-ghost subplot, the film makes the Ghost's presence clear from the beginning. It admittedly falls into formula; you know how it goes, Outsider sees ghosts, gets blamed for their mischief and nobody believes him. It's an old formula, but it's delivered with a nice hint of freshness considering that the ghosts are given personality without speaking, the ghosts of the Sailor & the Maid keep making out, and Felicity keeps throwing things at them which leads to furniture getting smashed. And apparently the ghost couple isn't getting along too well either, as they fight amongst themselves even when Felicity is gone. Poor Steve gets blamed for all this, and it's hilarious how his parents seem to explain it all way as typical teenage behavior even though if he really was doing all this stuff he would have to be dangerously psychotic, but they just keep threatening to deduct from his allowance. One of the best parts comes when the ghosts sink his rich(he's a toilet bowl baron...yeah), paranoid Uncle George's yacht and Steve's only reaction is to say 'You can take it from my allowance'.

The film has several highlights thereafter, from a diving expedition gone wrong, a male bartender named Mother, a bizarre series of circumstances that leads Kate to believe Ben is cheating on her, a great cameo from John Astin(Gomez from the 'Addams Family')as a psychologist hired by Uncle George to find out if Steve is gay(after he sees him buying lots of perfume and makeup for Felicity to appease her evil spirit) who quickly comes to wonder if he's going mad himself. Not all of the jokes work, but they all manage to keep a (pardon the pun) spirit of fun.

Risqué fun too. For a film from the '60's, there's a good deal of swearing, underage drinking, sex, adultery and homophobia. Yet it's all done with a sense of innocence, only the murders in the prologue would cause the film to get more than a PG today.

The performances are all good, too. Sid Caesar is the most experienced of the lot, and gives a typically fine performance. Barry Gordon manages to make Steve believably obnoxious and brash but still likable. Vera Miles shows great range in the role of Kate, compare her role here to her role in 'Psycho'. But it's Jill Townsend in a triple role as Jenny the Maid/Steve's psychic girlfriend Priscilla/her librarian sister Carol who steals the show. John McGiver is also great as the boisterous, Archie Bunker-like Uncle George. A fun twist-ending is also in store. The music is good too.

A great little gem that I can already tell is going to be one of my new favorites, I highly recommend this obscure film. I also wonder if this was an influence on Burton's 'Beetlejuice'. The plots are very similar; Seaside New England manor is haunted by two lovers, dysfunctional family arrives and havoc ensues. If the film was remade, I can totally see the supernatural-obsessed Priscilla portrayed as a goth like Lydia from 'Beetlejuice'. I also notice that the 'Topper' film series from the 40's influenced both films greatly, yet, I enjoyed 'Spirit' more than either of them. Y' Know, sometimes I get the feeling that "A' cinema isn't all it's cracked up to be...

For lovers of humorous horror films and screwball comedies, I can't recommend this enough.~