fillipsk
I saw this on late night TV as a teenager, and remember certain cast members. That was the only way I was able to find this film in the database. I cross referenced Mary Wickes with the butterfly collector on a Gilligan's Island episode. His name escaped me then, but it is John McGiver. Recently I bought a copy of the original book, and it was well written. The basic plot is the same, but Castle's comedic treatment did take away from the scarier aspects of the story. Incidentally Nathaniel Benchley, the author of the book was the father of Jaws author Peter Benchley. Humorist Robert Benchley was Nathaniel's own father. I keep requesting this to play on Turner Classic Movies to play it, but I doubt it is classic enough. Maybe if they do a b-series of William Castle gimmick films it will fit the format. Paramount handles distribution of it. Maybe it will come out on DVD some day...***Update*** I bought the eastern European import DVD from a Florida company, and watched it today. It is as amusing as I remember -- very much in the "spirit" of the madcap sixties decade in which it was made. As is often the case, it pales in comparison to the original media. But that argument is so old its cliché. I'd like to see the book made into a true horror movie, but that's for a different forum than this. If this movie ever is released on DVD in the USA, I expect it to go straight to the $5.50 discount bin. But I do bet it gets snatched up by people like us. Us being the people that look up this movie on IMDb.
richard.fuller1
Ninteenth Century. A lone seaman stands on a cliff. An elderly captain approaches. He points to the house and the seaman looks through his telescope, spying the captain's spinster daughter, Felicity. When we are shown Felicity, grinning broadly through the telescope, we hear a squawking seagull. She has great inner beauty, her father says. The man who marries her would be in charge of my entire fleet, he promises. The seaman looks through the telescope again and when we see Felicity, grinning and waving, the seagull sqawks once more. Felicity was played by an old comedic actress named Cass Daley, who was Olive Oyl come to life, pure cartoon. Even more the seaman who marries her for her money is none other than Robert Donner, best known for the madman Exedor on Mork and Mindy. On their wedding night, as Felicity frolicks in bed waiting for her man, Donner has gone to the maid's room, just off the kitchen and beside the basement. With no dialogue in this entire prologue, the whole scene is compelled by music. Finally, Felicity, realizing what has happened, comes downstairs and gets the meat cleaver and enters the maid's room. Amid thunder and lightning outside, we hear the maid and the seaman scream, then Felicity drags the maids body out of the bedroom and into the basement, banging her head on each step. Then the seaman staggers out of the bedroom, the meat cleaver in his back, and grabs another knife and enters the basement. We hear Felicity scream, more thunder and lightning, then the wedding march concludes the scene. But wait, three ghostly apparitions emerge through the basement door, one at a time.Years later, a little family of Sid Ceasar, Vera Miles and Barry Gordon move in. Gordon is a cynical teen ager who takes the vacant bedroom off the kitchen because "it has it's own john." Then the basement door begins to open on its own.The opening song is truly one of a kind, as another post points out. The phrase, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, comes from the Bible, the book of Matthew. Gordon is superb as the teen ager, Steve, who the ghosts torment. John McGiver (the assassinated Senator in 'Manchurian Candidate', Lord Beasley on a 'Gilligan's Island' episode) is amusing as always as Uncle George, who keeps getting his ship sunk by the ghosts.
The two flaws are from Jill Townsend, who plays the maid, Jenny, but also for some reason plays two of Jenny's descendants, who seem to know everything that happens. Yes, the town could know the place was haunted, but these sisters would finish Sid Ceasar's and Barry Gordon's sentences. To make matters worse, there was a child, Ricky Cordell, that my brother and I could never figure out why he was there. Was he the director's son? Was he the producer's girlfriend's son? Was he to appeal to a younger audience? When my brother and I recorded this show once, we edited out all the scenes with the sisters and the little boy. Other than that, the movie was a delight. Gordon gets the biggest laughs, none of the ghosts speak (interestingly still, Cass Daley had no lines before or after she "died" nor did the maid, Jenny, ever speak). At times, the music gets as bad as Petticoat Junction or the Monkees serial music. I saw another movie "Perils of Pauline" with Pat Boone and Terry-Thomas that had the same annoying music, but the opening song is still a winner. Plus appearances by Mary Wickes, Jesse White and John Astin are nice too. Felicity wants a man of her own so then the three ghosts can live in peace. One funny moment is when Felicity is holding Jesse White at the bottom of the lake with an anchor on top of him, waiting for him to drown.
repokat
I remember loving this movie as a kid! I remembered it a time or two over the years in passing. No one I know could remember seeing. Tonight I was surfing and thought about John Astin being in some cowboy movie and that's what started my search on imdb. Then voila, I saw the Spirit is Willing Title, and it all came back to me. I ordered Evil Roy Slade from Amazon, but they don't have Spirit is Willing. They've got the vaguest movies, but not a kewl classic like this. I agree about the song being great. I WISH I COULD BUY THIS MOVIE!!!! I'd like for my kids to see it. If anyone knows how to get "The Spirit is Willing" please let me know.
