Director
Paul Bogart
Cast
John Gielgud - Sir Simon de Canterville
Ted Wass - Harry Canterville
Andrea Marcovicci - Lucy Canterville
Alyssa Milano - Jennifer Canterville
Lila Kaye - Mrs. Umney
Harold Innocent - Hummle Umney
They may be old, murky, and dusty...but not completely forgotten. The memory of this film, based on the classic short story by Oscar Wilde, faintly popped out in my head like a neglected childhood toy suddenly finding enough juice to go off after years of neglect.
My dad recorded this movie off the television. I was five years old at the time. And for reasons I cannot remember, I often watched it.
This was the era of bad reception, bunny ears, and tracking control via knobs and such on the TV set. So, our copy wasn't the clearest picture. But it was clear enough to burn a few images in my mind through the soft television static.
I admit I haven't read Wilde's short story. Still, I'm judging the movie and not the source material. Any deviations from the story, and I'm sure there's a lot, are lost on me.
The movie begins with Harry Canterville (Ted Wass) en route to his recently inherited Canterville Castle, located in a small English town, with his second wife Lucy Swackhammer Canterville (Andrea Marcovicci) and his young daughter from a former marriage, Jennifer (Alyssa Milano).
They're moving to their new home from Cleveland, Ohio, so it's quite a cultural change.
As soon as they arrive and meet Harry's English relatives at the Canterville Estate, the eccentric aunts and uncles try to disguise their apprehensiveness in knowing the shamed ghost of Harry's ancestor, Sir Simon de Canterville, haunts the place.
Simon allegedly killed his wife, Eleanor, centuries ago. After her death, he is said to have disappeared without a trace. And no one has ever found his remains.
He spends his afterlife scaring away all who attempt to reside in the castle.
However, the Cantervilles must live there for at least three months in order to take full possession.
The unrested spirit of Sir Simon doesn't hesitate to show his disdain for the new inhabitants, and wastes no time trying to scare them off.
When they arrive and begin to settle in, Simon appears to them on the staircase while they're being taken to their rooms.
He tries to terrify them, but Harry and Lucy think the specter is nothing more than a special effect set up by Harry's off-center relatives to discourage them from taking up residence, and preventing the castle from falling into his possession.
Jennifer, however, who witnessed the butler, Hummle Umney, lift off the ground and disappear earlier, believes Sir Simon's ghost is real and does indeed haunt the castle.
Later that night, she sees a green orb floating through the hallways. She follows it up to the attic, where she sees Simon's ghost sitting at a desk.
When she calls to him, Simon tries to scare her but Jennifer stands firm and refuses to let fear force her to run.
Instead, Jennifer talks to Simon asking if he'd be willing to scare her stepmother away from her dad, and from their lives.
Simon returns to his normal spectral form, a bit dumbfounded to find a living person not terrified by his presence.
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| Alyssa Milano and Sir John Gielgud. |
He tells Jennifer that he hasn't slept in 300 years, and would do anything just to have a rest.
Simon then agrees to try and scare Lucy.
Lucy, however, thinks all the frights she soon after encounters are tricks set up by Harry's family.
She holds a dinner party where she opens up to Harry's family about their alleged efforts to scare them off.
The family emphasizes that they're not trying to scare them off, that Sir Simon's ghost is real, and that they need Harry to take possession of the castle to keep it in the family.
As supper begins, Simon manifests himself in such a freaky way, Lucy and Harry run out of the dining room convinced the castle is actually haunted.
During all this time, Simon and Jennifer begin to form a friendship.
One of Jennifer's classmates tells her about the allegations against Simon as the two kids visit Simon and Eleanor's grave site. Simon's grave doesn't have a date of death engraved on it which sparks Jennifer's curiosity.
Simon appears to the two at the gravesite, scaring off Jennifer's classmate.
She refuses to talk to him after that.
Simon later attempts to amend his friendship with Jennifer, revealing to her exactly what happened to him 300 years ago, and why he is in a perpetual state of unrest and doomed to remain in the castle.
Jennifer tells Simon about her dad's plans to accept an offer on the castle from a company that wants to turn it into an elaborate inn and resort.
Simon requests a meeting with her dad during which he makes a bargain with Harry that he'll cease his hauntings if Harry doesn't sell the castle.
It might sound like a convoluted storyline, but it's not.
There are a few scenes from this movie that scared me as a child. They've stayed in my collective memory alongside other scary scenes from other movies.
For instance, when Jennifer first goes to speak with Simon, he tries to scare her by turning into a giant head with an amplified, looming voice.
And during the dinner scene with Harry's family, their cook Mrs. Umney brings out a silver platter with a dome lid covering the main course.
As the guests are discussing the many horrific ways Simon has manifested himself, Mrs. Umney lifts the lid to reveal the entrée' has been replaced with Simon's head. He begins to shout and laugh demonically as all the food on the dining table explodes. Disembodied heads is what did it for me back then as far as scares go.
Seeing it now, this version of The Canterville Ghost feels like a Disney Channel production. The entire ghost aspect starts off comical, and becomes watered down throughout the movie all the way until the end.
In fact, I wondered if Simon really was a ghost. He repeats how he "wants to die" so that he can finally find the rest he yearns for. But he's a ghost already. Is he half dead?
I also don't think the writers had a grasp on what a ghost actually is, or what limitations dead people have.
In one scene, Simon eats a plate of cookies he stole moments before. Also, after spending a couple days at Eleanor's grave site in the chilly English weather, Simon catches a cold.
Jennifer persuades him to return to the castle to rest (despite his inability to do just that). Back in the castle attic, Simon bundles up and soaks his feet in hot water as Jennifer tries to nurse him back to health. He asks her to open the window. She replies that he'll "die of pneumonia" if she opens it.
"Do you really think so," he says. Again, is he half-dead? This films vision of the afterlife, and all it entails as far as ghosts are concerned, isn't explained.
Did the writers forget Simon died 300 years ago? He's a ghost! It's in the title. During production, surely someone said out loud "wait...ghosts don't eat cookies and catch colds."
Since watching this movie through my seven year old eyes, I have gained a lot more respect and appreciation for actor Sir John Gielgud as I've seen him in some great movies- The Elephant Man, Murder By Decree, and Becket to name a few. I became a fan of Gielgud after watching him portray Pope Pius XII in the 1983 movie The Scarlet and the Black with Gregory Peck.
He certainly gives this character from the mind of Oscar Wilde the respect it deserves. As he delivers his lines about all the scares through the centuries Simon proudly reflects on, Gielgud appears to be having fun with the role.
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| Sir John Gielgud as Simon de Canterville |
Sir Simon is a spirit bitter, resentful, and sad. He's been stuck in his purgatorial state for 300 years. And for 300 years, when every living person Sir Simon encounters reacts in fear, he's going to be expect fear. He'll fuel it. This is were Gielgud seems to be having fun.
His 17th century costume with an ornate Medici style collar, and long frizzled white hair is iconic.
But Gielgud's performance contrasts Milano's lackluster acting. The only time I caught any emotion from her character was when she tells herself how cute her classmate is.
There's a lot of major turning points in Jennifer's life. She moves to a new country. She tells her dad and step-mother how much she misses her friends. She's not fond of her step-mom. She misses her real mother whom we learn previously passed away. And she makes continual contact with the soul of a 300-year old ancestor.
Still, Milano shows little to no convincing emotion. She says her lines telling the audience what they need to know, and that's all. Nothing much about Milano's performance stands out. She doesn't shine with the same charisma as Gielgud. His mastery doesn't mix with Milano's seemingly unenthused performance.
Watching Gielgud in The Canterville Ghost 30-something years later, when I know more things than I did back when I was a kid, I can now appreciate what he does in this movie.
Overall, it was fun to watch The Canterville Ghost in a nostalgic way. Of course, not everyone has that same particular nostalgia as I have.
For those who haven't seen this movie before, they might find it fun with its Disney-esque feel similar to other Disney ghost movies such as Blackbeard's Ghost and The Ghosts of Buxley Hall.
Otherwise, if it wasn't for Sir John Gielgud presence, I would leave this movie in the dark corner of my mind were I've kept it all these years.
Good review, Mikey! I might not watch it, but that doesn't mean thatone can't enjoy reading your reviews! Keep up the good work and thanks for taking the time to do this...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ryan Jump!
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