''The Canterville Ghost'' is a 1986 American-British

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

syndicated

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

horror film based on the 1887 short story "

The Canterville Ghost "The Canterville Ghost" is a humorous short story by Oscar Wilde. It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in two parts in '' The Court and Society Review'', 23 February and 2 March 1887. The story is about an American fa ...

" by Oscar Wilde, directed by Paul Bogart. It was shot at

Eastnor Castle Eastnor Castle, Eastnor, Herefordshire, is a 19th-century mock castle. Eastnor was built for John Cocks, 1st Earl Somers, who employed Robert Smirke, later the main architect of the British Museum. The castle was built between 1811 and 1820. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and stars

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...

Ted Wass Edward Wass (born October 27, 1952) is an American television director and former actor. He is best known for his roles as Danny Dallas on the series ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and as Nick Russo on the NBC sitcom ''Blossom'' (1991–1995). After '' ...

Andrea Marcovicci Andrea Louisa Marcovicci ( ro, Marcovici; born November 18, 1948) is an American actress and singer. Life and career Marcovicci was born in Manhattan, to Helen Stuart, a singer, and Eugen Marcovicci, a physician and internist of Romanian desce ...

and

Alyssa Milano Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress. She has played Samantha Micelli in '' Who's the Boss?'', Jennifer Mancini in '' Melrose Place'', Phoebe Halliwell in ''Charmed'', Billie Cunningham in '' My Name Is Earl'', Sa ...

Plot

Harry Canterville (Wass), who has spent most of his life in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, returns with his new wife Lucy (Marcovicci) and his daughter from a previous marriage, Jennifer (Milano), to take up his inheritance of Canterville Castle in a small village in England. They find that the castle is haunted by the ghost of a disgraced ancestor, Sir Simon de Canterville (Gielgud). Despite the eccentric relatives who will not enter the castle and the gloomy predictions of Mr. and Mrs. Umney, Harry and Lucy do not believe that there actually is a ghost, and that they are merely being hoaxed through wires. Harry is determined to stay for at least three months, after which he can take full possession. He also decides to then sell the castle to a property developer who wants to turn the castle into a hotel. Meanwhile, Jennifer sets out to the attic at night in search of the ghost. Her biological mother died four years earlier, and she has never learned to accept Lucy as her stepmother despite Lucy's attempts to befriend her. She contacts Sir Simon, who initially tries to scare her off, like he is used to do. Jennifer ignores her fear and asks Sir Simon if he will try to scare off Lucy. Sir Simon, surprised by Jennifer, befriends her for being the first person ever not to be scared by him. He tells her that he has not slept in over 300 years and is extremely tired. The next morning, Harry climbs on the roof of the castle in search of wires, and when he falls off, he is rescued by Sir Simon. Sir Simon simultaneously tries to grant Jennifer's wish: Lucy complains about seeing scary figures in the mirror, and sometimes feeling icy cold fingers on her shoulder when she is alone in a room, as well as hearing voices. Harry and Lucy finally start to believe that the ghost is real when Sir Simon shows up to scare off guests at a dinner party. Through Paul Blaine (Chandler), one of her classmates, she learns of the rumor that Sir Simon killed his wife Eleanor. They head out to the graveyard, where it turns out that Sir Simon does not have a date of death on his tombstone. Sir Simon shows up to scare off Paul, and – after a period of Jennifer not wanting to talk to him – explains to her that he is doomed to remain on the estate after the death of his wife, who cursed him for the death of their daughter, which he caused by failing to maintain a bridge. She learns that Sir Simon can escape when she persuades the Angel of Death to release him. Despite the risks, she does so and Sir Simon is released from the curse.

Cast

as Sir Simon de Canterville *

as Harry Canterville *

as Lucy Swackhammer Canterville *

as Jennifer Canterville *

Harold Innocent Harold Sidney Innocent (18 April 1933 – 12 September 1993) was an English actor who appeared in many film and television roles. After attending Broad Street Secondary Modern School in Coventry, Innocent worked for a short time as an office c ...

as Hummle Umney * Spencer Chandler as Paul Blaine *

Lila Kaye Lila Kaye (7 November 1929 – 10 January 2012) was an English actress. She spent a number of years working in the United States, on Broadway and in television, before returning to England. Born in Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, sh ...

as Mrs. Umney * George Baker as Uncle Hesketh * Dorothea Phillips as Aunt Gretchen *

Bill Wallis William Wallis (20 November 1936 – 6 September 2013) was a British character actor and comedian who appeared in numerous radio and television roles, as well as in the theatre. Biography Wallis was born in Guildford in Surrey, the only son of A ...

as Fenton Cook

Production

Gielgud told an interviewer that he left his retirement to take the role, because it "

ook Ook, OoK or OOK may refer to: * Ook Chung (born 1963), Korean-Canadian writer from Quebec * On-off keying, in radio technology * Toksook Bay Airport (IATA code OOK), in Alaska * Ook!, an esoteric programming language based on Brainfuck * Ook, th ...

his mind off advancing age". Milano, in one of her first TV movies, said in a later interview that Gielgud helped her overcome her struggles with dyslexia during production.

Reception

The film did not achieve much praise or attention, and ''Variety'' magazine noted in its review: "Milano as the catalyzing daughter Jennifer adapts to the ghostly Sir Simon without a qualm; that, of course, is the true charm of the story, but Milano doesn't exhibit enough presence to match the droll, charming Gielgud".''Variety'' magazine. September 26, 1986.

References

External links