Besides his renown for creating cartoon characters and making animated films, Walt Disney had a penchant for telling the stories of people of legend and fairy tales. This has carried on by the Disney Studios since Walt's death on Dec. 15, 1966. "Blackbeard's Ghost" is one such storied film. It is a fictional story that has a notorious American colonial period pirate come back to life as a ghost in modern-day (1968) North or South Carolina. (The movie doesn't say which one, and the location and Godolphin College are fictional.)This is a children's film that has some very silly scenes. Blackbeard's ghost, played well by Peter Ustinov, helps the track team of newly arrived coach, Steve Walker (played by Dean Jones), win an invitational track event between four schools. His athletes are mostly physical weaklings, but they beat the top athletes of the other schools in several events. The ghost trips runners and points them to run the wrong direction. For the top competing shot putter, the ghost blocks the iron ball about five feet away and it falls to the ground to the befuddled look of the husky athlete and those watching nearby. Then, the Godolphin athlete's ball takes several bounces in mid-air (we don't actually see this, but Blackbeard looking on and moving his finger to show the bounces). Another scene shows Blackbeard taking the Godolphin athlete's javelin toss, running with it some distance, and then tossing it. It has the look of a javelin bouncing along in the air to the spectators who can't see the ghost. Other silly scenes show outcomes of the pole vault, high jump, discus and hurdles. The acting is OK, with good performances also by Suzanne Pleshette, Elsa Lanchester and others. But the story is lame and the script isn't better than average. The portrayal of Blackbeard's character as not vicious and somewhat whimsical may be closer to the real Edward Teach than the legends would make him out to be. The story of the real Edward Teach (aka, Blackbeard) is an interesting read. While he was a feared pirate – mostly because of his appearance and some actions, he was never known to have killed anyone he captured. He had served in the British Royal Navy as a seaman before joining the pirate trade under Captain Benjamin Hornigold. For a couple of years, 1716-18, Blackbeard held sway off the SE Coast of the new land and into the Caribbean. In May 1718, Blackbeard organized a pirate blockade of Charles Town (now Charleston, SC) that plundered the town and commercial ships. His ship took captives who were ransomed with a chest of medicine. The lieutenant governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood, hired two private ships and organized a small force of Royal Navy men to hunt down Blackbeard. They caught up with him at Ocracoke on the Outer Banks of North Carolina on Nov. 22, 1718, and killed the pirate and many of his men. Blackbeard was only about 38 years old when he died.

Blackbeard's Ghost is a live action picture out of Walt Disney Studios and it's directed by Robert Stevenson. It's based around the novel written by Ben Stahl, with the adaption for the screen by Don DaGradi & Bill Walsh. Starring are Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette, Elsa Lanchester & Joby Baker.Plot finds Ustinov as the titular phantom of the title, who is suspended between worlds after a curse was put on him by his ex-wife. When amiable track coach Steve Walker (Jones) arrives in the coastal town of Godolphin he attends a charity sale and buys an antique bed warmer. Later that night Steve finds a hidden spell located in the bed warmer and after reading it out aloud he conjures up the ghost of Blackbeard. Seems that only Steve can see the bluff old pirate, and apparently Blackbeard can only escape his curse if he does a good deed. Good timing, then, since the old hotel run by the old ladies of Godolphin is under threat of closure from unscrupulous gambling gangster Silky Seymour (Baker) who wants to build a casino on the land. In spite of the fact that they just can't get on, Blackbeard and Steve may just be good for each other.A perfect light hearted live action film for the young and the young at heart. Looking a bit dated now on account of the advent of special effects, Blackbeard's Ghost none the less carries a weighty good against evil parable and brings on the laughter in spades as it goes. The set up is classic Disney, a pretty little coastal town is home to buccaneer secrets and the equilibrium is being upset by baddies who want progress to further their greed. Enter a bad boy coming good and the underdog sports team suddenly finding a new lease of life; aided wonderfully by Blackbeard during the film's funniest quarter. And there's even an engaging romance between Jones & Pleshette that's easy to warm too. The cast are inoffensive and pleasant, particularly Ustinov who is on full tilt pantomime overdrive, while the little devilish motif of cheating for the greater good finds Disney not hiding behind the syrup jar.Personally I laughed out loud on a number of occasions, most notably a cheerleader sequence that still has me giggling as I write this piece. Hopefully this film can have a similar effect on those looking at it for the very first time. Seek it out folks and watch with the family, for it is perfect family entertainment. 8/10

'The Ends Justify the Means', is the great moralistic virtue that this Disney tale weaves. The means of this Disney film is to justify plot elements to create opportunities for wacky moments. Such as when Disney Veteran Dean Jones is cornered by some bad goons, he points his finger into gun and says 'Bang'. And the goons start to fall over. They then try to knock his fingers out of the gun position. Of course when Dean fires his imaginary gun, it is Blackbeard's ghost who is knocking the bad guys over.Dean Jones makes any movie he is in, a lot of fun. For some reason the DVD copy I had, had a bad transfer. Maybe it was the TV. Overall despite the negatives, it was a fairly fun film. It was not as good as some Disney films, but better then others. If your into Disney films, it may be worth checking out.

Peter Ustinov has a ball and the rest of the cast are most enjoyable in this fun Disney flick which is ideal for young audiences.Director Robert Stevenson brings Ben Stahl's novel to the screen as he tells the story of legendary pirate Captain Blackbeard, who was cursed by his wicked wife to walk the earth in limbo until such a time as some small portion of good might be found in him. Disney released similar films around the late sixties and early seventies including "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" with much success at the time.This enjoyable, merry fun also stars Elsa Lanchester, Dean Jones (of "Herbie" fame) and Suzanne Pleshette.Sunday, January 18, 1998 - Video