There was a time, long long ago, when Hollywood produced sincerely great and lovely movies. Where have they gone, the authors of far ago? A movie with nice language and prose, with lovely characters and a rock-solid story rarely equated by now-a-day's cinema.

After all this time.. I finally found the name and the lyrics to the folk song the lady sings in the performance hall early in the film.. I won't spoil any other details, but this information was almost impossible to find and is not listed on the OST even on Amazon until now..The song was written by Thomas Moore and is entitled " Oft In The Stilly Night " and here are the lyrics for all who want to and need to know like I did..When I remember, All friends link'd together, I've seen around me, Fall like leaves in winter; I feel like one, Who treads alone Some banquet-hall deserted, Whose lights are fled, Whose garlands dead, And all but he departed! Thus, in the stilly night, Ere Slumber's chain hath bound me, Fond Memory brings the light Of other days around me.This version was paraphrased for this particular rendition as the original has twice the amt of words, but it is none the less one of the most lovely and enchanting tracks int he entire film.. This movie is one I tend to watch not only periodically, but oft times more than twice in a row.. such a classic.. Bless you Peter O'Toole.. We miss you.. Rest well..Namaste...Q.

When Peter Plunkett's Irish castle turned hotel is about to be repossessed, he decides to spice up the attraction a by having his staff haunt the castle.The trouble begins when a bus load of American tourists arrive - along with some real ghosts.Among the tourists are married couple Jack and Sharon. Sharon's father holds the mortgage on Castle Plunkett, so she's hoping to debunk the ghosts.Jack, on the other hand, after meeting pretty ghost Mary, is very eager to believe.Can there be love between a human and ghost? The thing with this film is not to pat too much attention to the problems, or you will begin to hate the movie. Guttenberg delivers his normal schtick in this, albeit a little bit more adult this time around.For the eighties, this really had quite an impressive cast. O'Toole must have been method acting in this because in some scenes he really does appear to be under the influence.The rest of the cast are average, but Kudos to Hannah for having one of the worst Irish accents I have ever heard on screen, No wonder Neeson has spent 200 years killing her.The effects are okay, and its quite reminiscent of a dodgy carry on film, in the fact that the humour is a little bit seaside saucy.Other than that it's very disjointed, edited badly, and really makes little sense.

This is just another fine movie ranked far below what it deserves.Reviews of High Spirits by some movie critics are prime proof of the theory that "professional" movie critics often don't what they're talking about. Being quickly panned by British critics, and then dissed by their American colleagues, leads me to believe that many critics write negative reviews based on the opinions of others. In recent years, many critics seem especially to have hidden agendas, or have an axe to grind, or are pandering to special interest groups, which render their reviews worthless. Often, these critics appear to have never seen the movie they are condemning, or, worst still, are ignoring the cinematography and entertainment value based on their own petty bias. In High Spirits, some critics complained that the plot is thin, flighty and lacks realism?!?! But this is a comedy (and a very good one at that), not a serious theatrical work like as play by Shakespeare or some other artsy-f**tsy piece for the pseudo-intellectual snobs. While not perfect, it is certainly not the complete waste of time that some of these so-called critics claim it to be.The fact is, folks, this movie is very entertaining, a real joy, from the story, to the acting, to the sets, to the special effects, etc., etc. just a pleasure (albeit a guilty one) of movie entertainment. The entire cast give an exuberant, high spirited performance (pun intended) which is sure to tickle your funny bone. Peter O'Toole is hilarious as the penny-less, hereditary keeper of the castle who is about to lose it all. But Liz Smith is a riot, playing Peter's tipsy, widowed mother who still interacts (read has sexual relations) with her dead husband and communicates with other deceased family members. Liz Smith is a thief - she steals just about every scene in which she appears. A horny Steve Guttenberg, an unfaithful Beverly D'Angelo, a rapidly decaying Daryl Hannah and a flatulent Liam Neeson give excellent performances. The pious Peter Gallagher and temptress Jennifer Tilly are terrific in supporting roles as are the remainder of the cast, who are mainly from Dublin's Abbey Theatre, except for Connie Booth (who played the housekeeper Polly Shearman in Fawlty Towers), who is an American.Please ignore the critics on this one, folks, they are way off. This is a very funny movie, with a few semi-scary moments, that I can highly recommend to you. If you want classical drama, watch Hamlet or Otello, but if you want hardy chuckles, watch High Spirits. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.Rating: 8/10 stars