Is this a faithful adaptation of the Oscar Wilde classic? Don't know, never read it. This is though, a silly and entertaining movie that can be enjoyed by the whole family.This was my first introduction to Margaret O'Brien and she won me over with her sweet charm. As a platoon of U.S. soldiers hold up in the haunted Canterville castle, they are excited by the news that they are to be welcomed by Lady Jessica de Canterville herself. The boys are surprised when Lady Jessica happens to be a 3-1/2' tall 6-year-old. She plays hostess to the GI's and tells them of the residing ghost. Their disbelief is soon tested by the late night antics of Sir Simon (Charles Laughton), who has inhabited the castle in his ghostly form for over 300 years. He has been condemned to this state of purgatory for his cowardice which can only be relieved by a blood descendant performing an act of bravery in his stead.Having seen Charles Laughton in 'The Private Life of Henry VIII', 'Mutiny on the Bounty' and 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', I was surprised to see him in this role as a clumsy, silly ghost. As usual, he is wonderful. A master thespian who can handle comedy as well as drama.I highly recommend this film to anyone young or old who just wants an hour and a half of amusement.

I cringe when I read all these comments gushing over little MARGARET O'BRIEN, as if she was a thespian of great talent when she was six or seven years old. Personally, I never got her charm as a child actress, but I am willing to say that she is at her most tolerable in THE CANTERVILLE GHOST. But still, her acting always seemed stilted and self-conscious, like a little girl who knew she was good at reciting lines and making them sound reasonably convincing.However, nothing she can do to distract me is really worth commenting on because the film belongs almost exclusively to a mostly delightful script (except for the last sequence) that gives CHARLES LAUGHTON the chance to play--with his usual gusto--the role of a cowardly ghost who has been haunting a castle in England for over 300 years and must keep on doing so until a distant relative can redeem him by a single act of bravery.ROBERT YOUNG is that relative and he's genuinely attractive and amusing in a role that is less bland than usual for Young. He does show a nice bit of chemistry with his little co-star. A bunch of American soldiers, in 1943, are well cast with RAGS RAGLAND doing most of the funny business while other soldiers like WILLIAM GARGAN and FRANK FAYLEN do their best to give the cast some class. All of the scenes involving the antics of these servicemen--including a fun party scene featuring the jitterbug dance of two soldiers--are pleasant to watch.For light entertainment with an unusual slant, this is one of the better vehicles MGM found for Margaret O'Brien and her particular brand of child actress. As stated above, I found her more tolerable than usual in this one.

This is the worst adaptation of The Canterville Ghost I have ever seen. It was turned into Wartime propaganda with a little girl befriending not so much the ghost but an American soldier, which I guess was the fashion of the time.In Oscar Wilde's original short story an American family moves into the haunted castle and the teenage daughter had to help him to find peace.This version, though listed as comedy, is much darker than Oscar Wilde's original and witty tale of love and forgiveness. There were so many flaws to this one I can't begin to list them all I couldn't even recognize it as being The Canterville Ghost if not for the name of the ghost! In the original short story the ghost had felt accountable for his wife's death and that's why he haunted his castle. In this version the ghost was walled up in a room to starve to death by his own father because he wouldn't fight in a duel that wasn't really his to begin with! Instead of an American family moving in, it's American soldiers during world war two and a sugary sweet little girl girl owns the castle! It turns out, in this horrid adaptation, that one of the soldiers is a descendant of the ghost and he must prove himself by committing an act of bravery so that the ghost may move on.That's right, kids, he has to beat a Nazi to help the ghost find peace even though the original story was written in the late nineteen century! The original story was timeless and had a female protagonist but apparently the story regressed into the sexism of the era in that the manly soldier had to save the day! Though many consider this version to be a classic I feel it is an insult to Oscar Wilde's original classic.And to add to my horror at this so-called morality of this adaptation the ghost begged for forgiveness near the end before he found peace. He wanted forgiveness for not fighting in a duel that wasn't actually his to begin with and dying a slow agonizing death at the hands of his own father! What the?!? This was a shameful exploitation and it was a cruel lie to claim it had anything to do with Oscar Wilde's original and beautiful short story. This was, in my opinion, horrible.If you love the original The Canterville Ghost story by Oscar Wilde or want to see a version that... actually makes sense... Seek out the 1996 made for TV version with Patrick Stewart as the ghost. Though set in the 1990s it's very true to the original, heart warming and fairytale-like quality of the original story. Don't waste your time with this version simply because it was the first. It's almost unrecognizable.

I don't know that I will even give a movie a 10 out of 10, but this movie has "haunted" (in a wonderful way) my life since my childhood! Not only do the great actors of those days and the screen writing teach us what real life, courtesy, care, concern and speech are like, they can still flood our minds with hope! Not to say that good movies aren't still made, because they are! And not say that everyone was rosy and good then, either. But this movie still retains a way, and tugs on our minds and hearts, to still be good people, to not give in to the epithets of the present U.S. culture of 2007. It only takes honesty, care, understanding, concern and kindred souls to realize that we all are one on this planet, and may more planets than just this one. And actors such as Charles Laughton, Margaret O'Brien, Robert Young, Rags Ragland, Una O'Connor, Reginald Owen, and so many more, continue to teach us in ways that many of our present day actors will never be able to. And I'm not sure why!?! And isn't it interesting that 2 GIs can dance together, and do it wonderfully well, and it IS art!! And yet done today, people would look at all of that and make lurid judgments!! And a 7 year old could act with the likes of a Charles Laughton and we don't jump to all kinds of disreputable conclusions, at might happen today. I am thankful for movies and stories such as this. I am thankful for people such as Oscar Wilde, Edmin Blum and Jules Dassin. Unfortunately, the telling of the realities of war, though, although not as graphic then as now, (maybe that's not a bad thing), are still as haunting today as back then. But rather than end on a sad note, I say, let us all raise a glass to the hope that is part of the movies of such as the like as Charles Laughton, and to the hope that will continue in many ways in today's movies. I know they are there. I watch too many not to understand that. It's just that times were different. But people usually still fight for good and noble causes today as ever before, and isn't that what this movie is about?!!!