There aren’t actors quite like Don Knotts anymore. It’s very disappointing. Previously in this column I defended the Incredible Mr. Limpet. This film isn’t anywhere near as bad as the film and to be honest isn’t a true guilty pleasure (67% freshness on Rotten Tomatoes and a decent fan following) so much as it’s just a movie no one my age seems to have seen. It truly is a shame.
You see most people my age not only don’t appreciate Don Knotts… but don’t appreciate the character he created. You see Don Knotts allowed himself to always be a schlob character. He was a scrawny, nervous, bumbling loser and unlike most movies with similar characters he never stops being a bumbling loser… he just won over people by being that. In Incredible Mr. Limpet he turned into a fish and remained a fish, in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken he starts off a coward and remains one.
The movie follows Luther Hegs (Atta’ Boy Luther) the town wimp. Luther’s dream is to be a reporter for the local newspaper but no one takes him seriously. However Luther continuously is talking about the ‘murder house’ in town where a man (Mr. Simmons) went crazy and killed his wife years ago. On the 20 year anniversary of the murder he volunteers to spend the night in the house to write a piece on it.
Luthor sees weird things and writes a piece that captures the hearts and imaginations of the town. Suddenly he gets sued for slander by the Simmons son (who spoiler alert turns out to be the real murderer all along).
The idea was originally intended to be an extended version of an Andy Griffin Show episode but when the idea was scraped it was turned into a vehicle for Don Knotts up and coming acting career.
This film would be completely and utterly forgettable if not for Knotts’ over the top performance. He is one of the truest physical comedians, he might not always throw himself around like Jim Carrey or Jack Black but his over exaggerated body language makes me laugh harder than anything Carrey or Black has ever done. It’s why he’s so loved, it baffles me why he’s animated for 90% of Incredible Mr Limpet because you remove what he’s best at.
I’m going to keep this one short. Track down a copy of this and watch it. If you have grandparents that are still alive watch it with them, they’ll appreciate that! If nothing else it’s got a kick ass soundtrack from Vic Mizzy.