mark.waltz Sentenced to a horrific death by his evil father for cowardess, Canterville her Charles Laughton must find a brave descendent to be released from a family curse. 300 years go by with no luck, and with his abandoned castle now inhabited by American soldiers. the bored ghost does what the idol dead do: pass the time by trying to scare the living. It's no shock to the audience that ironically one of those Americans (Robert Young) has the family birth mark, and with the help of distant Canterville relative (Margaret O'Brien), Young fulfills his destiny, faces his own cowardess and aides Laughton in escaping from the curse which keeps ghosts earthbound eternally.A true crowd pleaser, mixing in comedy, slight horror and war propaganda, this features three great performances, two of which are by notorious scene stealers and hams. Laughton is showy but filled with touching philosophy, longing for eternal rest after 300 years of a living non death, and O'Brien only goes off on a screeching tangent once but out of necessity. Young proves himself as always to be the completely likable all American hero. Joining them are Rags Ragland as Young's best pal, Una O'Connor as the hysterical and superstitious maid, and Elisabeth Risdon as Obrien's kindly aunt. There's a great jitterbug scene (referred to as woogie boogie by two British locales), a funny attempted haunting sequence by Laughton (where he gets scared himself) and an encounter with a missile at the end which is both tense and funny. An absolute winner overall in my book!

MartinHafer The film begins in the 17th century. In an odd bit of casting, portly Charles Laughton (age 45) is the younger brother of Peter Lawford (age 21 at the time of the making of this film). Charles is expected to fight for the honor of his noble family but instead turns and runs. As a result of this infamy, he is cursed to remain a ghost until a relative can perform a brave deed--a tough order to fill because the next 300 years saw coward after coward pass down the family line! Now, cut to 1943 and a regiment of American soldiers in the UK is stationed in Canterville Castle--the place haunted by the sad ghost. Through some coincidences only possible in movies, American soldier Robert Young discovers he's related to the nice ghost and realizes he can break the curse by performing gallantly at war.THE CANTERVILLE GHOST is an enjoyable film--thanks mostly to a rather saccharine-like yet enjoyable performance by young Margaret O'Brien. On one hand, she's so adorable that the cynical out there might just dismiss the whole thing. But on the other, at age 6, she was already a better actress than many adult professionals and only a true curmudgeon could hate her! When I was younger, I was not a particular fan of Margaret's (hence, I was more of a curmudgeon) but over the years I have really come to appreciate her charm and talent.O'Brien is supported by Charles Laughton (as the ghost) and Robert Young. Laughton was often the scene stealer in films with his acting (and occasional over-acting) but here his blustery style was just fine for the ghost. As for Young, he had a typical "nice guy" performance. Considering how well he worked with O'Brien in this and other films, it's not surprising that he was later cast as "America's Dad" on television.So with some wonderful performances, most of the movie is lovely--typical MGM family fare with nice directing, writing and the full glossy treatment. The only problem is that towards the end, the film switched gear and became a kooky film--something that tended to cheapen the film significantly. While only a few minutes earlier Young was off bravely fighting the Nazis and the tension was great, just a bit later he was dragging a time bomb across the field in a scene that looked more at home in an Abbott and Costello film. Seeing the jeep jumping about wildly while towing a bomb through the middle of the regiment just looked dumb (and, by the way, this is NOT the best method of bomb disposal). This scene was a sad decision because the rest of the film was delightful. Still, even with this dumb finale, the film is solidly entertaining and you may just find your heart-strings tugged by sweet Margaret. And, if not, you'll still probably enjoy the movie.

Spikeopath Sir Simon of Canterville gets roped into fighting a duel for his cousin, realising he faces certain death he flees the field awash with cowardice. His father is so enraged as to this stain on the family honour he walls Simon up in the castle without food and water until death does strike him down. He is doomed to haunt the Canterville castle until a fellow member of the family can commit an act of bravery and thus lift the cowardly stain that has besmirched the Canterville name.Doesn't sound much like a comedy does it !!, but it is, and a very amiable one at that. Loosely based on Oscar Wilde's story of the same name, The Canterville Ghost benefits from a couple of charming performances from Charles Laughton as Simon, and from a young Margaret O'Brien as Lady Jessica de Canterville. Laughton is clearly enjoying himself as the ghost, heavy on the "woe is me" theatrics coupled with gusto comedy, it's a very enjoyable performance from the big man. O'Brien is here enjoying being the center of attention and she positively lights up every scene she is in with youthful exuberance. The story follows a well trodden path to its rewarding ending but it's a fun ride getting there regardless, things really pick up a pace once a platoon of American soldiers are billeted at the castle and we are introduced to Cuffy Williams (Robert Young), a descendant Canterville of course, but he himself is showing a line in cowardice, so we are then left wondering if Cuffy can indeed show bravery and thus free Simon from his ghostly duties ?.7/10

maxvaughn Okay, I'm the first to admit this movie has almost nothing to do with Wilde's original story, but I can't help loving it. Like most versions of the story, this one is adapted for the time it was made in, so this one revolves around war and bravery. When I was eight years old I forced my entire birthday party to watch this movie and every year after they all always wanted to watch it. It's been a long time since I 've had a birthday party like that, but some of those friends have even gone out and bought the movie since then. We all had a little crush on Robert Young in this. Margaret O'Brian is fabulous sneaking around the Ghost's room and doing her bob of a curtsy. And of course Charles Laughton spitting in at the portraits of his cowardly kinsmen. The comedic timing is wonderful and there are great one liners. Best line: "I believe they call it woogie boogie".