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THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN is my favorite Don Knotts movie and one of my all-time favorites. There is something about horror and comedy that mix well together. When Don Knotts left TAGS, he had a movie contract with Universal Studios. Of the movies, he made THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN had a very Mayberry feel to it. There is little wonder since some 20 TAGS alums were in the movie. The movie has become a Halloween classic. It is a good, clean comedy that can be enjoyed by young and old.

When Don Knotts received the script, he knew there was a problem and called his old friend Andy Griffith. Andy read the script and agreed it needed rewriting even though it had been penned by TAGS writers James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum. With the improvements made by Griffith, they were able to begin the film. Griffith did not take any writing credit and was helping his friend.  One of his suggestions was to have the "Attaboy Luther" become a catchphrase used more than once. The director was Alan Rafkin, who had directed over 25 TAGS episodes.

The main credited cast is given below, along with others.  I have not included every non-speaking extra IMDB says was in the movie. The uncredited ones I list below had a notable part in the film or a speaking role.  At the end are "extras" who also appeared on The Andy Griffith Show. There are 20 people in the credits of the movie. Of those, eight also appeared on TAGS. The first ten listed appear in both the opening and closing credits.  

In the comments below, you will find exemplars of every credited performer in the movie, with the exception of Jim Begg. Ones from Worthpoint are not mine and are cropped. Those are being shown for educational purposes. They are, for the most part, from the John Verzi collection.  

 When a ** appears after the name, that means an exemplar is requested.   

[CREDITED CAST]

Don Knotts  ...Luther Heggs
Joan Staley  ...Alma Parker
Liam Redmond  ...Kelsey
Dick Sargent  ...George Beckett
Skip Homeier  ...Ollie Weaver
Reta Shaw  ...Mrs. Halycon Maxwell
Lurene Tuttle  ... Mrs. Natalie Miller
Phil Ober  ... Nicholas Simmons
Harry Hickox... Police Chief Art Fuller
Charles Lane ...  Plaintiff's Attorney Whitlow
Jesslyn Fax ...  Mrs. Hutchinson
Nydia Westman ... Mrs. Cobb
George Chandler  ... Judge Harley Nast
Robert Cornthwaite ... Defense Attorney Springer
James Begg ... Police Officer Herkie  **
Sandra Gould ... Loretta Pine
James Millhollin  ... Mr. Milo Maxwell
Cliff Norton ... Charlie the Bailiff
Ellen Corby Miss Neva Tremaine
Jim Boles ... Billy Ray Fox

[UNCREDITED ROLES]

Hope Summers ... Susanna Blush
Hal Smith ... Calver Weems
J. Edward McKinley ... Mayor Preston
Burt Mustin ... Mr. Deligondo
Al Checco ... Gaylord Patie witness for the defense
Lee Krieger ... Lester the process server
Teddy Quinn ... Boy getting Luther's autograph
Eddie Quillan ... Elevator operator
Bern Hoffman ... Big man friend of Billy Ray Fox
Adair Jameson ... Eileen secretary to Mr. Maxwell.
Dick Wilson ... Band leader at picnic
Harry Hines ... Bum at the picnic "I'm Rotary."
Jimmie Horan ... Observer on the street
Herbie Faye ... Man sitting at Alma's table in Cafe
Lillian Field ... Edna June Weems **
Everett Greenbaum ... Voice yelling "Attaboy Luther"  **
Joan Granville ... Waitress  **
Ella Edwards [Ella Raino] ... Cafe Cashier  **
Ruth Thom ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Maxine Semon ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Dorothy Keller ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Florence Lake ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Margaret Wheeler ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Dorothy Love ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Ceil Cabot ... Psychic Occult Society Member   **
Phil Arnold ... Jury Foreman **
Michael Jeffers ... Spectator at trial

Tags: Burt, Don, Joan, Knotts, Mustin, Ober, Phil, Staley

Views: 1171

Replies to This Discussion

She was a wonderful actress and could do anything.  Her autograph is one of the most stable of anyone I know it changed so little.  It was a lot like Aneta Corsaut very clear and neat.

Just the other day I was watching a Dragnet episode and there was actor Burt Mustin.  

PHIL OBER (1902-1982) the first husband of Vivian Vance (Ethel from I Love Lucy) was an active character active for many years.  He became a diplomat in later years.  He was a familiar face on both big and small screens during his career.   Ober appeared in two episodes of I Love Lucy.   Among the television shows he did were The Twilight ZoneThe Munsters, The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Dream of Jeannie, and Perry Mason.  Ober had roles in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and the Hitchcock thriller NORTH BY NORTHWEST. His autograph is very scarce.

 

PHILIP OBER his signature on his World War II draft registration.  He was married to Vivian Vance at the time.

HARRY HICKOX (1910-1994) might be best known as Charlie Cowell in THE MUSIC MAN.  His name might not be a household one, but his scowling face and snarling voice are doubtless familiar.  He acted mostly on the small screen with some movies.  Often cast in smaller roles as a policeman.  Hickox plays the police chief of Rachel, Kansas in THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN.  His autograph is scarce and seldom seen. 

HARRY HICKOX from his WWII draft registration card.  

CHARLES LANE (1905-2007)  He was the last known survivor of the Great San Francisco Earthquake!   Lane appeared in such movies as THE MUSTIC MAN, ITS A MAD MAD MAD WORLD, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, MR SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, and Lou Costello's last movie THE 30 FOOT BRIDE OF CANDY ROCK.  On the small screen he appeared in The Twilight Zone, The Munsters, I Love Lucy, Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Petticoar Junction as Homer Bedloe.   He played the plaintiff's lawyer in THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN.  This is a signed index card.

CHARLES LANE on the left with George Chandler and Ellen Corbet in the courtroom scene of THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN.  

JESSLYN FAX (1893-1975) was a delightful character actress in the mold of Josephine Hull.  Fax got her start in television and movies somewhat late in life in the 1950s.  She usually played small comic roles in shows such as I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, Batman, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and a later episode of TAGS.  She had recurring roles on Our Miss Brooks and The Jack Benny Program.  She had bit parts in the Alfred Hitchcock thrillers REAR WINDOW (as Miss Hearing Aid) and NORTH BY NORTHWEST.  She was "Avis Grubb" in THE MUSIC MAN.  She plays "Mrs. Hutchinson" on THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN.in very funny scenes with Nydia Westman.   

JESSLYN FAX (left) and NYDIA WESTMAN (right) a very funny scene where Mrs. Hutchinson is telling of hearing strange organ music with her sister Clara on the night of murder.

Nydia Westman had that unique voice.

Nydia Westman had that voice and those eyes. She always seemed like she was genuinely interested in what the other actors were saying making her character all that more believable. Those boarding house tenants of Jesslyn Fax, Nydia Westman, Burt Mustin and Lurene Tuttle were all great.

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