Don't listen to the negative reviews

Absolutely brilliant

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

note: do not bother to watch the American release DVD of this. for some reason with a few of the harder to find live action classics from Disney like 'Gnomemobile' or 'One of Our Dinosuars is Missing', the DVD transfers offered on the American disc are inferior transfer. they looked like Disney transfered them from VHS or something. the region 2 DVD releases from England are, for some reason, a far superior transfer and look like they were transfered from film and not VHS. don't know why you should have to go to a foreign market to get the best quality from an American studio, but this seems pretty typical of the failure by the Disney co. to adequately showcase it's live action classics from the studio's golden age.all that tech talk aside,'Blackbeard's Ghost' has always been one of my favorite live action Disney fantasies. and definitely one of the studio's best comedies ranking with 'The Absentminded Professor' and 'One of our Dinosuars is Missing'. with the (shall i say it?) stellar acting combination of Ustinov and Jones, 'Blackbeard' plays out like a Diney/fantasy version of Neil Simon's the 'Odd Couple'. and if you are partial to Disney and slapstick, possibly a lot funnier.the performances by Ustinov and Jones are decidedly a focal point that drives the film and gives it it's most weighty substance. the performances, especially Ustinov's, are inspired and sharp witted. they come off as sort of lunatic fringe, counterparts to Matthau and Lemmon, but with a lot more testosteroned, highly charged, craziness. Ustinov and Jones performances are much more "over the top" than Matthau's or Lemmon's, but as charged up as their performances get, they are restrained and controlled with lots of character insight that makes the two protagonist seem like human beings and not nuttily drawn cartoons which could have easily have happened with all the buffoonery.even though cartoonish, the characters are developed with some psychological insights. insights very similar to Simon's 'Odd Couple' play. one is uptight and repressed, the other is gregarious and lacking any moral conscience and a slob. also much like the 'Odd Couple', this is a take on the age old saying "you can't keep two bulls in one pen". a testimonial satire on the difficulties in the male relationship and of male dominance assertion. the compatibility between the two is aggravated by their extreme differences. one is a square, the other a pirate, one is living, one is dead, etc. of course in true Disney fashion, they learn to come to terms with their differences and work together.it's also interesting to note that for a film that is over forty years old (God. forty years. i saw this at the movies when it first came out), the gimmicks and FX are still true today as ever. in many respects, the mechanical effects are even more inspired in an age that relies on CGI for everything. Peter Ellenshaw's beautiful matte composites look even better and more painted art than the monochromatic CGI composites of today.classic Disney doesn't get much better than this. and it is certainly better than a lot of the bland, under-whelming fare, offered by the Disney channel TV movies of today.

The chronology of Disney movies that I saw growing up are almost a record of the stages of girlhood: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Lady and the Tramp," "Greyfriars Bobby," "The Moon-Spinners" and lastly, at 14, "The Fighting Prince of Donegal"—a satisfying transition out of puberty, with Peter McEnery swashbuckling his way into my adolescent heart. Three years later, I was buying tickets to "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Graduate," and "In the Heat of the Night," as well as imports from "Bedazzled" to "Closely Watched Trains." By 1968, I didn't even notice the release of "Blackbeard's Ghost." Today I appreciate vintage Disney movies not only for the purity of the nostalgia, but for the durability of the formula, and the skillful choice (if not use) of talent. I recently re-watched several, just because of the casts: "Moon-Spinners" for Eli Wallach, Joan Greenwood, Irene Papas, and (yes) Pola Negri. "Pollyanna" for Donald Crisp, Adolph Menjou, Agnes Moorehead. "Kidnapped" for Finlay Currie and the Peters O'Toole and Finch. "Swiss Family Robinson" for John Mills and Sessue Hayakawa.Family pictures, all, as is Blackbeard's Ghost. But while the others have logical plots, Blackbeard pushes the bounds of absurdity and actually becomes boring.And "Blackbeard's Ghost" for Peter Ustinov and Elsa Lanchester. There's barely a glimpse of her after the first half hour or so, but he is in almost every scene, buttressing a silly plot with his inventive light physical comedy, and managing to sell a truly ridiculous role. Beyond, ridiculous, really: as the plot hurtles forward, he develops preternatural powers more associated with superheroes than with fat drunken ghosts.Ustinov, unfortunately, is the only reason to dedicate 106 minutes to this movie. Its few other qualities lag far behind: the wildly creative sets for Blackbeard's Inn do look like they were assembled of jetsam (as the dialog says), and though Dean Jones is no Laurence Olivier (he's not even Fred Macmurray), he does a fine job as the dauntless straight man to Ustinov's spectral pirate.

The movie is is a great all around, has a good storie and the characters are absolutely perfect, specially peter Ustinov, is absolutely fantastic in the movie, haven't seen a more funny picture ever!!!.A truly funny picture dosen't try to be funny but it just is. Recommend every one to see it.This is the story of black beard the ghost, whose wife put a curse on him, causing him to be stuck in limbo between the world of the living and dead i.e a Ghost, to be free of his curse he has to do a good deed which for Blackbeard is extremely difficult and all through the film goes wrong.

Though this movie isn't a well-known classic, it is still most certainly a shining example of why Disney films were once so enjoyable. The movie features an interesting, offbeat plot of the new coach of a rather dismal track team unwittingly summons the ghost of the vicious pirate, Edward Teach (Peter Ustinov). After centuries caught in limbo, the pirate has evolved into a lovable ne'r-do-well, and does his best to "help" his new companion, much to the consternation of the coach.Disney regulars Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette, Elsa Lanchester, George Murdock, and Richard Deacon star in this little gem. They play their usual character types, but the move is truly made by Peter Ustinov, who plays the role perfectly.The movie features a lot of slapstick, though it's cleverly presented and plays host to wry dialogue. All in all, a very enjoyable film