I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Oscar Wilde would be hard put to recognize his off-spring in this updated film ver¬sion. Not only have his American tenants been replaced by billeted G.I.'s and his her¬oine's age lowered from fifteen to six, but the character of the ghost himself has under¬gone a remarkable transformation. No longer a bully who murdered his wife because "she was very plain, never had my ruffs properly starched, and knew nothing about cookery", he is a sadly penitent creature obviously modeled on Robert Donat's The Ghost Goes West for motivation and Bert Lahr's Cowardly Lion for character. At least his speech about death is still more or less intact: "Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yester¬day, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to for¬give life, to be at peace." Naturally, all the quips and satiric thrusts Wilde directed at Americans have been ruth¬lessly removed, e.g. "I come from a modern country, where we have everything that money can buy... I reckon if there were such a thing as a ghost in Europe, we'd have it at home in a very short time in one of our public museums, or on the road as a show." (This Wilde idea was actually used in The Ghost Goes West). MGM have fashioned Wilde's wit into a rather ponderous and hokey script. Nonethe¬less, it does offer some marvelously comic and wonderfully bizarre opportunities for Laughton who takes full advantage of every opening. Miss O'Brien proves a gifted assistant, but - with the exceptions of Reginald Owen and Una O'Connor - the rest of the players are somewhat hamstrung by forced and dated dialogue. No matter, as Charles Higham points out in his incisive study, "Charles Laughton: An Intimate Biography" (Doubleday, New York, 1976) Laughton is always most engaging. Whether "flying across rooms rattling his chains, screaming or groaning to frighten the G.I.'s, or, in a lyrical sequence, quietly speaking about his need for peace ... he makes the ghostly Canterville a touching and pleasantly grotesque figure of fun." Charles Higham also tells us that the film was started by director Norman Z. McLeod who relinquished his post in despair after seven days of shooting when he failed to win Laughton's confidence. Laughton helped the young Dassin with valuable suggestions in private, though taking pains never to argue with the director in front of the cast and crew.All told, Dassin's direction comes across as proficiently competent, though there is little to distinguish his input from that of the other minor MGM directors of this period - like Roy Rowland, say - except a couple of unusually long takes between Laughton and O'Brien, and a few shots stylishly framed by mullioned windows. Robert Planck's black-and-white photography tends to be grainy (to facilitate the special effects?), though some of the night interiors are very attractively lit (the television print is tinted green, or at least it was back in 1987. The current print aired by TCM has reverted to grainy black-and-white). Other credits are up to the mark.

Other reviewers have noted the updating of this Oscar Wilde story to the 20th century and during World War II. The inclusion of a platoon of U.S. Army Rangers worked quite well. It enabled an array of cast members to join in the fun of this comedy, fantasy. This is an MGM film that lacks some of the technical quality that the studio was capable of in the 1940s. The story is a humorous one, and the screenplay is quite good. Two things earn this film the high rating I give it. First is the acting. All of the support cast are very good; but the three leads all shine in their roles. This was one of child star Margaret O'Brien's first films – she was just seven years old when it was release. O'Brien is wonderful as the polite, genteel, lady-like British little girl, Lady Jessica de Canterville. Robert Young as Cuffy Williams was actually older than the soldier he played, at 37. By now he was an accomplished actor with six dozen films behind him, including some excellent roles. And, Charles Laughton is excellent as the Canterville ghost, Sir Simon. Laughton truly brought a marvelous talent to acting. He excelled in the dramatic, comedy, and mystery. Here is has a double role and he's perfect in both roles. One other exceptional attribute of this film is the special effects. The camera work, filming and editing of the scenes with the ghost appearing, fading in and out, and flying across the room were excellent. I am surprised that the movie didn't get an academy award nomination for its special effects. This is an enjoyable movie for the whole family. One that I think the entire cast had fun making.

Peter Lawford's part in the beginning of the movie was unusual in that he first seems to be an effeminate young fellow picking flowers rather than joining in with the manly deer hunt and then we find he has a lady in there with him, and not his lady. Conveniently, he says his sword arm is sliced to the bone, although it doesn't look all that bad, and he passes the duel on to his unfortunate kinsman who is later walled up by his father. When we learn that the entire family line was made up of cowards it puts a different complexion on everyone's actions and makes for an adult sort of kids' movie. (It seems that cowardice was either common in that region or the other party in the duel was some sort of relative, too.) What we and O'Brien and Young's characters learn in this movie is that courage is mind over matter not genetics and that anyone old or young can be terrified but not everyone folds like a cheap card table, whether confronted by a ghost or the enemy. Young teaches it to O'Brien and she later has to remind him of it. That is good to keep in mind in any era but especially in wartime when frightening rumors could send people into hysterics rendering them not only useless but dangerous. If the poor ghost had, when alive, stood up to his relatives he could have avoided the dire events. Instead, he ended up cowering in a corner in shame and allowing himself to be bricked in. This story and the Wizard of Oz have a common theme--the way you perceive yourself alters your actions.

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