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Blackbeard's Ghost
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blackbeard's Ghost is a live-action 1968 Disney film starring Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette. It is based upon the novel of the same name written by Ben Stahl.
The film depicts struggling track coach Steve Walker, who has recently been hired on in an attempt to salvage the nightmarishly horrible track team of Godolphin College. With the big track meet only a few weeks away, Walker shows little hope of developing the seemingly hopeless team.
After a chance encounter with a scrap of paper containing the spells of Captain Blackbeard's tenth wife Aldetha (a well-known witch), Walker conjures up the ghost of Blackbeard himself (Ustinov), a socially-inappropriate drunkard whose contempt for humanity has damned him to an existence in limbo, unless he can perform some good deed that may break the curse.
The two are bound to one another by the power of the spell, and Steve must deal with the antics of the wayward pirate while attempting a relationship with an attractive Godolphin professor (Pleshette), and thwart the greedy exploits of local crime boss, Silky Seymour. This of course proves very difficult, as only Steve Walker is able to see or hear Blackbeard's ghost.
The most enjoyable aspect of the film is a rare glimpse at the diversity Peter Ustinov is capable of. Usually cited for his brilliant work in various Shakespeare interpretations, Ustinov displays his comedic prowess, both in the slapstick and intellectual comedy realms.