The Canterville Ghost Reviews

This might instead have been called "The Cowardly Ghost," since the title spirit, played by Charles Laughton, is afraid of his own footfalls. Set in England during WW II, the story concerns an ancient English castle where a group of American soldiers are billeted. The lady of the manor is young Jessica de Canterville (Margaret O'Brien), who introduces the Americans to the ghost, a dead relative who has haunted the premises for more than 300 years since the day he was walled up in the dungeon by his father because of his cowardice. One of the soldiers, Cuffy Williams (Robert Young), is a distant relative of the Cantervilles, and he becomes concerned that he might also be a coward. The action centers on the efforts of Cuffy and the ghost to prove their mettle. Laughton is very funny as the frightened, rather than frightening, spirit in a film that was enormously popular when released in the 1940s and continues to provide wonderful entertainment today.