Blackbeard's Ghost

Blackbeard's Ghost is a 1968 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, and Suzanne Pleshette. It was produced by Walt Disney Productions and Bill Walsh. It is based upon the 1965 novel of the same name by Ben Stahl and was shot at the Walt Disney Studios. Plot Steve Walker (Dean Jones) arrives in the fictional East Coast town of Godolphin, to take the position of track coach at Godolphin College. The night of his arrival coincides with a charity bazaar at the hotel where he will be boarding—Blackbeard's Inn, named after the notorious English pirate Captain Edward Teach and now run by the Daughters of the Buccaneers, elderly descendants of the pirate's crew. The inn had been built from timbers of ships that had run aground in the bay. The owners are attempting to pay off their mortgage to keep the inn from being bought by the local crime boss, Silky Seymour (Joby Baker), who wants to build a casino on the land. Steve quickly discovers his track team's shortcomings and runs afoul of the dean of Godolphin College, its football coach, and Seymour. He also makes the acquaintance of attractive Godolphin professor Jo Anne Baker (Suzanne Pleshette), who is anxious to help the elderly ladies save Blackbeard's Inn. After a bidding war with the football coach at the charity auction, Steve wins an antique bed warmer once owned by Blackbeard's 10th wife, Aldetha Teach, who had a reputation of being a witch. Inside the hollow wooden handle of this bed warmer is hidden a book of magic spells that had once been the property of Aldetha. Steve recites, on a lark, a spell "to bring to your eyes and ears one who is bound in Limbo", unintentionally conjuring up the ghost of Blackbeard (Peter Ustinov), who appears as a socially-inappropriate drunkard, cursed by his wife to an existence in limbo unless he can perform a good deed. Steve and Blackbeard are bound to one another by the power of the spell, and only the very reluctant Steve can see or hear the ghost. As a result, Steve must deal with the antics of the wayward pirate while attempting to revive Godolphin's track team and form a relationship with Jo Anne. Steve is falsely arrested for drunk driving when Blackbeard attempts to drive Steve's automobile, steering it like a pirate ship. Because the arresting officer can't see Blackbeard, and because Blackbeard crashed the cop's motorcycle into a tree, Steve spends a night in jail.