Film versions of “The Canterville Ghost” provide family entertainment

Along with Hamlet’s father and Casper, The Canterville Ghost is one of the most popular phantoms of moving image culture. Based on a short story by Oscar Wilde which first was published in 1887, the tale begins with an American family who move into a haunted castle outside London. Whereas most would expect the family to be freaked out by the apparition, this family intimidates the ghost. The story is a comedy which often goofs on the interplay between old school British aristocracy and Americans who at times appear sympathetic and fearless, and at times seem too ignorant to be scared! The ghost often is interpreted as cowardly, someone who killed his wife 400 years previously. This part of the story results in creative additions to Wilde’s original story. 

There have been theater, film, and television adaptations. All that I have seen take a wholesome approach to the story. It’s great family entertainment for the Halloween season. 

The following commentaries on various film and TV adaptations related to versions of The Canterville Ghost available for home viewing. All are titled The Canterville Ghost. 

Last year, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and Miranda Hart lent their talents to an animated feature. While the overall effect is blander than I would have expected from such a brilliant trio, this most recent version pleases. 

My favorite adaptation is a four-hour BBC Studios miniseries from 2021-22. James Lance of Ted Lasso and Caroline Catz of Doc Martin play the American couple who, along with their children, make themselves comfortable in the castle haunted by a fearsome ghost played by Anthony Head who delivers an exceptionally deep performance. Of all the versions, this one is most entertaining. The script and casting hit all the right buttons. 

Also entertaining is the 1996 award-winning British TV movie with Neve Campbell especially charming as the young American daughter who discovers love with the young Duke who lives next door. Her scenes with the ghost, played by none other than Patrick Stewart, are deeply felt, lovely. Stewart possibly is my favorite ghost, with Anthony Head a close second. In Stewart’s version, his character was an intimate of William Shakespeare, and he recites his friend’s poetry in a warm Patrick Stewart voice. 

There are more versions of the Oscar Wilde story than I had imagined, including Soviet and Hungarian versions, a French-Belgian version, and a Bollywood version. 

The classic Hollywood version of The Canterville Ghost was made in 1944 at MGM . This adaptation turns the story into a World War II account of an American soldier, an ancestor of the cowardly Canterville ghost played by Robert Young, who may have inherited his spinelessness. Seven-year-old Margaret O’Brien is featured, and her emoting may be too over-the-top for some modern audiences. Charles Laughton plays the ghost with a Shakespearean flare. Jules Dassin directed. 

The Canterville Ghost plot is easy to adapt which may be one reason it has been remade so many times. Screenwriters have played with the American characters to reflect the times and cultures contemporary to the productions. They have fiddled with the back story of the ghost, too. Each version has its surprises. 

There are more versions of The Canterville Ghost than I have fingers and toes. All the versions I have seen make for suitable family entertainment for Halloween screenings.

Audrey Kupferberg is a film and video archivist and retired appraiser. She is lecturer emeritus and the former director of Film Studies at the University at Albany and co-authored several entertainment biographies with her late husband and creative partner, Rob Edelman.

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