“Women at Annapolis? West Point?!?!?”
In the age before the Disney Channel, the primary way for children and adults to watch Disney productions was via a weekly (for its run prior to the 1990’s) series that featured cartoons and feature length films, both of which were classic and original productions. In 1980, that series was called Disney’s Wonderful World. One of the original productions released as a two-part movie during that time was The Ghosts of Buxley Hall.
More of a comedy than anything else, the film tells the story of Buxley Hall, a once celebrated military academy that has fallen on hard times. Desperate to save the school, Colonel Joe Buxley (Monte Markham) agrees to combine the school with an all girls school in order to save the academy from financial ruin. Agitated by what is happening, the ghosts of the school’s founder, General Eulace C. Buxley (Dick O’Neill), his loving wife, Bettina (Louise Latham), and his best sergeant, Chester B. Sweet, are roused into action in order to save the school.
Young Jeremy Ross (Rad Daly), is a wealthy young man who is stuck in the middle of a custody battle between his loving Uncle George (John Ericson), and his greedy Aunt Ernestine (Ruta Lee) and her husband, Count Sergio Luchesi Di Gonzini (Vito Scotti). He’s also the newest student at the academy and Colonel Buxley’s best chance to not only save the school, but get rid of all of those pesky girls as well.
One of those young girls is a troublemaker with a heart of gold named Posie (Tricia Cast). A rebellious young teen, she keeps the former girl school’s director, Mrs. Emily Wakefield (Renne Jarrett) and the colonel on their toes. She and Jeremy team up with the ghost of Sgt. Sweet to battle the evil aunt and her husband in order to save the school while the ghost of the general tries to come to terms with girls at his academy and his wife champions their cause. Will Aunt Ernestine’s sinister plans be uncovered? Will the kids and Sgt. Sweet save the school? Find out in The Ghosts of Buxley Hall!
The film is a standard light Disney film. The comedy is sugary sweet and silly at times but it’s enjoyable enough. The strength of the film lies with its cast primarily composed with solid character actors like Markham, O’Neill, and Lee. Lee is completely over the top as Aunt Ernestine and along with Scotti, makes for a perfect villain in the film.
The film’s best performance is delivered by the always reliable Victor French. His portrayal of the well-meaning and kind Sgt. Sweet gives this film the heart that it needs to be enjoyable. His constant terrorizing of the school maintenance man, Ben (Guy Raymond, a brilliant character actor in his own right), is hilarious but never mean-spirited. French is probably best known for his supporting and co-starring roles in shows such as Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven.
Tricia Cast, best known from her time on The Young And The Restless as Nina Webster, establishes herself as the primary adversary to the school’s uptight Cadet Captain Hubert (Christian Juttner) and as a troublemaker in general. She performs with plenty of spunk and attitude that was a token characteristic of many of the youngsters featured in Disney’s made-for-TV films that continue to this day.
I really enjoyed this feature that’s currently available on Disney+. It’s also available on DVD via the Disney Movie Club. It’s more of a comedy than anything, but the ghosts do have a lot of fun causing trouble for the villains. Give it a shot and you might enjoy it as much as I did.
As always, thanks for checking out my post. Another entry into my Thirty-One Days O’Horror is coming tomorrow!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 