1966 - GHOST AND MR CHICKEN asks the question. How stupid are small town people?

Universal made a series of Don Knott's movies for the Midwest "silent majority" crowd. They used the creative team from The Andy Griffith Show to ask the question. How big a bunch of boobs live in a small Midwestern town? The answer is apparently a big bunch of boobs live in a small Midwestern town. Don Knotts could play only one part, his Barney Fife deputy sheriff character. It was somewhat pushing it that people would want to sit through over 90 minutes of his silly sthick in a low budget feature.

At first the movie lumbers along for about 40 minutes with Knotts doing his nervous Nelly routine. Along the way are lots of nameless but familiar television supporting actors wandering around. Look, the guy who played Otis the drunk on the Griffith show is playing a drunk in this movie. Look, Dick Sargent, his claim to fame was being cast as the second Darrin on Bewitched, he's Don's boss.

But my personal favorite is an actor named Skip Homeier. Homeier usually played bad guys. He was in two of the lamest original Star Trek episodes, the one with the Nazis and that outer space hippies vs Captain Kirk masterpiece , The Way to Eden. Of course he plays the guy being mean to Don.

At the forty minute mark this movie really gets going. Knotts is a would be reporter who is tricked into spending the night in a haunted house. After a series of creepy encounters, including some now famous ghostly organ music by TV composer Vic Mizzy the movie kicks into high gear.

A small town chamber of commerce picnic has Knotts giving a funny speech on the meaning of bravery. This is followed by a libel trial featuring a parade of character witnesses which include his second grade teacher and an accountant the president of the local UFO group who informs the court that they held their last meeting on Mars. Can't forget to mention the ladies of the "Psychic Occult Society of Rachel," who vibrate themselves into unconsciousness every time they touch Knotts. Something pretty strange is going on in this movie. One amusing little joke is the casting of a woman called Joan Staley. She plays Don's very wholesome love interest. In a previous career she was a Playboy Playmate of the Month. That should have made Don even more nervous.