Don Knotts 4 Movie Reluctant Hero Pack (The Ghost And Mr. Chicken / The Reluctant Astronaut / The Shakiest Gun In The West / The Love God?)

From the Editors

He's one of the most popular and admired funnymen of all time, a master of comic timing and physical humor. Now four of the classic films starring the delightful Don Knotts are available on DVD for the first time in this fun-filled collector's set. <P> After catapulting to national fame as the often impossible but ever lovable Deputy Barney Fife on TV's The Andy Griffith Show, Knotts set out to conquer the silver screen in a series of unforgettable feature films. Now four of these hilarious farces are brought together in this amazing collection that keeps the laughs coming.
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Customer Response

Greatness
This has all the good ones!. I watched them with my son and remembered being his age doing the same. Great time!

2 out of 4 are good--still a great deal!
My dad and I love The Ghost and Mr. Chicken! It is the reason we bought this dvd. However, the Shakiest Gun in the West is also very funny. The Reluctant Astronaut is mildly funny. but not nearly as good as the first two mentioned. We chose not to watch The Love God, but this dvd is still a great deal!

good.
looks good. bought it for my dad for christmas... packaging is smaller than i thought it would be. i guess its just one case for all 4 dvds... but that's good, saves space on the dvd rack.

Funny stuff!
My kids just love Don Knotts and they enjoy watching his movies over and over. These are great for long trips.

Tied up in Knotts . . .
For a low price, you get four classic Don Knotts films on one double sided DVD. This compilation was issued shortly after his death, and it is an excellent introduction to his feature film work. Included are The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Reluctant Astronaut, The Shakiest Gun In The West and The Love God, in chronological order the four films that followed The Incredible Mr. Limpet. Composer Vic Mizzy provided wonderfully appropriate music for many of Knott's films, including the four in this collection.

Knotts became a fixture in many homes while playing Deputy Barney Fife on the Andy Griffith Show. According to Griffith, he had told Knotts that his TV program would only run for five years, so Knotts made plans to launch a film career after completing year five on Griffith. While many may have wished that he continued being Barney Fife forever, it was on the big screen that Knotts was able to showcase his creative comic genius to the fullest extent. In these films, Knotts does pretty well fit the `reluctant hero' characterization.

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken is an all time classic Knotts' film. Knotts is Luther Heggs, a newspaper typesetter who dreams of being a reporter. Spending the night in a haunted mansion where a murder occurred years before, Luther bumbles, babbles, and stutters along, uncovering the solution to a long hidden murder mystery. A hilarious romp with a slew of memorable lines, such as `Atta boy Luther', `Let me clarify that', and `It played'. Joan Staley is sweet and engaging, as Knott's love interest in this true comedy gem.

Back in the 60's, the space race with the Soviet Union was raging hot and heavy. In The Reluctant Astronaut, Knotts is Roy Fleming, the operator of an amusement park space ride, who despite an aversion to flying, still dreams of being an astronaut. When he receives a letter from NASA, everyone believes that Roy has been accepted into the astronaut training program. NASA makes him a janitor, but somehow Roy still manages to get into space. Leslie Nielsen plays the classic straight man, as an astronaut in training who befriends Roy. Very dated special effects and a little too goofy at times, but still a very warm and enjoyable outing.

In The Shakiest Gun in the West, Knotts is a Jesse Heywood, a Philadelphia dentist on his way out West. `Bad Penny' Cushings (Barbara Rhodes), is an outlaw who agrees to help the US Government track down arms shipments to the Indians, in return for a pardon. Cushings marries Heywood just so she can join a westward bound wagon train. With Penny's gun doing the actual damage, Heywood emerges as a gun slinging hero after an encounter with the Indians. The writing could be better, and a spark seems to be lacking between Knotts and Rhodes, a tall athletic redhead. Matters probably cross the line of today's political correctness, which may bother some.

Don Knotts boldly takes on the sex comedy in The Love God? Abner Peacock (Knotts) is the publisher of magazine devoted to bird watching, that unfortunately is about to go belly up. Osborn Tremain (Edmund O'Brien) an unscrupulous publisher of porn, takes over `The Peacock' magazine and converts it to a radically different kind of `bird watching'. Soon Abner is swept up in legal proceedings, and drawn into the intoxicating world of smut, becoming the new symbol for the American playboy, working along side beautiful publisher Lisa LaMonica (Anne Francis).

Don Knotts was a unique comic genius, whose talent truly bloomed in feature films. There's not much need to `clarify' that. This is a great collection, a great value, and a great way to become acquainted with his quirky style.

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