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When Don Knotts ran into trouble making The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, he called his old friend Andy Griffith for help
Griffith and Knotts were the best of friends and coworkers.
Just because two people part ways doesn't mean they'll never come together again. The world is rarely so cruel, and more often than not, there are still good times to be had.
When Don Knotts left The Andy Griffith Show, he did so on the best terms. Knotts had Griffith's blessing to depart the show to begin a film career, and he enjoyed a hefty amount of success on the big screen. Still, the two pals never forgot each other, or the impact that they left on each other's lives.
In Knotts' memoir, Barney Fife, and Other Characters I Have Known, Knotts revealed that during the planning process for his first film, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, he enlisted Griffith's help in developing the project. Knotts respected Griffith's storytelling abilities and thought he'd be useful in the beginning stages of creating the film, especially considering that Knotts and producer Ed Montagne quickly became stumped on plot details during their first meeting.
"After the meeting, I got a bright idea," Knotts wrote. "Remembering what a good story constructionist Andy Griffith is, I called Andy and asked if he would consider helping us put this story together."
Griffith jumped at the opportunity to help an old friend. Soon, much like the days of Andy Griffith past, Griffith and Knotts were writing together once more.
"The five of us sat down in that little basement office every day for the next two weeks and hammered out the story outline for a motion picture that would eventually be called The Ghost and Mr. Chicken," wrote Knotts. "I was so proud of us. It was a damn good story."
So it's true that the best things are never accomplished alone.
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his name on an earlier viewing, but we will see.
Not Citizen Kane but it's one of my favorite movies.
I saw it at the Rialto Theater in Westfield, NJ, when I was a kid, and after it was over
we scrunched down low in the back aisle, so we could wait till the next showing
in 30 minutes to watch it again.
Universal liked the design of the mansion so much 3 were made, one was dismantled
for re-assembly but got lost or burnt. It's been so long that I read about this that
I am a little foggy on the details, but I understand just one is left, the one you
can still see on the Universal Tour. But even experts mix up which house was used
in what production. I read about this in a movie mag decades ago.
