Three Men and a Ghost

Very rarely have I been "scared" at a movie. I'm good at suspending disbelief and I have an active sense of empathy yet I'm always aware that I'm watching a movie ever since the trauma of watching Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when I was so young that I was still afraid of the dark, I've always been aware of the bromide 'It's only a movie."

Still, I'm not immune to "jump ups". My first "jump up" occurred while watching the original House on Haunted Hill when the ancient housekeeper suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Out of nowhere appearances accompanied by a jolting sound are the coin of the realm when it comes to cheap "jump ups".

I came close to being scared at a movie only once. That movie was Curse of the Demon which was an authentically dark and frightening film full of menace and forboding and earned an authentic "jump up" at it's demonic conclusion.

The only other film that scared me was Three Men and a Baby, a comedy.

Perhaps some of you have had the experience that I'm about to describe or have heard about it. If you haven't had it yet well maybe after reading this, you will.

I had heard the rumor that during the filming of Three Men and a Baby, the camera had accidentally captured an image of a ghost. The story was that unbeknownst to the film makers, a boy had jumped fto his death from the apartment location that they were using to film the interior of movie. About two thirds through the flick, an elderly woman comes to see the baby that three men, through a comedy of errors, had been trying to care for. The woman lovingly picks up the child and asks the baby's name. She looks at the child and says "Her name is Mary". At that point the camera backs away from close up and shows the woman in the apartment holding the child and BAM there it is......the ghost of a boy shows up by the curtains of the window from which he had jumped to his death. The ghostboy only appears for a moment but his expression is one of abandoned sadness.

I had heard the rumor before seeing the movie and of course I thought it was bullshit. Then the moment came. My attention was heightened as it approached. The woman said "Her name is Mary" and then holy shit....I saw my first and only ghost and then it was gone.

Now THIS was scary and I remained scared throughout the rest of the movie and for the next couple of days.

I told people of my experience and most thought that I was full of shit and they sure as hell didn't plan on wasting any money on a lame Steve Guttenberg film.

So I kept my mouth shut like a guy pretending that he had not seen the flying saucer that he had seen for fear of being called crazy.

I never really forgot the sensation for the next couple of years. I waited until the video tape came out. I told the story to a couple of my friends before playing the tape for them. They were prepared and when the moment came, they too "jumped up". In turn, they rented the movie and played it for their friends who also jumped up at the sight of the lonely little ghost.

Before long, the story of the ghost was all over the place.

The studio came up with some excuse for the ghost boy, claiming it was an illusion or a abandoned prop or something but to those of us who wanted to believe, we continued to believe, see the ghost and spread the word.

Most of us also thought that Paul was dead.

I haven't thought of the movie until today when prompted to write something about the word "Three".

I remembered the biggest jump up of my life and the lonely little ghost boy or the illusion that was accidentally created. If you haven't gone there yet. I urge you to go there and be prepared to jump.