The ’80s Comedy Classic With A Creepy Ghost Haunting You See When You Watch The Movie
The urban legends surrounding film and television are vast and often involve the tale of someone’s tragedy. Whether it’s the lore of an actor killing himself on the set of The Wizard of Oz or a movie curse that killed the stars of Poltergeist, the myths continue even years after they have been debunked. One such film with a ghostly tale surrounding it is the 1987 Tom Selleck feature Three Men and a Baby, which some fans say captured a real ghost in one of the movie’s scenes.
The Film
Three Men and a Baby is the story of three New York City bachelors who have a baby dropped off at their doorstep by a woman who says that one of the trio is the child’s father.
The movie follows Jack (Ted Danson), Peter (Tom Selleck), and Michael (Steve Guttenberg) as they struggle to adapt to raising a child together as well as foiling a group of bloodthirsty drug dealers.
It’s a storyline that goes all over the place for sure, but one that audiences loved and lead to it raking in more than $240 million over its $15 million budget.
The So-Called Ghost
The Three Men and a Baby scene that gives chills includes Jack (who is said to be the baby’s biological father) and Jack’s mother (played by Celeste Holm).
As the two are having a conversation in one of the rooms of the bachelors’ massive Manhattan apartment, the figure of what appears to be a small boy is seen in the background.
The “ghost” looks as though he is staring into the room at the performers through an internal window.
Looks Can Be Deceiving
The stories that surrounded the “ghost’s” identity ranged from a teen who committed suicide in the home the film was shot in, to a boy who died of a mysterious illness in the apartment and reappeared on the set, still in his burial clothes.
In defense of anyone who believes that this is proof of a ghost on Three Men and a Baby, the image DOES look real. Pausing the scene and watching it frame-by-frame will yield results that are unsettling to say the least.
But while the image caught on camera does give viewers the impression that they are staring at a being from another plane of existence, the truth behind the boy in the window is pretty funny.
A Promotional Cutout
Ted Danson’s character in Three Men and a Baby is an actor. In a scene that was edited out of the theatrical version, Jack is seen promoting a brand of dog food and the company made a lifesize cutout of Jack for store displays.
If you look closely later in the movie, the cutout made it into at least one other scene, showing Ted Danson in a white shirt, dark suit jacket, and a tophat.
It Wasn’t Shot In A Home
Looking at the blurred image of the “ghost” side-by-side with the cutout of Ted Danson, you’ll see that they are really one and the same.
To further squash the wild tales of the “ghost” is the fact that Three Men and a Baby was shot on a sound stage in Canada (confirmed by Tom Selleck in an interview) and not in anyone’s house or apartment. As with any good urban legend, the ghost lives on even after solid proof is presented to the contrary.
