The Magic Land of Mother Goose (1967)

Director:

Herschell Gordon Lewis

Writers:

Eve Weiher
Roy Flubrer (story)

Release Date:

23 December 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Fantasy

Plot:

Shot entirely on a high school stage, a group of storybook characters emerge from the book of Mother...

Plot Keywords:

Storybook | Fairy Tale | Magic Trick | Surrealism | Low Budget Film

Cast

Roy Huston	...	Merlin the Magician
David Hammond	...	Old King Cole
Judith Snow	...	Mother Goose / Wicked Witch
Denny Ray	...	Prince Charming
Valerie Lynne	...	Rag Doll
Linda Appleby	...	Sleeping Beauty
David Williamson	...	Court Page
Linda Lee	...	Mary Mary / Little Bo Peep
Ebenezer Lifting	...	Jack In The Box

Directed by
Herschell Gordon Lewis

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Roy Flubrer		story
Eve Weiher

Produced by
J. Edwin Baker	....	executive producer
Irving D. Reinhart	....	associate producer

Original Music by
John Aman
Terry Smith

Cinematography by
Herschell Gordon Lewis

Film Editing by
Robert Flaxman

Makeup Department
Allison Louise Downe	....	makeup artist (as Louise Downe)
Leonard Paccitti Jr.	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Robert Flaxman	....	production supervisor
Don Logay	....	unit manager

Sound Department
Harry Stone	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Roy Collodi	....	camera operator
William R. Johnson	....	camera operator (as William Johnson)
Robert Vey	....	lighting technician

Other crew
Steven J. Conners	....	production coordinator
G. William Shallop	....	title designer (as William Shallop)

Production Companies

• Herschell Gordon Lewis Productions

Distributors

• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

59 min | USA:33 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Company:

Herschell Gordon Lewis Productions

Trivia:

Mention of Casper the Ghost was electronically altered to avoid lawsuits from the copyright holder.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore (2010) (V)

For fans of hardcore strangeness

In 1967, gore/horror schlockmesister Hershall Gordon Lewis filmed a kid's stage show and tried to pass it off as a kiddie movie. One wonders if he made a buck off this thing, but you can't help thinking, looking at these hapless actors, that they could have been off protesting the war or listening to Blonde On Blonde.

Anyway, the stage show is totally absurd and uncinematic. The Actor playing King Cole does a manfull job of trying to hold the whole thing together, basicly ad-libbing much of his part as Merlin the Magician performs tricks using Mother Goose Characters with little motivation. The most striking thing here is the film's similarity to Lewis's nutball "The Wizard Of Gore". Call this "Wizard Of Gore Lite."

It's a terrible but one of a kind movie. At some point Christmas tie in inserts were included and the name was changed to "Santa Visits The Magic Land Of Mother Goose." This is what the Something Weird Video Version calls the film on the box, but it's version does not have the inserts. They make up for it by having a great selection of horrible kiddie movie trailers