The Magic Christian (1969)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Joseph McGrath

Writers:

Terry Southern (novel)
Terry Southern (writer) ...

Release Date:

12 December 1969 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The Magic Christian is: antiestablishmentarian, antibellum, antitrust, antiseptic, antibiotic, antisocial & antipasto.

Plot:

Sir Guy Grand, the richest man in the world, adopts a homeless boy, Youngman. Together, they set out to prove that anyone--and anything--can be bought with money.

Plot Keywords:

Art Gallery | Satire | Drag | Beautiful Woman | Flamethrower

Cast

Peter Sellers	...	Sir Guy Grand KG, KC, CBE
Ringo Starr	...	Youngman Grand, Esq.
Isabel Jeans	...	Dame Agnes Grand
Caroline Blakiston	...	Hon. Esther Grand
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Capt. Reginald K. Klaus
Richard Attenborough	...	Oxford coach
Leonard Frey	...	Laurence Faggot
Laurence Harvey	...	Hamlet
Christopher Lee	...	Ship's vampire
Spike Milligan	...	Traffic warden #27
Roman Polanski	...	Solitary drinker
Raquel Welch	...	Priestess of the Whip
Tom Boyle	...	My Man Jeff
Victor Maddern	...	Hot dog vendor
Terence Alexander	...	Mad Major

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:A (original rating) | Iceland:L | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Barnes, London, England, UK

Company:

Commonwealth United Entertainment

Trivia:

Two of the writers were John Cleese and Graham Chapman of Python fame. the Python sketch "the mouse problem" was written for this movie, but was rejected by Peter Sellers.

Quotes:

Sir Guy Grand KG, KC, CBE: [Lawrence Harvey performs a strip tease while playing Hamlet] This chap's taking licence in my view?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991)

Soundtrack:

Mad About the Boy

Appealing even if chaotic

Terry Southern's novel, "The Magic Christian" is very different from the film. However the film, which was written by Southern, among other, still maintains the spirit of the novel.

The film is simply a series of vigniettes centering around Sir Guy Grand (Peter Sellers), and his adopted son, Youngman (Ringo Starr), who goes about "making things hot for people," by using his vast wealth to perpetrate elaborate practical jokes largely aimed at seeing how many of their principles people will give up for money.

The movie is very silly, fragmented, and horribly dated. > Now that you have heard the case against, I have to say that this is one of my favorite movies of all time. The movie destroys or humiliates all social icons, from the police, to "the old school," to the snobbish upper class, to the art world. Its great to see, and once you make up your mind that the movie is just a series of sketches, its funny, and immensely satisfying, albeit somewhat vicious.

Look for cameos by Yul Brynner (in drag), Spike Milligan (Sellers' partner in "The Goon Show"), John Lennon and Yoko Ono, among many others.

Other notes: The novel, "The Magic Christian" was banned for a time, because it was viewed as obscene. Peter Sellers loved this book, and after he read it, he sent copies of it to all of his friends. It might say something about his tragic and depressed personality, that he found this book, with its many vicious stabs against society, so appealing.