The Magic Christian (1969) User Reviews (102)

Still entertaining after all these years

[mfisher452 · 6/10 · 23 October 2001]

After more than 40 years, The Magic Christian still entertains. Its style is very much of the Sixties, but its profoundly cynical message---that anything can be bought, that everyone has his price---is, if anything, more relevant now than in 1969 when the film was released. The star, of course, is Peter Sellers as the obscenely wealthy Sir Guy Grand, who manages to seem almost childlike as he spreads his bounty of cynicism throughout London.

This is not a great film, or even necessarily a good one, but even second- or third-rate Peter Sellers may be preferable to a lot of first-rate work by others. The childless Sir Guy decides one morning to acquire an heir, so he goes to the park and picks up a homeless man played by Ringo Starr, and adopts him as his son, Youngman Grand. (Ringo actually doesn't have much to do in this film except react to Sellers.) Sir Guy then enlists Youngman in escapades that, in his hands, skewer the stuffed shirts of upper-class London society and turn the most solemn occasions into a carnival of absurdist nihilism. The most extreme comes at the end of the film, where he scatters money into a huge vat of blood, urine and excrement, and then watches as bowler-hatted City of London types wade into it for the money. This scene doesn't quite work. There is an extended sequence aboard a bogus cruise ship called The Magic Christian that tends to try one's patience because it degenerates into a very Sixties psychedelic montage. One moment from this sequence, however, is worth the whole thing: Raquel Welch as the Priestess of the Whip. Dressed as a dominatrix, she never looked more luscious or voluptuous. Film aficionados will appreciate the many old-line British actors who contributed supporting or cameo roles (Spike Milligan, Lawrence Harvey, Richard Attenborough, John Le Mesurier, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Christopher Lee, and others less well known outside the UK) as well as glimpses of younger now-famous faces, especially John Cleese in a hysterically funny scene at Sotheby's. Cleese plays the terminally smarmy, unctuous, patronizing curator Mr. Dougdale, whose supercilious mien is punctured beyond repair by Sir Guy in a scene involving the defacing of a priceless painting. There is a Monty Python skit that looks like it was directly inspired by this scene. This film was shot at about the time of the first season of Monty Python's Flying Circus, and what with the appearance in the film of at least two Pythons that I could identify, there are definitely echoes of Python in it. The other Python was (an uncredited) Graham Chapman as the leader of the Oxford team during the famous Oxford-Cambridge boat race. Watch also for an uncredited Yul Brynner playing a female impersonator who does a sexy torch song. Alert listeners---especially lovers of the classic 1950s BBC radio comedy program the Goon Show---will also notice that Sellers does almost all of the off-screen voices and several voices of characters seen only in long shot, reminiscent of the films of Orson Welles; so if you suddenly think you hear Henry Crun or Major Bloodnok off-screen, it's not your imagination.

All in all, a solid five or six stars out of ten.

Wonderful 60's satire

[James_Byrne · 7/10 · 7 October 2005]

This comedy passed me by when it was released in 1969. I had seen CASINO ROYALE and WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT? and automatically in my subconscious somehow roped this movie in with those two turkeys. I had always avoided it on purpose whenever the movie turned up on TV. The only reason I gave it a go this time was the fact that comedian Paul Merton gave it such a wonderful review on his recent "Paul Merton's Perfect Night In" show on BBC2. I am pleased I finally gave it a go, I actually laughed out loud on a number of occasions and didn't want it to end. I absolutely recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys the 1960's sub-culture. Peter Sellers plays an eccentric millionaire who adopts Ringo Starr, whom he fell in love with, but only in a 'paternal way'. Together they embark on a series of bizarre and degrading tests around London to illustrate the depths to which mankind will sink in pursuit of money: any man has his price and will do literally anything if the price is right. The movie makes less than subtle attacks on the establishment, including the annual Oxford-Cambridge boat race, that very British symbol of earnest endeavour and sportsmanship which is turned into a sea battle when referee Richard Attenborough accepts a bribe. The richest prize in sport, the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship, incites a riot when both protagonists actually kiss instead of punching the hell out of each other. The World Champ is played by that great character Nosher Powell, a former heavyweight boxer of the 50's. His challenger is none other than former European Champion Dick Richardson, a real tough guy who fought Ezzard Charles and Ingemar Johansson. This must have been an 'in-joke' by the film's director, having these two real-life hard cases acting as 'puffs'. "The Magic Christian" was a great surprise to me and I strongly recommend it.

It's Grand to be Grand!

[wryroy · 7/10 · 30 January 1999]

Peter Sellers stars as Sir Guy Grand, a fabulously wealthy eccentric who gets to do anything and everything he wants to by liberally greasing the palms of those less fortunate (and wealthy) than himself. Lacking an heir, he adopts a homeless derelict (Ringo Starr) who becomes Youngman Grand and joins him in a series of wild and wacky misadventures. In his apparently never ending quest to prove that everyone has their price, Sir Guy and his newly adopted heir are joined by a host of other notables in cameo roles including Richard Attenborough, John Cleese, Laurence Harvey, Christopher Lee, Roman Polanski, Yul Brynner and Raquel Welch. The movie is based on a book by Terry Southern (who wrote the screenplay for another Peter Sellers classic - "Dr. Strangelove") with Monty Python alumni Graham Chapman and John Cleese lending a hand in the screenplay. This is a movie that has everything: great writers, great actors, well-known comtemporary celebrities and a rapid-fire barrage of parodies and spoofs of almost everything we hold dear, including greed, gluttony, racism and incompetency. If this movie does not make you laugh out loud (frequently) you should consider getting treatment for a severe case of humor deficiency.

Appealing even if chaotic

[JasonS-5 · 6 October 1999]

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.

Funny, But Unsettling

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 17 January 2008]

One day the fabulously wealthy Sir Guy Grand who is Peter Sellers with a much larger nose finds a young orphan kid in a park. On the spur of the moment he adopts young Ringo Starr, probably because Ringo has a well known honker in real life and Sellers sees something of himself in Ringo.

The idea is that Sellers has to have someone not just to leave his money to, but someone to impart his accumulated wisdom of the years which is boiled up into one single thought; that EVERYBODY has his price.

The rest of the film is a Monty Pythonesque group of skits in which Sellers tries to prove just that to Starr. They range from Laurence Harvey doing a striptease while doing Hamlet's soliloquy to a beat cop eating a parking ticket for 500 pounds. The title The Magic Christian refers to a Titanic like cruise ship that only caters to the upper crust. Sellers and Starr integrate that ship's maiden voyage in a most interesting fashion.

That the film is like Monty Python is no accident with Graham Chapman and John Cleese doing the writing. Ringo's former Beatle companero, Paul McCartney wrote The Magic Christian theme, Come and Get It which sums up the philosophy of the film.

After almost 40 years, The Magic Christian is acidly funny, but a still unsettling.

NOT Brilliant!!!

[Lucy-Lastic · 1/10 · 12 April 2020]

Given toaster917's "Brilliant!!!" and 10/10, for an instant I had to check that we had been watching the same film as I found this absolutely dire and toe-curlingly embarrassing.

Unfunny, and I see that Sellers even wanted it abandoned after seeing the first rushes - I'm not surprised.

It's only good for celebrity spotting if that is your want, but some of them, for e.g. John Cleese should hold his head in shame for the bit he wrote and appeared in.

I'm a big fan of Sellers and had a vague recollection of seeing it when it first came out at the cinema, but the only thing I remembered about it was traffic warden Spike Milligan being bribed to eat a parking ticket he'd issued against Peter.

Sellers's so great

[kfkdb · 7/10 · 1 January 2008]

Peter Sellers - a Grand performance! Him playing the harp, and with the hot dog-vendor... just to mention 2 scenes. One of the nuttiest and anti - establishment films I ever saw. (I know there should be an adjective instead of "establishment" but the guidelines do not accept it.) Observe the audience in the auditorium of the "Hamlet" theater. Ringo also makes fun of himself - the nose. It amazed me that Paul McCartney provided a song for it. Also I enjoyed the commentary by John Cleese. It must have been a fizzer when first launched in Britain. Does anybody know how the film was accepted by a German audience (see the arrest-scene of the businessman in the train)? I can recommend this movie to everybody!

A Horrible Film

[richardchatten · 5/10 · 11 April 2020]

One of a succession of self-regarding flops typical of Peter Sellars' choice of projects by the end of the sixties when not performing as court jester at Clarence House and Windsor Castle.

As Spike Milligan (who plays a traffic warden paid to eat his own ticket) observed, "The whole thing could have been written ABOUT Peter instead of FOR him". We are never told the source of the fabulous wealth that enables Guy Grand to humiliate those less wealthy than himself (i.e. everybody else), but he never seems to show any inclination even towards Christian Grey's nebulous ambition to "end world hunger" rather than just have fun at the expense of others.

Yul Brynner does look astonishingly attractive in drag, however.

The pinnacle of British silliness at the movies for an entire decade.

[buckbucknumber1 · 9/10 · 15 April 2000]

The pinnacle of British silliness at the movies for an entire decade: The mythical 60's. Mike Meyers could only dream of capturing this time and place with as much fun and style. British entertainment royalty by the truck load including half the Beatles, a decent chunck of Monty Python, Christopher Lee in a cape, and the late great Peter Sellers! Who could ask for more? Well there is always Roman Polanski as an innocent being picked up in a bar by a transvestite (who's identity revelation is the my favorite bit). And of course, who can forget Raquel Welch in her prime, and in a leather mini nothing with a whip. All of this in the context of the movie's namesake--The Love Boat cruise from hell. You will never again think of farm manure without recalling this movie's finale! Check it out.

buckbucknumber1

Disappointing but still funny.

[miloc · 6/10 · 7 March 2002]

THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN is a mess, which is a shame. The movie ranges from inspired to incoherent; overall it has nowhere near the consistency, or the collective punch, of Terry Southern's novel, which I think could have been a great movie.

Southern appears to have been unevenly served by Hollywood. His screenplays could be brilliant: DR. STRANGELOVE, EASY RIDER, and THE LOVED ONE, among others. But this and (much worse) CANDY, taken from his novels, lack the concision and skill of his other works. (Which is odd, considering he co-wrote this film.)

The novel "The Magic Christian" is a favorite of mine, and makes laugh out loud whenever I re-read it. It skewers American culture four ways from Sunday, but very cleanly: Southern jabs the blade in just far enough to draw blood, and keeps us laughing as we squirm.

The movie lacks just this quality, and sort of goes bonkers in the '60s counterculture sense-- it's a bit depressing, because you get the feeling the director expects us to be dropping acid while we're watching it. (And why transfer it to England?) Although Southern's place in the counterculture is established, the book had no such trippy excesses; in the movie you may be dismayed to see the point disappearing under the waves.

Still, this is not meant to be a pan. Sections of the movie are wickedly hilarious, whether taken from the book (the dog show is a highlight) or invented for the film (Laurence Harvey's Hamlet made me laugh helplessly, and the art auction isn't bad either). It's worth a look, though your tolerance for '60s style will undoubtedly affect your response. But if you do watch it, I urge you to give the book a try as well, for comparison's sake if nothing else, and possibly happen across the great satirical film that was never made.

Trash For Cash

[slokes · 1/10 · 19 February 2007]

Peter Sellers and Joseph McGrath were not good for each other. The actor and director came together three times ("Casino Royale," "The Great McGonagall," and this). Each time the result was awful. This, however, is the nadir, probably the least funny and undoubtedly most unpleasant Sellers comedy ever made.

Sellers is Sir Guy Grand, London plutocrat with a decidedly odd sense of humor. Accosting a young vagrant he makes into son Youngman Grand (Ringo Starr), Guy plays a series of elaborate tricks on the rich and not-so-rich alike, designed to shake them out of their materialistic rut and restore their "faith in the mystery of life."

How this is done is the rub of the film, which tends to divide those who have seen it into two camps. Some see a cleverly nonsensical flip off of society in tune with its Woodstock times. "Groove with your space, Commander Dad," as Youngman declares. Others like me find it sloppy, ugly, and as funny as the Tet Offensive, whose most famously gruesome moment is replayed here for a cheap laugh.

Even good counterculture cinema makes for uncomfortable viewing, and not always to its benefit. "Easy Rider" and "Midnight Cowboy," both also from 1969, are not easy films to watch, but they do reward your attention. "Magic Christian" just attacks you with its dyspeptic contempt, a misanthrope in hippie clothing.

A woman is offered shampoo that melts her hair. "The price of vanity," suggests Youngman. Guy balls up a dish of caviar and slams it into his face to gross out diners at a fancy eatery. The jet set boards a strange ship called the Magic Christian that features gay muscle men, terrorist hijackers, and Christopher Lee as a vampire.

The jokes aren't all that coherent, let alone funny. They just feel mean, like when a hot dog vendor gets his cart wrecked trying to sell Guy a frank. "Sometimes it's not enough to teach," Guy explains. "Sometimes one has to punish as well." Apparently that involves dressing as a nun and throwing a party on a train to shock some uptight square who makes less money in his life than Sir Guy does in a day. Whatever.

Sellers was famously coming off his hinges at this point in his life and career, and probably thought the nastier he made Guy, the funnier it would be. Apparently seeing in Guy a mere fictive substitute for himself, he has Guy employ a number of accents (old fogy, upper-class twit, American) as he sows his turmoil with sanguine disengagement.

McGrath seems to think his material can be even edgier if he can plunk some racial or sexual subtext in the middle of things, apropos of nothing. An African shows up at a dog show with his pet panther, then gives the black power salute a la Mexico City '68 as he is hustled away. It's funny because he's black! Meanwhile, everything in the film screams gay, including Guy and Youngman's relationship, to the point it becomes shocking when a guy asks a WOMAN to beat him with a whip (albeit not just any woman, but Raquel Welch at her absolute peak.)

Ah, the 1960s. At least you could count on the music. Badfinger's performance of Paul McCartney's "Come And Get It" justifies the involvement of at least one Beatle in this mess, while Geoffrey Unsworth shoots the film with his typically fine eye. There's also one good joke, involving a woman with suspiciously big hair who performs "Mad About The Boy" aboard the Christian. It's the only bit of Queer cinema that actually works in a film that is otherwise just plain queer.

Brilliant!!!

[toaster917 · 10/10 · 12 September 2003]

This film takes a brilliant thrust at British notions of class and propriety, if not Western Society as a whole. Peter Sellers plays Guy Grand, a man with a perverse sense of humor, and to whom money is no object. The film begins as Grand legally adopts a young vagrant, (a monosyllabic Ringo Star), and the two set out to turn everyday life into a kind of black surreality worthy of Monty Python. Though Grand has no spoken manifesto, his overriding goal is to mock, humiliate, and freak-out his pretentious peers via elaborate practical jokes, revealing the underlying hypocrisy of polite society. Ultimately Seller's character is dismayed when his social-experiments prove his suspicions: respectable citizens will do ANYTHING for money and prestige.

This movie is not for normal people, in fact, this movie hates you. Don't watch it. Go away.

(this movie has some colorful freak-out scenes that put Austin Powers to shame, especially when visually contrasted against the gray bleakness of industrial London)

It's Grand To Be Grand

[michaelluvsgina · 7/10 · 7 May 2001]

I read Terry Southern's book after I saw the movie, hoping to laugh like I did when I first saw the movie in 1970. Needless to say the film is LOOSELY based on the book. And it is no wonder that they needed extra writers for the film for the book was not that great. But over all I loved the film. The gags are often funny. Granted some do fall flat and often times unrealistic. But this has always been chewing gum comedy. Not a thinking persons comedy by any means. So if you just want to see some outrageous skits, this film is for you. Be forewarned however that this film is extremely dated and does not age well.

More weird than funny

[oshram-3 · 3/10 · 8 April 2005]

As Jerry Seinfeld once said, "Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason," and such is the case with this film. While I enjoy some odd dry British humor as much as the next yank (I can recall sitting in a room full of people watching Rumpole of the Bailey and being the only one who laughed), the Magic Christian isn't all that terribly funny. It's just terrible.

Sellers and cohorts take stabs at big industry, big bosses, and the cluelessness with which they live their lives (men similarly targeted by the Python group), but it's all just pointless and aimless ranting, with no connection (and not much humor). At times it plays like an especially bad series of SNL skits that someone tried to stitch together into an hour and a half, thinking that if one three minute bit is great, thirty of them will bring the house down. Well, it rarely works on Saturday nights, and it sure didn't work here.

What is special about the Magic Christian is that it is a rare breed, namely, one of those wacky films done in the late 60s/early 70s where there were apparently no boundaries and nothing had to make sense at all, sort of an offshoot of the avant garde youth movement back then. As we all know, these types of films launched during that period (Chastity, anyone?), are mostly astonishingly bad, yet I have to admit to an odd pleasure watching the mess unfold on screen, wondering what in the hell anyone was thinking, or were they all so high it didn't matter? Unless you're a Beatles maniac (a friend I talked to about this film had seen it solely because he had spent some time tracking down every movie that every Beatle had been featured in -- a feat he warned me against repeating), there's no reason to see this film. Certainly not for Sellers, who is even more incoherent than usual. Ringo is okay, but when is Ringo not okay (at least on screen?). As for my personal interest, Ms. Welch, well, she's in it all of twenty seconds, so on that score it wasn't worth it either. Frankly, aside from a curiosity piece, there's really nothing to recommend about this film at all, I have to say.

Interesting piece of British cinema from 1969

[chroma-898-579154 · 1 October 2015]

Unusual movie full of British stars which makes it all the more watchable, you name them they are in it! Of particular interest is a un-credited Jimmy Clitheroe later in life but none the less in it along with Christopher Lee, Fred Emney and many more.

The film is a tale of how people can be bought with some interesting performances and perhaps something of a experimental film in many ways.

Ringo is his typical self and Peter Sellers pretty much steals the screen most of the time drawing us into his performance.

The film was based on the original novel by Terry Southern and I just about remember the film coming out back then with Ringo chatting about the public thinking he was 'a mop-top' which struck me as funny back then.

Much location filming for this movie which also included Chobham Common amongst other locations.

This is now on Blu-Ray and is a superb scan from a good 35mm film print and worth having a look at just to see the host of great old star names.

King of Weirdness... and it Works!

[jonasskjoett · 7/10 · 16 September 2010]

First off all, I'm a big fan of Peter Sellers, his acting and nearly all the films he have been in, because he isn't that kind of actor who have been in a billion of good movies, like Robert De Niro or Dustin Hoffman, but if we talk about all of his performances in the movies he have been in, good or bad, he have always done it in such a intelligent and funny way, you could say that he is better known for his characters, than the actual movie he have starred in.

'The Magic Christian' is in many ways a very forgotten and misunderstood film, not many can understand its humor, because its very dark at times, but that is just what makes it so much more interesting, than other movies can ever get, in this kind of psychedelic movie genre. So if you ever plan to see this, only do it if you either are a fan of Sellers, or just if you have a good understanding in dark comedy.

In many Sellers movies, it's always him that stands out the most, but this movie just have so much more to give, like good chemistry between the lead actors (Sellers and Ringo), a funky 60's rock soundtrack, interesting camera angles, totally weirdness all around (especially in the end scenes) and a great message, "That every human on earth, will do everything for a good amount of money" ... I think the message is partly true, because every human have a stretch for what they will do for money - like, I don't want to cut my own arm off, if I got $1000000 dollars, but if I got $100000000 dollars, I would probably think a little bit about it... and its just that, this movie makes you think, and thats one of the many reasons that this 60's flick is so enjoyable... and outrageously weird!

While there are sparks of brilliance, the overall effort is pathetic

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 20 April 2007]

This film is definitely a product of its times and I seriously doubt that you'd have seen a film like this at any other point in history. Because of this, it probably played pretty well at the time but now, almost forty years later, it is practically unwatchable and...well...stupid. Sure, there are flashes of brilliance here and there, but in general, the film is a terribly unfunny stream of consciousness piece that meanders and looks like it needed a re-write and an infusion of humor.

Also, while the film had several writers (including Monty Pythoners John Cleese and Graham Chapman--who also appeared in the movie as well), it was NOT a Python film per se--regardless of what the DVD cover said. Many films that were made by one or two of the Python alumni have been deliberately mismarketed this way to try to dupe loyal fans (JABBERWOCKY is a prime example). Now the movie DOES have some similarity to Python sketches and the flow of the show in general, however, the chemistry is severely lacking--being brilliant on occasion (such as during the art auction or rowing competition) but often just dragged and dragged as if there was no script and Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr were just told to "wing it". Unfortunately, for Ringo, this meant to just stand there and say practically nothing throughout the film or things like "that sounds like a good idea". And for Sellers, a brilliant performer, he turned in an amazingly lifeless and uncomedic performance. In fact, through his film career, Sellers alternated from great film portrayals (DR. STRANGELOVE and THE MOUSE THAT ROARED) to horrid and awful and flat ones (SUCH AS WALTZ OF THE TOREADORS and THE FIENDISH PLOT OF FU MANCHU and THE PRISONER OF ZENDA). This is one of his flattest.

The bottom line is this movie was meant to tweak the nose of society (especially the rich) but ended up instead just being muddled and dull. If they had stuck with the original plot idea of having rich Sellers and Starr just wondering from scene to scene doing obnoxious things just because they are rich and can get away with it, THEN it would have been a brilliant and perceptive film. These portions of the film were great and very subversive. But with all the irrelevance and tedium, this aspect is all but forgotten. With a little discipline and a re-write, this could have been a great film.

Ringo Starr adds a second Terry Southern character to his Beatles era resume

[kevinolzak · 6/10 · 21 August 2019]

1968's "Candy" marked the first non-Beatles film appearance for Ringo Starr as an actor, nearly lost in a sea of superstar cameos such as Richard Burton, Marlon Brando, Walter Matthau, and John Astin in dual roles. As Emanuel, the Mexican gardener who deflowers title virgin Ewa Aulin on the pool table (Astin: "wish I'd been there with my Polaroid!"), Ringo is more amusing than those with greater screen time, and in 1969's "The Magic Christian" actually graduates to costar billing with former Goons legend Peter Sellers. The Beatles were great fans of Sellers' Goons, and there's no doubt that this production was a lot more fun for the performers than the unwary viewers who basically shunned it at the time. Director Joseph McGrath assisted Southern on the script, along with Sellers, John Cleese and Graham Chapman (shortly before Monty Python), and the lack of a cohesive narrative may grate on some while others will find the patience to enjoy a few gems among the many gags. Sellers plays Sir Guy Grand, richest man in the world, who meets Ringo's vagrant and takes a paternal interest in his welfare. Renamed 'Youngman Grand' as his adopted son, Ringo joins the tour to educate the masses that everyone has their price, the only question is how much. That's all there truly is, and for some the point is hammered home with unsubtle clarity, all designed to shock and outrage people both on screen and in the audience. Making it more palatable are the numerous cameos from familiar faces, even the John and Yoko lookalikes boarding The Magic Christian, a new ocean liner set to embark from London to America, charging $5000 per guest (this section begins at the 65 minute mark). Laurence Harvey opens with an unlikely performance as Hamlet, stripping nude for less than enthusiastic theatergoers; Dennis Price, Jeremy Lloyd and Peter Bayliss become flummoxed aboard a train ("I've been fired before, but never in Afghanistan!"), David Hutcheson is enraged at the amount of firepower required for 'a good clean kill,' John Cleese and Patrick Cargill earn laughs at Sotheby's, while Graham Chapman's Oxford team follows the lead of coach Richard Attenborough to sabotage the race with Cambridge. The Cruft's dog show finds the contestants devoured by an African black panther disguised as a canine, Spike Milligan's traffic warden gleefully swallows his parking ticket before the offer runs out in 10 seconds, the world heavyweight championship winds down as the two boxers express their affection in the middle of the ring ("the crowd appears to be sickened by the sight of no blood!"). By the time the Christian sets sail most of the stars appear out of nowhere: Christopher Lee speaks a mere six words of dialogue as 'Ship's Vampire,' stalking the corridors all too briefly before attacking Wilfrid Hyde-White's doddering drunken captain; Leonard Frey as Laurence Faggot (pronounced fah-GO) shows off a sample of hemp, then arrests the man he casually hands it to; a silent Roman Polanski is serenaded at the bar by a bewigged Yul Brynner; Raquel Welch as Priestess of the Whip lashes out at intruders who enjoy being masochists. The final sequence was typically cut from all TV prints, as Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air" puts an exclamation point on the proceedings as bowler hatted, umbrella carrying citizens brave a vat filled with blood, urine and animal manure for Grand's advertised 'free money.' Very much a relic of its time, this marriage of the Goons and The Beatles earned little regard from critics but continues to gain a following for its cultural importance. From the beginning the soundtrack found favor with three tracks produced by Paul McCartney and performed by Apple band Badfinger, "Come and Get It" (written by Paul and heard throughout), "Carry on Till Tomorrow" (heard over the opening credits), and "Rock of All Ages" (heard briefly on two occasions), all issued on the first official Badfinger LP MAGIC CHRISTIAN MUSIC in January 1970. The two stars are a good match, already good friends well before filming started in February 1969, though the picture continued the Sellers box office losing streak that only ended with a revival of the Pink Panther series. At the urging of new manager Allan Klein Ringo kept the Apple film division going over the next few years, playing a supporting villain in the Spaghetti Western "Blind Man," directing the T. Rex concert feature "Born to Boogie," and producing "Son of Dracula," casting Harry Nilsson as Count Downe (he'd just released his album SON OF SCHMILSSON dressed as Dracula on the cover). Christopher Lee enjoyed meeting all four Beatles on the set and later appeared on the front cover of Paul's acclaimed Wings LP BAND ON THE RUN.

Painfully Dated

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 29 August 2005]

This was shown earlier tonight on BBC 2 as a " Paul Merton shows us his favourite comedy moments " themed night and similar to those MOVIEDROME segments from many years ago Merton introduced the movie and its background . Apparently on its release the critics hated it while everyone who went to watch it in the cinema ( In those days you could smoke in cinemas ) took a dubious brand of tobacco with them

It's very easy to see why critics hated it at the time . These were people who had at the start of the decade seen countless British kitchen sink dramas , then saw by the mid 1960s British movies financed and produced by Hollywood , movies like DR NO and ZULU but by the late 60s were watching full blown psychedelic things like this . I guess it was too " Mod " for the critics . Evidentally it was made for a youth culture audience who bought records by The Doors , Jimi Hendrix and like their tobacco to be a little more exotic than the stuff you bought in the corner shop

As for the film itself it's impossible to review in 2005 since it's a film on its time ( Merton pointed this out in his introduction ) and resembles one of those anti narrative plots similar to what Richard Lester was making . I goes without saying it's painfully dated and I couldn't understand what the heck it's about and many scenes reflect this . Laurence Harvey does Hamlet then strips naked , Roman Polanski stands at a bar as the colour changes to a green sepia while several scenes look like they're an advert break or a pop video or were included because it seemed like an amusing idea . If you were old enough to enjoy the 1960s you might still enjoy this movie as a nostalgic period piece comedy . If it was before or after your time you'll probably not enjoy it

"Just Wanted to See if You Had Your Price...Most of Us Do..."

[tom-darwin · 9/10 · 3 July 2006]

No one slices comedy with an obsidian knife the way Terry Southern does. Guy Grand changes from the American zillionaire in the novel to an English gentleman tycoon (Sellers) & gains a soulmate when he adopts scruffy vagrant Youngman (Starr), but Southern's unique low-key, vicious zaniness remains. The pair's purpose in life is to skewer institutions in particular & society in general by bribing, with their unlimited wealth, professionals, experts & officials to humiliate themselves and/or their employers. Some of the novel's funniest scenes make it to the screen, including: free cash given away to those willing to wade into vats of hideous filth to get it; Big Fang, the "Congo Black Dog," wreaking havoc at Crufts; Guy's dining experience at Chez Edouard; a traffic officer (Milligan) paid to eat Guy's parking ticket; and, of course, the "Magic Christian," the cruise ship from Hell. Worthy additions include Laurence Harvey turning Hamlet's soliloquy into a striptease ("with a bare, bare bodkin!"), Attenborough helping to turn the Oxford & Cambridge crew race into a "punch-up," and Guy collecting "French noses" at Sotheby's art auction. Sellers is perfectly deadpan & dignified as the tycoon whose determination to find everyone's price is even more believable today, the age of "Fear Factor" & "Big Brother," than in the 1970s. Starr, at the height of his creativity before his solo career spun into jaded dissolution, is just right as Guy's sounding board (as in their ambition to rewrite great books, including the Bible, with the nouns left blank for the readers to fill in). Graham Chapman & John Cleese demonstrate their trademark Python casual nonsequiturs ("the crowd seems sickened by the sight of no blood!") as well as playing small parts: Chapman as the (nearly) incorruptible Oxford crew captain & Cleese a pompous art expert. But it's the "Magic Christian"--Guy's ultimate prank--with her all-star, wacky crew that puts the film over the top. Hyde-White is the clueless captain (or is he?), Welch the chief engineer, AKA "Priestess of the Whip," Frey the cloying shrink, Lee the bloodthirsty steward & Polanski the silent drinker. And don't miss that lounge singer! Like most Southern & Python films (and Marx Bros. films before that), "The Magic Christian" doesn't so much wrap up as end simply when it runs out of gags. It's best appreciated for the sum of its parts, but in that it never misses a beat. No collection of satirical films--or Python or Sellers movies--is complete without it.

THE MAGIC Christian (Joseph McGrath, 1969) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 18 July 2007]

For a film decrying the fact that people will do anything for money, I wonder whether the personnel involved realized that by roping in a roster of stars – often to embarrassing effect (more on this later) – they would themselves be guilty of just such a crime!

Anyway, it has garnered a considerable cult reputation with the years: I had come across portions of the film on late-night Italian TV several years back – and, in view of the excess of talent on hand, I’d always wanted to check it out. However, despite a promising theme, it never quite catches fire as a satire and now feels extremely dated into the bargain! Peter Sellers, the era’s reigning comic genius, offers another of his trademark larger-than-life characters; ex-Beatle Ringo Starr plays his adopted son, but his role isn’t very well defined (former bandmate Paul McCartney, then, contributes the catchy “Come And Get It” to the film’s soundtrack – which also includes Thunderclap Newman’s signature song, “Something In The Air”).

Resolving itself into a series of sketches to hit as many targets as it possibly can, the film is undeniably amusing on occasion but the overall effect is decidedly uneven – and the general tone more heavy-handed than incisive. It does provide a bridge between two specialized brands of British humor, The Goons (of which Sellers himself had been a member, along with Spike Milligan who turns up in a cameo) and Monty Python (Graham Chapman and John Cleese also put in appearances and even contributed to the script).

To be honest, none of the guest stars are particularly well-used – but a few do provide unforgettable camp moments: Laurence Harvey’s strip-tease rendition of Hamlet, Yul Brynner’s unbilled cabaret act in drag(!) seducing Roman Polanski, Raquel Welch as the “Priestess Of The Whip” overseeing the host of topless ‘slave-girls’ at the helm of the titular cruise-liner and Christopher Lee as the self-explanatory “Ship’s Vampire”. The film, then, culminates in a notorious climax as heaps of money are thrown into a vat filled with a stomach-turning combination of blood, urine and manure – and Sellers challenges the people of London to ‘go for it’!

What on earth were they smoking?

[chrischapman-47545 · 1/10 · 20 March 2021]

Looking like it was shot on 16mm stock, this film has many famous faces, including even Harry Carpenter and Alan Whicker doing cameo commentaries, but one wonders if any of them had read the complete script and just did it for the money. They must have spent a lot on attracting the big names with no clear idea of how the film should hang together. Ringo Starr wanders around showing minimal acting skill or experience. John Cleese and Graham Chapman contributed to the script with little hint of their comedic skills. To me the funniest bit is Spike Milligan who I suspect is ad-libbing. Possibly of some academic interest, eg in showing how not to make a film and contribute to the ruination of the British film industry, but otherwise frankly a bizarre and self-indulgent waste of time.

Will you walk away from a fool and his money?

[ShadeGrenade · 8/10 · 4 May 2011]

There was once a television show called 'Wudja? Cudja?' in which presenters paid members of the public to do outrageous things, such as stripping naked on beaches where no nudity was allowed. Whether by accident or design it echoed the main theme of this 1969 film, based on Terry Southern's novel. Peter Sellers plays 'Sir Guy Grand', an eccentric billionaire ( with more than a passing resemblance to ex-P.M. Harold Macmillan ) who adopts a homeless young man ( Ringo Starr ) and renames him 'Youngman Grand'. Sir Guy then gives his new son a master class in human greed, proving that each man and woman has their price. On a train, for example, he tries to buy a hot-dog from a platform vendor ( Victor Maddern ), but has no change. Not wanting to lose the sale, the vendor runs after the departing train, eventually falling off the platform. A grouse shooting session turns weird when tanks are brought into it. Crufts is disrupted by an African dog which eats the other entrants. At a posh restaurant, Grand puts on a seat-belt, and shocks patrons by smearing caviar all over his face. Grand has the great Laurence Harvey do a striptease whilst reciting the famous 'To Be Or Not To Be' soliloquy from 'Hamlet'. My favourite scene, though, is when Spike Milligan's over-efficient traffic warden is paid £500 to eat the ticket he has just planted on Grand's rolls.

There is no plot as such, just Grand playing one daft prank after another. John Cleese and Graham Chapman were brought in after the script had been through ten drafts, but their work was ultimately rejected. Bits and pieces made it into the finished movie though ( others wound up in 'Monty Python' ), and both men appeared on screen. Cleese said later the movie finished up as a series of celebrity walk-on's ( Michael Aspel and Alan Whicker pop up as themselves ), and blamed director, Joseph McGrath, for not understanding comedy structure. McGrath had worked on the 1967 'Casino Royale' spoof, and it shows. Like that earlier picture, much of 'Magic Christian' is shapeless and undisciplined. The title refers to the luxury ocean liner that sets off from London for New York. Some nice digs at '60's celebrity culture here ( John Lennon and Yoko Ono are seen boarding, along with Aristotle and Jackie Onassis ). The voyage goes horribly wrong; a vampire ( Christopher Lee ) is stalking females, graffiti appears on the walls, and the Captain ( Wilfrid Hyde-White ) is attacked by would-be hijackers. Raquel Welch plays a whip-cracking priestess in charge of topless female galley slaves. As pandemonium erupts, the passengers escape, only to discover that they never left London. Sir Guy has pulled off his biggest prank ever!

It is a wildly uneven picture, sometimes funny, but not the great anti-capitalistic satire it thinks it is ( its more like a ruder version of Michael Bentine's 'The Sandwich Man' ). Paul Merton liked it enough to include in his 'Big Night In' on B.B.C.-2 a few years back. Perhaps it might have been funnier if the pranks had been played on real people rather than fictional characters. Still, you have to admire its nerve. Where else would you see Yul Brynner in drag singing Noel Coward's 'Mad About The Boy' to Roman Polanski's lone drinker?

The catchy title theme - 'Come & Get It' - was by Paul McCartney and performed by 'Badfinger'.

A forgotten Peter Sellers gem

[t_atzmueller · 7/10 · 5 July 2010]

Subconsciously I have avoided this movie for about 20 years. One reason being, that I grew up with the Peter Sellers comedies, having watched most of them with my parents and having eventually discovered, that a lot of them don't age terribly well. The second reason was that, although Sellers has produced much, much quality work, he's at time delivered horrible performances.

However, the other day I had a DVD copy from a friend-of-a-friend fall into my hands and around that same time I felt like watching something with Sir Christopher Lee – something I hadn't yet seen, mind you. The nearest and only thing in reach was that 'Magic Christian' DVD, so into the player it went.

The first ten odd minutes made me sure that once again my suspicions were correct and that I was watching a Sellers movie that was both outdated and definitely in the weaker category. Inflated nonsense, pointless slapstick and random attempts at squeezing laughs out of a more innocent 1970's watcher, thought I while my index finger was nervously tapping the 'stop'-key.

However, I kept on watching. And suddenly something made 'click' inside my head. I had found a gem, a diamond of a comedy and before Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr made it unto the Magic Christian, I was a believer and convinced that this film belongs right up there with Sellers greatest works.

If you haven't seen Peter Sellers take his adventurous 5 course diner at a French restaurant, haven't experienced Yul Brunner singing "About the Boy" in drag to an inebriated Roman Polanski or a crowd of essential British citizens wading through a tank of urine and manure for paper money, then you haven't seen it all. And by the way: if you're a Christopher Lee and Dracula fan, you haven't seen it all either if you haven't seen Sir Christopher on board the Magic Christian.

To those among the readers who have been put off from watching this by certain critiques of the time who gave the movie a finger or those who believe that the film is a random sequence of anarchic and even more random gags and sketches, please reconsider. Believe an old movie buff who says: this movie is a forgotten gem!

In! Out! In! Out!

[arkif1 · 1/10 · 11 April 2021]

It's awful, yup. Kinda proves that, if you have too much money, as Ringo Starr had, you better give it to the people you admire, Monty Python in his case, so that they can use it in their own way, making the The Life of Brian for instance, than try something with it yourself.

There are two things here that were not completely bad. 1. The joke with the panther at the dog exhibition. 2. The Octopussy inspiration and Sellers commenting that Hollywood can still learn a few things.

Everything else is simply lame. I don't think it's arrogant. It's just extremely repetitive and uninspired. Like an imbecile telling the same joke over and over.