BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS
US, 1971, 133 minutes, Colour.
Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Roddy Mc Dowell, Sam Jaffe, John Ericson, Bruce Forsyth, Reginald Owen.
Directed by Robert Stevenson.
Despite Disney studio's calculated use of the successful Mary Poppins formula: England, eccentric magical governess, children, sentiment, animated sequences, songs and dances, This entertainment can stand on its own feet, and, judging by the laughs, cheers, screams and final applause from hundreds of children, the film can be well recommended for young audiences. Parents should enjoy it. Standout effects are a cartoon ball for fish and a cartoon animals' soccer game with David Tomlinson as umpire. The final magical sequence of the routing of German soldiers by a museumful of armour and Angela Lansbury on a broomstick was a great success. Disney still lives
1. Enjoyable family entertainment? Fantasy, nostalgia? Comedy? Musical? Animation?
2. For what audience was the film made? 60s and 70s? Adults, children, families? In the tradition of Mary Poppins? Capitalising on its success? Successfully.
3. The atmosphere of England? Early World War 2 period? Locations? Sense of history? The British? The Germans? The war? The contribution of the magic and the effects? The animation interludes?
4. The war situation, the dangers, the German invasion, the raid? The evacuations? orphans? Country towns? Country homes? The troubles? Echoes of World War 2 films?
5. The introduction to the children, tough? London, family background, the evacuations? Not being looked after? Miss Price? Going home with her, hostility? Changes in attitudes? The magic and their delight? Participation in her training and tests? The trip? The doctor? The adventures in the animation sequences? Participation in saving England! Staying with miss Price? How well sketched was the personality of each of the children?
6. Miss Price and Angela Lansbury's vigorous style? English, eccentric? In the village? Relationship with the people? with supervising the children, the vicar? Her training to be a witch? Her household, the cat? The parcels? The broom and her practice? Her fall? Her looking after the children? The spells and their varying success? The bed and its ability to travel? Her seeking out the professor? Disillusionment with him? The involvement with the gangsters? The escape and the animation land? Her return to the village? The invasion and the battle? An eccentric and attractive character?
7. David Tomlinson as the professor? The fake? His being exposed? Falling in love with miss Price? Looking after the children? Travelling and involved with them?
8. The sketch of the gangsters?
9. The presentation of the Germans and the echoes of World War 2 films? The invasion? The armour and the chivalry and the magic battle in the air?
10. The fantasy sequences, the humorous characters, the songs?
11. The themes of the honour of England?
12. Fantasy and imagination? What if ...? Heroism and delight?
