Bedknobs and Broomsticks

10/7/19711h 57m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ You'll beWITCHED! You'll beDAZZLED! You'll be swept into a world of enchantment BEYOND ANYTHING BEFORE! ~

Overview:

Three children evacuated from London during World War II are forced to stay with an eccentric spinster. The children's initial fears disappear when they find out she is in fact a trainee witch.

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$20,000,000.00

Revenue:

$17,900,000.00

Key words:

witch
flying
nazi
world war ii
knight
live action and animation
children in wartime
farmer's market

Cast

Angela Lansbury

~ as ~

Miss Price

David Tomlinson

~ as ~

Emelius

Roddy McDowall

~ as ~

Mr. Jelk

Sam Jaffe

~ as ~

Bookman

John Ericson

~ as ~

Col. Heller

Bruce Forsyth

~ as ~

Swinburne

Cindy O'Callaghan

~ as ~

Carrie

Roy Snart

~ as ~

Paul

Ian Weighill

~ as ~

Charlie

Tessie O'Shea

~ as ~

Mrs. Hobday

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

Gimly
Written 7 year(s) ago
8
When I was younger, I used to spend a lot of my life alone in a studio with one of those tiny little 15cm TVs you wouldn't be caught dead with nowadays, plugged in to a VCR player, and exactly three movies on VHS. One of those three movies (the best of those three) was Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I watched it multiple times a day, every day, for months at a time. A period piece musical that saw orphans and their witch-friend get an army of sentient suits of armour to fight the Nazis... Is it any bloody wonder I turned out the way I did?

Great movie though. Wouldn't kill me to see a remake with modern technology. So long as it kept the vibe and setting of the original.

Final rating:★★★★ - Very strong appeal. A personal favourite.
CinemaSerf
Written 2 year(s) ago
7
It's very much in the vein of "Mary Poppins" (1964) this, with a very similar style of live-action and animated sequences used to tell a slightly more menacing story. When three siblings arrive in a rural English village, evacuated from London during the Blitz of WWII, they are placed with the rather eccentric and definitely unwilling "Miss Price" (Angela Lansbury). Things start to look up for all concerned though when the kids discover that she is a trainee witch, and when they meet "Emelius" (David Tomlinson) they embark on some adventures using their magical bed as their vehicle in the search for the missing part of a substitutiary locomotion spell that might just thwart the Nazis. As with "Poppins", the music and lyrics come from the Sherman twins and "Beautiful Briny" and "Portobello Road" are probably the two best from their not so catchy soundtrack this time. Lansbury and Tomlinson work well together with the former on good form as the ostensibly prim and proper, but actually quite feisty and mischievous would-be witch. The three youngsters also perform well, especially the youngest "Paul" (Roy Snart) who just won't let anyone else near the knob that controls the bed! A smattering of familiar faces help to keep the story bobbing along nicely and the animations, tough not so frequent as I would have liked, blend in well with some fun action scenes - especially at the end - and make for an enjoyable, feel-good, family movie.