Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)

Regista:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Ralph Wright (animation story) &
Ted Berman (animation story) ...

Data di uscita:

13 dicembre 1971 (USA)

Genere:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Musical | War

Slogan:

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

Plot:

An apprentice witch, 3 kids and a cynical conman search for the missing component to a magic spell useful to the defence of Britain.

Plot Keywords:

Cockney Accent | Raid | Substitutiary Locomotion | Flying Broom | Middle Age Romance

Premi:

Won Oscar. Another 5 nominations

Recensioni degli utenti:

hugely fun romp through the unlikely

Cast

Angela Lansbury	...	Miss Price
David Tomlinson	...	Emelius
Roddy McDowall	...	Mr. Jelk
Sam Jaffe	...	Bookman
John Ericson	...	Col. Heller
Bruce Forsyth	...	Swinburne
Cindy O'Callaghan	...	Carrie
Roy Snart	...	Paul
Ian Weighill	...	Charlie
Tessie O'Shea	...	Mrs. Hobday
Arthur Gould-Porter	...	Capt. Greer (as Arthur E. Gould-Porter)
Ben Wrigley	...	Portobello Rd. Workman
Reginald Owen	...	Gen. Teagler
Cyril Delevanti	...	Elderly Farmer
Rick Traeger	...	German Sergeant

Alias:

Bedknobs and Broomsticks: 25th Anniversary Special Edition (USA) (longer version)
Pomi d'ottone e manici di scopa (Italy) [it]

Durata:

117 min | 99 min (re-release) (1980) | USA:139 min (restored version) (1996) | Germany:89 min

Nazionalità:

USA

Lingua:

Inglese | Tedesco

Colore:

Colore (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sonoro:

Dolby (25th anniversary special edition) | Mono (RCA Sound Recording) (original release)

Divieti:

West Germany:o.Al. | New Zealand:G | Portugal:M/4 | Brazil:Livre | Peru:PT | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G | Iceland:L

Luoghi delle riprese:

Dorset, England, UK

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Curiosità:

The film's opening credits sequence is a homage to the Bayeux Tapestry, a seamless linen cloth made by the French in Medieval times which tells the story of the Norman Conquest of England.

Errori:

Continuity: The first time we see the kids in the museum, Carrie's braids change between neat and messy several times.

Citazioni:

[first lines]
Captain Ainsley Greer: You there, which way to Pepperidge Eye?
Workman: Couldn't say, sir. It said on the wireless to paint out the sign posts in case the Nazis drop in.
Captain Ainsley Greer: I'm not a Nazi, I'm a British officer!
Workman: That's what you'd say if you *was* a Nazi, isn't it sir?

Movie Connections:

Citato in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)

Colonna sonora:

The Old Home Guard

hugely fun romp through the unlikely

This Disney piece has its great strengths in casting the great Angela Lansbury as apprentice witch Eglantine Price, in teaming live action with cartoon, and in some enjoyable special effects. The songs, by the Shermans, are in the main memorable - 'The Age of Not Believing', 'Portobello Road', 'Eglantine', and 'The Beautiful Briny'. Sterling support from David Tomlinson (who was also Mr Banks in 'Mary Poppins') and a trio of Cockney kids round off the movie.

Miss Price - who has a scene-stealing cat who can put across disdain and embarrassment better than any human! - finds that the 'spells' she has received from Mr Brown's college of witchcraft actually work, much to his amazement when she speeds down to London to tell him so (on a bed, naturally - that's where 'The Age of Not Believing' comes in with great charm). She takes in Charlie, Carrie and cute little Paul as evacuees and win them over with her magic dabbling. Her goal is to find the spell for locomotion and this takes them to the evocative flea market of Portobello Road and on to the magical island where the cartoon part of the movie kicks in.

The cartoons are inventive as always, although lacking the quality of the studio when Disney himself was in charge - there's a ballroom where the fish dance in various styles to a swing band and some jazzy singers (and are upstaged by the live action adults who win the dancing cup); then there is a great football match between creatures like hippos, elephants, ostriches, and the like with hapless Mr Brown as the referee. Special effects come into their own when inaminate objects start to have a life of their own (shades of 'Mary Poppins'), especially in the final sequences where an ancient army of knights and heralds take on the Nazis.

'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' drags at times but when it is in full flow, it is a lot of fun. Highly recommended for kids of all ages, and all those Disney devotees out there.