Information

Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a 1971 American musical fantasy film directed by Robert Stevenson and with music written by the Sherman Brothers. It was produced by Bill Walsh for Walt Disney Productions. It is based on the book The Magic Bedknob; Or, become a witch in Ten Easy Lessons (1943) and Bonfires and Broomsticks (1947) by English children’s author Mary Norton. A combination of live action and animation, the film stars Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Ian Weighill, Cindy O’Callaghan and Roy Snart.

In the early 1960s, Bedknobs and Broomsticks entered development when negotiations for the film rights to Mary Poppins (1964) stalled. When the rights were acquired, the film was repeatedly shelved due to its resemblance to Mary Poppins until it was revived in 1969. Originally 139 minutes in length, Bedknobs and Broomsticks was edited approximately two hours before its radio premiere. City Music Hall.

The film was released on December 13, 1971 to mixed reviews from film critics, some of whom praised the live-action/animated sequences. The film received five Academy Award nominations for Best Special Visual Effects. It was the last film released before the death of Walt Disney’s surviving brother Roy O Disney, who died a week later. It was also the last theatrical film Reginald Owen screened in 1972, the year after his death; His last two acting credits were for television. It was screenwriter Don DaGrady’s last film work before his retirement in 1970 and his death on August 4, 1991.

In 1996, the film was restored and most of the deleted material was reinserted into the film. A stage musical adaptation has been produced. The musical had its world premiere at the Theater Royal in Newcastle upon Tyne on 14 August 2021 before touring the UK and Ireland until May 2022.

Details

In August 1940, during the Blitz, three orphaned children, Charlie, Carrie and Paul Rollins, are evacuated from London to Peppering Eye near the Dorset coast where they are placed in the reluctant care of Miss Eglantine Price, who temporarily agrees to the arrangement. The children try to return to London, but after trying to make Miss Price fly on a broomstick, they change their minds. Miss Price reveals that she is studying witchcraft through a correspondence school, hoping to use her magic in the British war effort against the Nazis, and offers the children a transportation spell in exchange for their silence. He casts the spell on a bed, and adds that only Paul can cast the spell, as he’s the one who gave him the wheel of the bed. Later, Miss Price receives a letter announcing the closure of her school, thus preventing her from learning the final spell. He convinces Paul to use an enchanted bed to bring the group back to London and locate Professor Emelias Brown.

Brown turns out to be a charismatic street magician who created the course as a joke from an old book, only to be shocked to learn the spell works. He gives the book to Miss Price, who is upset to discover the final spell, Substitute Locomotion, is missing. The group travels to Portobello Road to find the old bookseller who gave Brown the book, revealing that the spell is engraved on the Star of Astaroth, a medallion that belonged to a sorcerer of that name. The bookseller explains that Asteroth experimented with his magic on animals, giving them anthropomorphism. They later kill him, take the medallion and flee to a remote island called Nabumbu. A 17th-century lascar claimed to have traveled to Nabumbu, but the bookseller could not find it. Paul confirms its existence by revealing a storybook found in Mr. Brown’s playroom.

The group sails to Nabumbu and lands in a lagoon; There, the bed goes underwater, where Mr. Brown and Miss Price enter a dance competition and win first prize. Just then, the bed is fished out of the sea by a bear, who informs the group that humans are not allowed on the island by royal decree. They are brought before the island’s ruler, King Leonidas, who wears the Star of Astaroth. Leonidas invited Mr. Brown to referee a football match. The chaotic match ends in a self-proclaimed victory for Leonidas, but as Mr. Brown leaves, the medallion is swapped with his referee’s whistle and the team escapes.

Back at home, Miss Price practices Substitutionary Locomotion, which imbues inanimate objects with life but they quickly spiral out of control. When Miss Price is informed that the children may be moved to another home, she decides to let them stay, realizing that she has come to care for them and vice versa. The children announce that they want Mr. Brown to be their father, but Mr. Brown, wary of the promise, bids the group farewell and tries to get on the train back to London. On reaching the railway station he finds that there is no train till morning so he wants to sleep on the bench on the platform. A platoon of Nazi German commandos landed ashore via U-boat to raid the town and use Miss Price’s house as their headquarters, capturing her and the children in the local museum. At the train station, Mr. Brown stops two Germans from cutting the phone line and returns to Miss Price’s house where he is able to cast a spell for the first time and transform himself into a white rabbit so that he can disguise himself to avoid the Germans. He finds Miss Price and the children at the museum and inspires Miss Price to turn the museum exhibit into an army using substitutionary locomotion. An army of knights in armor and military uniforms pursues the Germans but when the Germans retreat, they destroy Miss Price’s workshop, ending her career as a witch. Although disappointed that his career ended, he is happy that he played a small role in the war effort.

Shortly thereafter, Miss Price officially adopted and committed herself to raising the children. Mr. Brown enlists in the army and leaves with the local home guard, but promises to return and share a kiss with Miss Price. Paul reveals that he still has the enchanted bedknob, indicating that they can continue their adventure.

Cast And Cartoon Characters

Angela Lansbury as Miss Eglantine Price. Miss Price is initially a somewhat reclusive woman, reluctant to take the children from London because she believes they will get in the way of her witchcraft, which she prefers to keep secret but hopes to use to bring about an end to World War II. However, she bonds with the children and falls in love with Mr. Brown during their trip. She becomes the adoptive mother of the Rollins siblings at the end of the film.
David Tomlinson as Mr. Emilius Brown. Known as “Professor Brown”, the title by which Miss Price knows him, he runs a correspondence college of witchcraft based on what he believes to be “nonsense words” found in an old book. When Miss Price and the children find him in London, he is revealed to be a street performer and con artist, and not a very good one. However, he is a smooth talker, which proves useful in the group’s adventures, and believes in doing everything “with a flair”. As the adventures unfold, he finds himself developing an attachment to Miss Price and the children, a feeling he struggles with; Brown becomes the adoptive father of the Rollins siblings at the end of the film and enlists himself in the military, while promising his new family that he will return.
Roddy McDowall as Mr. Rowan Zelk, the local priest. Deleted scenes reveal that Mr. Zelk is interested in marrying Miss Price, mainly for her property.
Sam Jaffe as Bookman, a mysterious criminal also following a substitutive locomotion spell. It is implied that she and Mr. Brown have some history and bad blood.
John Erickson as Colonel Heller, the leader of the German raiding party that comes ashore at Peppering Eye.
Bruce Forsyth as Swinburne, Bookman’s spiv and associate who acts as his muscle.
Cindy O’Callaghan as Carrie Rollins. Slightly younger than Charlie, she has a motherly attitude toward her brothers, especially Paul. He was the first to encourage friendly relations between Miss Price and the children.
Roy Snart as Paul Rollins. Paul is about six; Bedknob and his possession of the Isle of Nabumbu children’s books lead to the group’s adventures as well as the final solution to the search for the substitutive locomotion spell. Paul is prone to blurting out whatever is on his mind, which sometimes leads to problems.
Ian Weghill as Charles “Charlie” Rollins. Charlie is the eldest of the orphaned Rawlins children; Eleven, going on twelve according to Carrie, is an age Miss Price calls “the age of disbelief.” Accordingly, he is initially miserly and distrustful of Miss Price’s magical efforts, but turns around over time; It is at her early suggestion that Mrs. Price uses substitutive locomotion spells on museum artifacts.
Tessie O’Shea as Mrs. Jessica “Jessie” Hobday, Peppering Eye’s local postmistress and chairman of the War Activities Committee.
Arthur Gould-Porter as Captain Ainsley Greer, a British army captain who visits the Home Guard from London headquarters and gets lost in the area. He constantly runs into locals who suspect him of being a Nazi in disguise.
Reginald Owen as Major General Sir Brian Tighler, commander of the local Home Guard.
Cyril Delevanty as the elderly farmer
Hank Warden as Old Home Guardsman (Authorized)
Voice cast
Bob Holt as Codfish, a resident of Nobumbu Lagoon who judges an underwater dance competition.
Lenny Weinrib as King Leonidas, a lion who rules the Isle of Nabumbu. He’s a dedicated soccer player with a terrible temper, as well as a notorious cheater known to make up the rules as he goes along – according to Paul’s book.
Weinrib also voices Secretary Bard, who is King Leonidas’ secretary and often bears the brunt of the King’s outbursts.
Dallas McKennon as Bear, a brown bear who is a sailor and fisherman on Nabumbu Island. It is he who drags the bed, on which Miss Price’s party, with her fishing pole, out of the lagoon, and after warning them of their temper, takes them to meet the King.

Box Office

By January 1974, the film had grossed $8.25 million at the box office from the United States and Canada, for a final domestic total of $8.5 million. A 1979 re-release boosted its North American haul to $11.4 million.

About

Directed by	Robert Stevenson
Screenplay by	·         Bill Walsh ·         Don DaGradi
Based on	The Magic Bedknob & Bonfires and Broomsticks by Mary Norton
Produced by	Bill Walsh
Starring	·         Angela Lansbury ·         David Tomlinson ·         Ian Weighill ·         Cindy O’Callaghan ·         Roy Snart
Cinematography	Frank V. Phillips
Edited by	Cotton Warburton
Music by	Irwin Kostal
Production company	Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution
Release dates	·         October 7, 1971 (United Kingdom) ·         December 13, 1971 (United States)
Running time	118 minutes (1971 original version) 139 minutes (1996 reconstruction version)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$6.3 million
Box office	$17.9 million