Amazon.com: This 1969 British comedy looks today like a bridge between then-contemporaneous but overlapping styles of comedy, from Terry Southern satire to Goon Show silliness to Monty Python surrealism. Peter Sellers stars as the world's wealthiest man, who sets out with a young ally (Ringo Starr) to demonstrate that people, most especially rich people, will do anything for money. The film is more a series of sketches than an actual story, and some of those get pretty nasty, particularly when a bunch of aristrocrats start feeding from a vat of blood and manure. But in general this is a pretty funny film, and it's great to see a lot of famous and soon-to-be-famous faces on the same screen. Written by Southern, Joseph McGrath (who also directed), Sellers, and Python's John Cleese and Graham Chapman. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - I love this movie
The Magic Christian is an inspired, wacky sixties film, based on the brilliant novel by Terry Southern. Appearing with Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr in the film are Pythons John Cleese and Graham Chapman, Goon Show alumnus Spike Milligan, Christopher Lee, Racquel Welch, Roman Polanski, and Yul Brenner as a lounge-singing transvestite. Paul McCartney wrote the film's theme song 'Come And Get It' performed by Badfinger. I have to admit, this movie makes me laugh. It's a great vehicle for Peter Sellers as the not-so-business-like Guy Grande, and Ringo as his newly adopted adult son. In the story, ... Read More
Rating: - Yul Brynner in drag!!!!
Normally, this type of comedy is not my thing, but I saw the clip online of Yul Brynner in "The Magic Christian" and feel that this vignette alone would be worth ANY price! (Can't imagine the masculine Yul as a woman? HAH He is excellent!!!)
Rating: - Magic Christian? - Absolutely!
This was one of my all time favorite movies - I remember seeing it at the theater! I love Peter Sellers and he is in rare form in this flick. And Ringo Starr hold his own.
Good music, good acting, good all around.
Rating: - Post-psychedelic, anti-establishment, Sellers/Starr rough gem
I saw this film once before, and thought it was in Black & White. It was filmed, for fans of the two stars, on the tail end of Sellers' swinging 60s films like "The Party" & "The Bobo", and in between Ringo's work on The Beatles' landmark "White Album" and the film/album/lawsuit "Let It Be". Essentially, Sellers and adopted sidekick Starr go about usurping stiff British affluence by using their unequalled wealth to be rude and piss people off, stating that "some people will do ANYTHING for money". A haphazard script and direction notwithstanding, this is an interesting art/statement film. ... Read More
Rating: - No, no....I only want the nose.
McGrath's film adaptation differs considerably Southern's novel. Relocated to London in the 1960s, it introduces an orphan whom Sir Guy Grand picks up in a park and on a whim, decides to adopt. The role was written with Ringo Starr (who plays it) in mind.
The Magic Christian is an unrelenting and often heavy-handed satire on capitalism, greed, racism and other human vanities. Notable are the appearances of (pre-Monty Python) John Cleese and Graham Chapman (uncredited), who had written an earlier version of the film script, of which only the scenes in which they appear survived.
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