The Magic Christian (1969)

Directed by

Joseph McGrath

Genre

black comedy film

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

1h 45m

Rated

PG

Rating

5.8 of 10 from 48 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

An eccentric billionaire uses his vast wealth to stage elaborate pranks on unsuspecting people. The film follows his antics with his adopted son as they travel around causing chaos.

satiricalwhimsicalplayfulabsurdlightheartedirreverentcampyoffbeat

What happens

The Magic Christian is a 1969 British satirical farce black comedy film directed by Joseph McGrath and starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr, with appearances by John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Raquel Welch, Spike Milligan, Christopher Lee, Richard Attenborough and Roman Polanski. The film, telling the story of an eccentric billionaire who spends his money orchestrating elaborate practical jokes, was loosely adapted from the 1959 comic novel The Magic Christian by the American author Terry Southern, who co-wrote the screenplay adaptation with McGrath. The film also features pre-Monty Python appearances of John Cleese (credited) and an uncredited Graham Chapman, who had jointly written an earlier version of the film script. It also features an uncredited appearance by Yul Brynner performing “Mad About the Boy” as a drag artist. Songs by Badfinger, including "Come and Get It" written by Paul McCartney, were used on the soundtrack. The official soundtrack album had other music as well as dialogue from the film. Badfinger released an album, Magic Christian Music, containing their three songs for the film. The film received mostly negative reviews on release, citing its unrelenting and heavy-handed satire of capitalism, greed and human vanities. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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