Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
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During the Blitz, three orphans are placed in the care of a secret witch who offers them a magical bedknob in exchange for their silence.
The story
In August 1940, during the Blitz, three orphans named Charles, Carrie, and Paul Rawlins are evacuated from London to Pepperinge Eye near the Dorset coast. They are placed in the reluctant care of Miss Eglantine Price, who is secretly a witch learning magic through a correspondence school to aid the British war effort. After observing Miss Price flying on a broomstick, the children agree to a deal: she will provide them with a traveling spell on a magical bedknob in exchange for their silence. When her school announces an imminent closure, Miss Price convinces the children to use the bedknob to travel to London to find her teacher.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In August 1940, during the Blitz, three orphans named Charles, Carrie, and Paul Rawlins are evacuated from London to Pepperinge Eye near the Dorset coast. They are placed in the reluctant care of Miss Eglantine Price, who is secretly a witch. She offers the children a traveling spell on a magical bedknob in exchange for their silence. When her correspondence school announces its imminent closure, she convinces the children to use the bedknob to travel to London to find her teacher, Professor Emelius Browne. Browne, a street magician, reveals the spells work but the final spell, Substitutiary Locomotion, is missing pages. The group travels to Portobello Road to find the bookseller who sold Browne the book, discovering the spell is engraved on the Star of Astoroth, a medallion on a distant island called Naboombu. The group travels to Naboombu, where they enter a dance contest and later encounter King Leonidas. After a chaotic soccer match where Browne swaps the medallion for his whistle, they return to Miss Price's house. Miss Price exercises the Substitutiary Locomotion spell, which imbues objects with life, but they go out of control. She decides to adopt the children, and they ask Browne to be their father. When German commandos invade Miss Price's house, Browne inspires her to use the spell to enchant museum exhibits into an army. The army chases the Germans away, but the spell breaks, ending her career as a witch. Miss Price adopts the children with Mr. Browne, who departs with the Home Guard.
- First release year
- 1971
- Runtime (minutes)
- 117
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Robert Stevenson
- Writers
- Bill Walsh · screenplay; Don DaGradi · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Angela Lansbury · Miss Eglantine Price; David Tomlinson · Mr. Emelius Browne; Roddy McDowall · Mr. Rowan Jelk; Sam Jaffe · Bookman; John Ericson · Colonel Heller; Bruce Forsyth · Swinburne; Cindy O'Callaghan · Carrie Rawlins; Roy Snart · Paul Rawlins
- Genres
- musical; fantasy; comedy
- Themes
- Magic; War; Family; Adventure
- Tone and mood
- Cheerful; Whimsical; Adventurous
- Premise and plot tags
- Live-action/Animation; Musical; Fantasy; War; Orphans; Witchcraft
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Magic Bedknob (1943) and Bonfires and Broomsticks (1947) by Mary Norton
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising the live-action/animated sequence and others criticizing its lack of heart or its slow pace. It received five Academy Awards nominations.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 59 · scale: 100 · review count: 11
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Special Visual Effects · Win
- Production trivia
- It was the last film released before the death of Walt Disney's surviving brother, Roy O. Disney.; It was the last theatrical film Reginald Owen appeared in before his death.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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