Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)

I think I can trace my love of knights wearing suits of armor not back to a distant relative who fought in the Crusades or the Battle of Agincourt but one of the first movies I remember seeing in a movie theater. It was the Fox Theater (now gone) in downtown Portland, OR. My mother took my sister and I to a matinee. The film was BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS (1971) from Walt  Disney Studios directed by Robert Stevenson (with animation sequences directed by Ward Kimball). Capitalizing on the success of MARY POPPINS (1964 and also directed by Stevenson) with its combination of live action and animation, BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS was a strange mix of World War II drama, fantasy, and witchcraft. If I recall correctly, we saw BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS as part of a double feature with another Robert Stevenson directed film IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS (1962), a live action Disney film that was spring boarding off the success of Ken Annakin's SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (1960), another Disney family adventure film. 

I have not seen BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS since I saw it for the first time 54 years ago. When we added Disney to our streaming selections recently, I wondered if BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS might be among their vast titles available to stream. It was. About a year ago, out of curiosity, I decided to watch it. I should say I tried to watch it. Whatever magic BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS provided me as a child did not return to me as an adult at that moment. I barely made it through 15 minutes of the film (my favorite part with the suits of armor coming to life doesn't happen until the climax). I must not have been in the right mood to watch the film. The pacing was slow, the early scenes mostly on soundstages and not real English locations, and the Cockney accents a bit hard to follow. But I swore I would give BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS another try, from start to finish, and with a fair, objective viewing. So here we go.

With a screenplay by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi based on two novels by Mary Norton The Magic Doorknob and Bonfires and Broomsticks and directed by Robert Stevenson, BEDKNOBS and BROOMSTICKS takes place during the Blitz in August of 1940 in the quaint village of Pepperinge Eye on the Dorset coast in England. While the locals (mostly old men) train for a possible German invasion, Miss Eglantine Price rides into town to pick up a parcel from postmaster Mrs. Hobday (Tessie O'Shea).  Miss Price is recruited by Mrs. Hobday to take home three orphans from London  who have been sent to the country to avoid the nightly bombings - 11 year old Charlie Rawlins (Ian Weighill), middle child Carrie Rawlins (Cindy O'Callaghan), and the youngest 6 year old Paul Rawlins (Roy Snart). Miss Price reluctantly agrees. When Miss Price believes the children are asleep, she opens up her parcel.  It's a broomstick from the College of Witchcraft. Miss Price is an apprentice witch. As the Rawlins kids try to sneak out of the house to go back to London, they see Miss Price attempting to fly. The children decide to stay. Charlie tries to blackmail Miss Price for better food and fewer showers only to be transformed temporarily into a rabbit.

Miss Price is waiting for one last final spell from the College so she can protect England from the Nazis. She makes a deal with the kids. She agrees to help them get back to London with a transportation spell she places on a bedknob that Paul had nicked from his room. In return, the kids promise to not reveal her secret. Miss Price receives a telegram from the College of Witchcraft that it's closing due to the war. She won't receive her final spell. Miss Price decides to use the magical bedknob to transport to London and find her correspondence teacher Emelius Browne (David Tomlinson). Paul turns the bedknob and they fly on the bed over the countryside to London where they discover Browne is just a con man street magician and not a very good one. When Miss Price tells Browne his spells work, Browne reveals he just wrote them down from an old Book of Spells he had bought at a bookstore. 

Browne brings them back to an empty house next to a live bomb he currently resides in. While the children explore the nursery and discover a story book called Island of Naboombu, Miss Price learns that Browne's magic book is missing a key page for Miss Price to use the Substitutiary Locomotion spell. Browne takes them to a market on Portobello Road where he bought the book. A knife wielding thug Swinburne (Bruce Forsythe) leads them to the Bookman (Sam Jaffe), a mysterious old man also searching for the same spell as Miss Price. He has the missing page but it reveals nothing further. The Bookman tells them a legend foretells that the spell is written on a medallion known as the Star of Astoroth, named after a sorcerer. The medallion is believed to be on an island called Naboombu, inhabited by talking animals. Paul confirms the island's existence by showing everyone the storybook. Before the Bookman and Swinburne can stop them, Miss Price, Browne, and the children turn the bedknob and command the bed to fly to the island of Naboombu. 

They crash land underwater in the island's lagoon where they meet a bevy of animated sea creatures including Mr. Codfish (Bob Holt). After Miss Price and Browne win a dance contest underwater, a giant fishing hook cast above water by Bear (Dallas McKennon) pulls the bed onto shore. Humans are not allowed on Naboombu but the lion King Leonidas (Lennie Weinrib), wearing the Star of Astoroth allows it when Browne volunteers to referee the Royal Cup soccer match. King Leonidas's team wins. During the ceremony, Browne switches his referee's whistle around Leonidas's neck for the Star of Astoroth. The group hurry to the bed and depart Naboombu before Leonidas can stop them returning to Pepperinge Eye. They discover the Star of Astoroth did not travel well from one world to another and it vanishes. Miss Price regrets not memorizing the spell on the medallion. But Paul shows her the spell's words are written in the storybook. The Germans show up offshore at night in a submarine and row to shore led by Colonel Heller (John Ericson). Their raid is to cause mischief in the village. Miss Price uses the Substitutiary Locomotion spell to bring all the nearby museums suits of armor and military uniforms to life to fight the Germans and force them to retreat back to their submarine.  The village is saved and a new family is formed consisting of Miss Price, Mr. Browne, and the three Rawlins orphans. 

For a Disney film, BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS tackles some serious subjects from World War II but works around it's darker tones in typical Disney fashion. The London Blitz was a horrible period early in WWII where the Germans bombed London night after night.  70,000 civilians were killed in the Blitz. The film never states it point blank but the Rawlins children's parents were killed in the Blitz.  That's why they're orphans and have been sent to the countryside for their safety. The Germans aka Nazis in BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS are not portrayed as sadistic, evil invaders. Their most devious act is cutting the phone lines. Col. Heller is serious but he doesn't torture any of the villagers. When the suits of armor and war uniforms come to life, the Germans are shown to be clumsy and buffoonish as they deal with the supernatural army. It's a comic retreat for the Third Reich. Their darker deeds will happen offscreen and after BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS is over.

For a quaint musical fantasy, BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS has quite an interesting history and a lot in common with Disney's first live hit action/animated film MARY POPPINS.  Both films were developed at the same time in the early 1960s. MARY POPPINS has a magical nanny; BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS an apprentice witch. Both films were helmed by Robert Stevenson who directed numerous Disney movies from the pirate film KIDNAPPED (1960) based on the Robert Louis Stevenson (no relation) novel all the way to THE SHAGGY D.A. (1976).  Screenwriters Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi wrote both screenplays. When MARY POPPINS ran into some early movie rights issues with Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers, BEDKNOBS AND BROOSTICKS was prepped to take its place. Disney and Travers eventually worked out their differences and MARY POPPINS was made first. Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman provided the music and lyrics for both MARY POPPINS and BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS. I would suggest the songs are a little better in MARY POPPINS but don't brush off the musical numbers in BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS. 

Julie Andrews who became a star after appearing in MARY POPPINS initially turned down the opportunity to star in BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS.  Andrews would have a change of heart but when she let Disney Studios know she was interested in BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS, they told her that Angela Lansbury had already been hired. Rumor has it Dick Van Dyke was offered the David Tomlinson role of Mr. Browne but Van Dyke felt it was too similar to his character in MARY POPPINS. BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS was released in theaters with a running time of 119 minutes.  It's original running time was 141 minutes.  When Disney wanted to celebrate BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS 25th Anniversary, the longer version was assembled which included more musical numbers and some additional scenes with actor Roddy McDowell as the local vicar Rowan Jelk. 

Poor Roddy McDowell. McDowell has third billing in BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS but his role was reduced dramatically from the longer version to the released theatrical version. In the longer version, McDowell had more scenes with Lansbury's Miss Price with a subplot that McDowell's Jelk was an interested suitor in Miss Price. In the theatrical release most saw, Jelk appears in only two scenes (one at the beginning and one two thirds in) barely more than two minutes in total running time. McDowell started out as a child actor in John Ford's HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941) and grew up into a solid adult actor in films like Joseph L. Mankiewicz's CLEOPATRA (1963), Franklin J. Schaffner's PLANET OF THE APES (1968) and it's four sequels, and Tom Holland's FRIGHT NIGHT (1985). 

Later in her career, Angela Lansbury played matronly, great aunt like roles such as author and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the CBS mystery show MURDER SHE WROTE (1984-1996) or as Mrs. Potts in the animated BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991).  Earlier in her film career, Lansbury's roles were darker like the manipulative mother of Laurence Harvey in John Frankenheimer's THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962) or a cheating wife in George Roy Hill's THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT (1964). As Miss Price in BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS, Lansbury displays another side to her talent - singing and dancing (Lansbury was an accomplished Broadway star in both dramas and musicals). Lansbury's Miss Price is a slightly dotty but benevolent, patriotic witch determined to learn spells to protect Great Britain from the Germans. Lansbury doesn't come off as sweet as Julie Andrews in MARY POPPINS. Lansbury's Miss Price is practical and her heart eventually thaws for the three orphans she reluctantly agreed to take care of at the start of the film.

Another MARY POPPINS connection is actor David Tomlinson who plays magician con artist Emelius Browne in BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS. Tomlinson was a favorite of Disney Studios and director Robert Stevenson. Tomlinson appeared in MARY POPPINS as Mary Poppins employer Mr. Banks and also in Disney's THE LOVE BUG (1968). Tomlinson is another in a long line of English character actors like John McGiver (BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S) or Robert Morley (THE AFRICAN QUEEN). In BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS, Tomlinson's Browne is a charlatan yet Browne never appears sinister or acts like a rogue. He's generally shocked to learn what he thought were useless spells turn out to work. Browne turns out to be an amicable, adaptable bloke whether it's flying on a magical bed or refereeing a soccer game between two teams made up of talking wild animals. Browne will become a father figure to the three orphan Rawlins kids. There's an underlying romance that evolves between Browne and Miss Price. In typical Disney fashion, it's subtle. The steamiest their relationship gets is Browne and Miss Price dancing together in the Naboombu dance contest. The finale of BEKKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS hints that Price, Browne, and the Rawlins kids will become a family. 

Disney films have introduced audiences to some good child actors from Bobby Driscoll in Byron Haskin's TREASURE ISLAND (1950) to James McArthur in SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON to Kurt Russell in Robert Butler's THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES (1969). The child actors in BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS would not go on to become famous movie stars (the two young male actors never made another film). But for two hours, Ian Weighill, Cindy O'Callaghan, and Roy Snart play their roles as blue collar, London orphans perfectly and realistically. Early in the film, Weighill as Charlie has the stronger part. Later, the younger Snart as Paul steals the film. His character plays the biggest role in confirming the existence of Naboombu (he found the storybook) and discovering the magic words for the final spell on the Star of Astoroth in the storybook. 

A fantasy film about an English apprentice witch, I couldn't help but see a connection between BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS and the phenomenon that ruled movie screens 30 years later for over a decade with the HARRY POTTER films beginning with Chris Columbus's HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE (2001). Although older, Miss Price studying witchcraft and learning spells through a witchcraft correspondence school hearkens to Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley studying magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. One can imagine BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICK'S Miss Price growing up to become like Maggie Smith's Professor Minerva McGonagall in the HARRY POTTER films, teaching future young witches and wizards spells and charms. HARRY POTTER author J.K. Rowling would have been six years old in 1971, almost the same age as I was when BEKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS was released. Could BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS have been her first introduction to magic and witchcraft? It's an interesting theory. 

Some final thoughts on BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS. One of the film's surprises are how good the animation and special effects are. CGI was not around in 1971.  Rear projection was still the workhorse for the movie industry.  The animated sequences in BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS matching real actors with animated characters looks very seamless. Credit to Ward Kimball who directed the animation sequences in BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS. It's not a surprise that Kimball was an animator on MARY POPPINS for its animated sequences. The suits of armor and other battlefield uniforms brought to life by Miss Price marching and chasing the Germans off the island is well executed and makes for a rousing finale. BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS was rewarded with winning the Academy Award for Best Special Effects in 1972 for Alan Maley, Eustache Lycett, and Danny Lee. 

It should not come as a surprise that Walt Disney who began his film career and studio on the animated side with the Mickey Mouse short STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928) followed by full length films like SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES (1937) would eventually merge animation with live action. MARY POPPINS receives most of the acclaim for this combination and its well deserved as its a fun, entertaining film with great performances by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke and songs that stick in your head. But BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS is a sneaky fun film with better animation and visual effects and equally fine performances by Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson.  It deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as MARY POPPINS. The fact that both films have the same director, screenwriters, and lyricists unites BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS and MARY POPPINS in a way that doesn't normally happen with two films seven years apart. Little did I know the convoluted history of BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS when I saw it as a young boy. I just know it enchanted me as a kid and that enchantment was ignited again five decades later.