Synopsis
Sir Guy Grand, the richest man in the world, adopts a homeless man, Youngman. Together, they set out to prove that anyone--and anything--can be bought.
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Cast
- Peter SellersSir Guy Grand KG, KC, CBE
- Ringo StarrYoungman Grand, Esq.
- Isabel JeansDame Agnes Grand
- Caroline BlakistonHon. Esther Grand
- Wilfrid Hyde-WhiteCaptain Reginald K. Klaus
- Spike MilliganTraffic Warden
- John CleeseDirector in Sotheby's
- Richard AttenboroughOxford Coach
- John Le MesurierSir John
- Raquel WelchPriestess of the Whip
Recommendations
- 75
TV Guide Magazine
A brazen, irreverent, and wild satire that hits more often than it misses, THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN seeks to prove that people will do anything, absolutely anything, for money--if there's enough of it. - 70
The New York Times
A superb realization of the book. - 50
Variety
A spotty, uneven satire (from the novel by Terry Southern) with a number of good yocks, but insufficient sustained wit or related action. - 50
The New Yorker
There are funny moments, but they don't add up to enough. - 40
Time Out
The Magic Christian is all too clearly representative of the impasse independent mainstream film-making found itself in when given its head by the industry in the '60s. The result is a variety concert of a film in which most of the acts/jokes fall flat. - 40
Village Voice
For Southern to be funny at all, jokes must be carried too far and decorum exploded at every turn. Even if McGrath were inclined to handle the material this way, mush of it has dated, and the screenplay by Southern, McGrath, and Peter Sellers does not so much update it as displace it. [26 Feb 1970, p.60] - 30
Chicago Reader
A curdled, unfunny satire made more painful by McGrath’s inappropriately jubilant style.
