The Great McGonagall (1974)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Joseph McGrath

Writers:

Joseph McGrath (writer)
Spike Milligan (writer)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy

Plot:

William Topaz McGonagall, the world's greateset poet. Unfortunately the whole of the rest of the world disagreed. His talent made him a sort of Victorian Chris Evans but without the cash.

Plot Keywords:

Poet | Independent Film | Character Name In Title

Cast

Spike Milligan	...	William McGonagall
Peter Sellers	...	Queen Victoria
Julia Foster	...	Mrs. McGonagall
John Bluthal	...	Mr. Giles, MacDuff, Herclues Paint, British Soldier, Policeman, McLain, Sherrif, Judge
Victor Spinetti	...	Mr. Stewart, Second-Lieutenant Rotlo, supposed John Brown, Gentleman, Revolutionary, Cardinal, Policeman
Valentine Dyall	...	Army Sergeant, Lord Tennyson, Doctor, Native messenger, Policeman, Fop
Julian Chagrin	...	Prince Albert, Rev. Gilfillan, Publican, Balmoral Policeman, Stagehand, Ruffian, Mr Stewart's assistant, British Soldier, Fop
Clifton Jones	...	King Theebaw, Policeman, Clerk of the Court, Mr Stewart's assistant, Zulu Chief, Ruffian, Fop
Charlie Young Atom	...	Postman, Policeman, Sleeper in the Snow, Theatre Announcer, Drinker (as Charlie Atom)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Luie Caballero	...	Man with parrot

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG | UK:AA (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Wilton's Music Hall, Grace's Alley, Ensign Street, Whitechapel, London, England, UK

Company:

Darlton

Trivia:

The title is a reference to the character played by W.C. Fields in _The Old Fashioned Way (1934)_.

Quotes:

William McGonagall: Is anything worn under the kilt?
John Brown: No, everything is in working order.

Soundtrack:

This Goodbye

A surreal yet brilliant film with extremely narrow appeal

Firstly I ought to say that apart from me its hard to see who this film will appeal to. To really enjoy it i think that you have to love the real poet Mcgonagall (otherwise you will miss the hilarious fact that all the poetry read in the film is quite real and written seriously) and have to appreciate the very surreal pythonesque humor (such as Prince Albert being dressed as Hitler from the waist up). If your one of the dozen people who fit into both of these categories you will adore the film as I did. However I must say that the best part of it was just listening to Spike Milligan (and Queen Victoria!) reading Mcgonagall's poetry. Surprisingly given the absolute madness of the film the ending is actually very touching.