Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)

Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)

 8/10

Starring

Angela Lansbury

David Tomlinson

Ian Weighill

Cindy O’Callaghan

Roy Snart

 

Directed by Robert Stevenson

 

Whenever I think about Bedknobs and Broomsticks, as a child, I used to see it as Mary Poppins' little brother movie. Both were done by Disney and were just fantastic. Because David Tomlinson was in both, we had both movies, and I loved them. The mix of live-action and animation gave me fun memories of the dream to be free. These movies depict the freedom we crave as children—to travel through a picture to the other side and become part of the world you see. To have a magical bed that can take you to any part of the world, or even out of this world to an island controlled by talking animals. These movies were my childhood, and I cannot recall how many times I saw them growing up.

Seeing this movie now still gives me the same joy I had as a child—maybe no longer wishing to travel through paintings or own a magical bed, but there’s a joy from the nostalgia.
The story is well-crafted to create excitement and make you sing along. It’s enticing and makes you sit with full concentration. And in the end, we defeat the Nazis—what could be greater than that?

The film is loosely based on two books by Mary Norton: The Magic Bedknob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons (1943) and Bonfires and Broomsticks (1947).

Our movie starts in the middle of World War II. Children had been evacuated from London and placed in homes. Miss Eglantine Price (Angela Lansbury) is given three children to care for: Charlie, Carrie, and Paul. During that time, by law, children were given to people with homes who could care for them. She reluctantly accepts this task and takes them to her home.

Miss Price has a secret, which the children learn early on after settling into her home. Miss Price is an apprentice witch who has been taking lessons from Prof. Emelius Brown (David Tomlinson). Miss Price needs to master the art of magic so she can use it for a specific purpose. The children try to blackmail her but fail, as Miss Price is not easily pushed around. However, she agrees to give them a gift: a magic bedknob which, when placed on the bed, can take them anywhere they want to go.

After learning that Prof. Brown is no longer willing to help her complete her class, she travels with the children to see him—on the bed, using the magic bedknob. Soon, we are taken on a magical ride with Miss Price, Prof. Brown, and the children as they try to find the final spell for her class. They deal with animals on an island where animals rule and try to make it back with the last spell to achieve her goal.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks is one of the old classics that I feel everyone should own and watch every time they finish seeing Mary Poppins.