Kurt at 04:21, 8 February 2023

2023-02-08T04:21:30Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:21, 7 February 2023
Line 1:		Line 1:
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=June 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=June 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	~~\| name = The Great McGonagall~~
	\| image = The Great McGonagall poster.jpg		\| image = The Great McGonagall poster.jpg
	~~\| image_size =~~
	\| alt =		\| alt =
	\| caption = UK Quad		\| caption = UK Quad
Line 60:		Line 56:
	==External links==		==External links==
	*{{IMDb title\|0071579}}		*{{IMDb title\|0071579}}
	~~{{Joseph McGrath (director)}}~~

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Great McGonagall, The}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Great McGonagall, The}}
Line 75:		Line 70:
	[[Category:1970s English-language films]]		[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
	[[Category:1970s British films]]		[[Category:1970s British films]]


	~~{{1970s-UK-comedy-film-stub}}~~

Kurt at 21:08, 16 September 2022

2022-09-16T21:08:48Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:08, 16 September 2022
Line 1:		Line 1:
	~~{{More citations needed\|date=May 2018}}~~
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=June 2016}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=June 2016}}
	{{Use British English\|date=June 2016}}		{{Use British English\|date=June 2016}}

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2022-09-16T14:27:20Z

1 revision imported

← Older revision	Revision as of 09:27, 16 September 2022
(No difference)

en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* External links */add Category:1970s British films

2022-09-04T22:33:43Z

External links: add Category:1970s British films

New page

{{More citations needed|date=May 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Great McGonagall
| image = The Great McGonagall poster.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = UK Quad
| director = [[Joseph McGrath (film director)|Joseph McGrath]]
| producer =
| writer = Joseph McGrath [[Spike Milligan]]
| screenplay =
| story =
| based_on =
| narrator =
| starring = Spike Milligan [[Peter Sellers]] [[Julia Foster]] [[John Bluthal]] [[Victor Spinetti]]
| music = [[John Carter (English musician)|John Shakespeare]]
| cinematography = John Mackey
| editing = Rusty Coppleman
| studio =
| distributor = [[Tigon British Film Productions]] {{small|(UK)}}
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1975|01|22|London, UK}}
| runtime = 85 Mins
| country = [[United Kingdom]]
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}

'''''The Great McGonagall''''' is a 1974 British comedy film directed by [[Joseph McGrath (film director)|Joseph McGrath]] and starring [[Spike Milligan]] in the title role, [[Peter Sellers]] as [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Julia Foster]] as Mrs McGonagall.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/62374|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114002158/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/62374|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 January 2009|title=The Great McGonagall (1974)|website=Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk|access-date=9 May 2018}}</ref> It is a humorous biopic of the Scottish poet [[William McGonagall]] that includes several of McGonagall's actual poems, his appearing in the title role of ''[[Macbeth]]'' and his "improvement" of the [[William Shakespeare|Bard]]'s plot, his pilgrimage to [[Balmoral Castle]], the attempted assassination of Queen Victoria by [[Roderick McLean]] and a tribute to McGonagall from Lt Frederick Rollo of the [[Royal Scots]] in [[Zulu Kingdom|Zululand]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/articles/the-great-mcgonagall-3|title=McGonagall Online – The Great McGonagall|website=Mcgonagall-online.org.uk|access-date=9 May 2018}}</ref><ref>GREAT McGONAGALL, The
Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 42, Iss. 492, (Jan 1, 1975): 57.</ref>

==Principal cast==
* [[Spike Milligan]] – William McGonagall
* [[Peter Sellers]] – Queen Victoria
* [[Julia Foster]] – Mrs. McGonagall
* [[John Bluthal]]
* [[Victor Spinetti]]
* [[Valentine Dyall]]
* [[Clifton Jones]]
* [[Julian Chagrin]]
* Charlie Young Atom

==Production==
On the DVD commentary [[Joseph McGrath (film director)|Joseph McGrath]] recounted the film was made in three weeks at [[Wilton's Music Hall]] in London, including one week of rehearsal. Peter Sellers was on the film for only one week. McGrath said Sellers "insisted on coming and guesting in it" and played the role of Queen Victoria on his knees, wearing roller-skates.<ref name="auto">{{cite book|last1=Sikov|first1=Ed|title=Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers|url=https://archive.org/details/mrstrangelovebio00siko_0|url-access=registration|date=2002|publisher=Hyperion|chapter=Chapter 20|isbn=9781447207146|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mrstrangelovebio00siko_0/page/433 433]}}</ref>

The film was produced by British pornography producer [[David Grant (producer)|David Grant]], who forced McGrath to put in some nude scenes and used the film as a tax write-off. McGrath also dubbed midget Charlie Atom's lines when he was unavailable for the dubbing of the film.

''The Great McGonagall'' was the seventh in a string of flops for Sellers, whose career improved with his next film ''[[The Return of the Pink Panther]]'' (1975).<ref name="auto"/>

==Critical reception==
In ''The New York Times'', [[Richard Eder]] wrote "''The Great McGonagall'', which opened yesterday at the Cinema Village, is endearing, and parts of it are lively and hilarious. But it lacks enough of an organizing principle in its chaos to succeed as a movie...The pace is frenetic, the level of reality shifts every two minutes, it is stuffed with visual absurdities, old jokes and take-offs. Some work, some exasperate...McGonagall dies, and you are sorry. Despite his madness, his delusions, his bad poems, you miss him. He is a radiant failure. So, in a way, is his movie, with all bad jokes, carelessness and confusion."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9904E3DA1E3CE034BC4E52DFBE66838E669EDE?|title=Film: 'McGonagall,' Son of 'Goon Show'|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=9 May 2018}}</ref>

==Books==
A related book, ''The Great McGonagall Scrapbook'' by Spike Milligan and Jack Hobbs, was published by M & J Hobbs in 1975. A paperback edition was published by Star Books in 1976. Milligan and Hobbs co-wrote three more McGonagall books: ''William McGonagall: The Truth at Last'' (1976, with illustrations by Peter Sellers), ''William McGonagall Meets George Gershwin: A Scottish Fantasy'' (1988) and ''William McGonagall: Freefall'' (1992).<ref>{{cite web|title=Spike Milligan|url=https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/spike-milligan|website=Fantastic Fiction|access-date=3 July 2017}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0071579}}
{{Joseph McGrath (director)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Great McGonagall, The}}
[[Category:1974 films]]
[[Category:1974 comedy films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:Films about poets]]
[[Category:Films about poetry]]
[[Category:Films directed by Joseph McGrath (film director)]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Queen Victoria on film]]
[[Category:1975 comedy films]]
[[Category:1975 films]]
[[Category:Biographical films about poets]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1970s British films]]

{{1970s-UK-comedy-film-stub}}

The Great McGonagall (film) - Revision history

Kurt at 04:21, 8 February 2023

Kurt at 21:08, 16 September 2022

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* External links */add Category:1970s British films