Bedknobs and Broomsticks

"You'll beWITCHED! You'll beDAZZLED! You'll be swept into a world of enchantment BEYOND ANYTHING BEFORE!"

1971 1h 57m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 1,052

FamilyAnimationFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Three children evacuated from London during World War II are forced to stay with an eccentric spinster. The children's initial fears disappear when they find out she is in fact a trainee witch.

“You'll beWITCHED! You'll beDAZZLED! You'll be swept into a world of enchantment BEYOND ANYTHING BEFORE!”

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Cast

Angela Lansbury
Miss Price
David Tomlinson
Emelius
Roddy McDowall
Mr. Jelk
Sam Jaffe
Bookman
John Ericson
Col. Heller
Bruce Forsyth
Swinburne
Cindy O'Callaghan
Carrie
Roy Snart
Paul

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Stevenson
Writers: Bill Walsh, Don DaGradi, Ralph Wright
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 90% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

55 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert Stevenson, shot by Frank V. Phillips. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Irwin Kostal. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Cotton Warburton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson and Roddy McDowall carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "You'll beWITCHED! You'll beDAZZLED! You'll be swept into a world of enchantment BEYOND ANYTHING BEFORE!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0066817 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Stevenson directs. Frank V. Phillips behind the camera. Irwin Kostal scores. Cotton Warburton cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 90% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
255 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Robert Stevenson, shot by Frank V. Phillips. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Irwin Kostal. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Cotton Warburton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson and Roddy McDowall carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "You'll beWITCHED! You'll beDAZZLED! You'll be swept into a world of enchantment BEYOND ANYTHING BEFORE!".
8IMDB entry: tt0066817 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 8 themes, including "witch", "flying", "nazi", "world war ii".
10Released under 25 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Frank V. Phillips
Original score: Irwin Kostal
Editing: Cotton Warburton
Runtime: 117 min · 1h 57m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $20,000,000
Box office: $17,900,000
Return: 90% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Robert Stevenson

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Selected frames

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2018-03-18
★ 8/10
When I was younger, I used to spend a lot of my life alone in a studio with one of those tiny little 15cm TVs you wouldn't be caught dead with nowadays, plugged in to a VCR player, and exactly three movies on VHS. One of those three movies (the best of those three) was Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I watched it multiple times a day, every day, for months at a time. A period piece musical that saw orphans and their witch-friend get an army of sentient suits of armour to fight the Nazis... Is it any bloody wonder I turned out the way I did? Great movie though. Wouldn't kill me to see a remake with modern technology. So long as it kept the vibe and setting of the original. Final rating:★★★★ - Very strong appeal. A personal favourite.
CinemaSerf2022-11-26
★ 7/10
It's very much in the vein of "Mary Poppins" (1964) this, with a very similar style of live-action and animated sequences used to tell a slightly more menacing story. When three siblings arrive in a rural English village, evacuated from London during the Blitz of WWII, they are placed with the rather eccentric and definitely unwilling "Miss Price" (Angela Lansbury). Things start to look up for all concerned though when the kids discover that she is a trainee witch, and when they meet "Emelius" (David Tomlinson) they embark on some adventures using their magical bed as their vehicle in the search for the missing part of a substitutiary locomotion spell that might just thwart the Nazis. As with "Poppins", the music and lyrics come from the Sherman twins and "Beautiful Briny" and "Portobello Road" are probably the two best from their not so catchy soundtrack this time. Lansbury and Tomlinson work well together with the former on good form as the ostensibly prim and proper, but actually quite feisty and mischievous would-be witch. The three youngsters also perform well, especially the youngest "Paul" (Roy Snart) who just won't let anyone else near the knob that controls the bed! A smattering of familiar faces help to keep the story bobbing along nicely and the animations, tough not so frequent as I would have liked, blend in well with some fun action scenes - especially at the end - and make for an enjoyable, feel-good, family movie.