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Great McGonagall, The
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| Year: |
1974
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Director: |
Joseph McGrath
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| Stars: |
Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Julia Foster, Victor Spinetti, John Bluthal, Julian Chagrin, Valentine Dyall, Clifton Jones, Charlie Atom
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| Genre: |
Comedy, Weirdo, Historical |
| Rating: |
  7 (from 2 votes) |
| Review: |
William Topaz McGonagall (Spike Milligan) was a Scottish weaver in Victorian Britain who decided to give up his profession to serve the muse of poetry. He became renowned as the worst poet of all time, but his ambition was never dampened and he continued to write regardless, convinced of his worth. One night, as he sat reading a newspaper in the Theatre Royal, Dundee, Queen Victoria (Peter Sellers) and Prince Albert (Julian Chagrin) were in attendance, and McGonagall prevented her majesty being assassinated. From then on, he devoted his work to her, but was only met with ridicule until the day he died.
If you're looking to learn something about the world's worst poet, then this film, written by Milligan and the director Joe McGrath, is not really the point to start. Taking place almost entirely in a theatre, it resembles a kind of amateur night that staggers haphazardly from one scene to the next, and the grotty, murky look of the film does nothing to dispel that impression. Obviously low budget, it's like a bizarre vanity project for Milligan, and includes many of the obsessions that would appear on his Q television series, such as Scotsmen in kilts, Adolf Hitler, custard pies in the face and false noses. Is it funny? It's certainly strange.
The film opens with Milligan tied to his chair in front of his dressing room mirror, being ludicrously made up by co-star Peter Sellers. From this you can guess this will be no ordinary biography, and more a showcase for its star's particular brand of nonsense humour. Then we see the rest of the cast being made up, and a group of extras being ushered into the auditorium of the theatre to serve as the audience. Sellers is more of a guest star, turning up at the beginning and disappearing for about an hour; in the meantime we see episodes from McGonagall's life and how he attained his legendary status - his actual poetry is used, although not so much that you get a sense of what made him so unique, as Milligan's delivery is unclear.
What seems to have attracted Milligan to the man was the opportunity to dress up as a Scotsman and play the misunderstood eccentric. Nobody appreciates the poet, not even his wife (Julia Foster) who lovingly tolerates him without providing support, and being unemployed he is unable to pay his debts. For this reason he is sent to prison - for a comedy it positively wallows in the misery of its main character's life - and the film crowbars in yet another irrelevant gag, where McGonagall is biffed by a boxing glove after hearing sweet singing from the next cell, with the result that he hallucinates a naked, dancing dolly bird. If you don't find absurdities like this amusing, you're not going to get on with this film.
Word about McGonagall's inept, would be literature gets around, and he is humoured by the establishment who are really laughing at him behind his back. He is given a forged invitation to meet his beloved Queen Victoria at Balmoral, and trudges his way there on foot; when he gets there he has a fine time being entertained by royalty (Prince Albert looks and acts like Adolf Hitler, of course), and Milligan and Sellers certainly enjoy themselves, but it's all a dream, and back to harsh reality for our hero, who sinks even lower. Utterly self-indulgent, The Great McGonagall will leave most people cold, in fact the person who would appreciate it most is no longer around to enjoy it, but a few laughs do emerge for those with the patience for its weird line in jokes. At any point it threatens to fall apart, and in one scene it does, where Milligan forgets his lines and McGrath intervenes - and this was scripted!
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| Reviewer: |
Graeme Clark
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Posted by:
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Date:
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14 Sep 2004 |
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My name is Donald and I am from the United States. My favorite movie is Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. My Second favorite movie is The Great McGonagall!
This Film is true artistry. It is a Salvador Dali Painting on film. It is ugly, dirty, dingy, hatefull, cynical, loving, caring, understanding, silly, and sad. It is a side by side self comparison of itself that shows the fraility of the human condition, but yet, the strength of will against all odds. It deals with social class structure, racisim, sexisim, imperialism, and descrimination against the eccentric. It made me laugh and it even made me cry at the end.
The Music sets the pace of them movie very well, with the the song "Its a Wonderful Country that we Live In" ,sung by "Herculese Faint," setting the tone for many of the scenes. This theme is happy when McGonagall is happy, on his way Balmoral, and is sad when he is sad, after getting being beaten by thugs. The songs meaningfulness is brought out when McGonagall starts moaning the words with his face in the floor after being beaten. A great counterpoint.
The Scenes with Queen Vic (Played brilliantly by Peter Sellers) show the delusionary side of McGonagall. We see his longing for stardom brought out whenever he passes out. This longing diminishes after he is duped at balmoral and ends up being beaten nigh to death. He "settles" into a role as being the star poet of a ficticious island kingom ruled by a black man. After all his fighting to be accepted by his peers, he looks inside and pulls out a flicker of hope from a very unexpected place. This happens as he is dying.
I cannot help but be moved by the ending, when he is mourned by his peers at his funeral, and then lies in state with his loving wife and children at his feet. The voiceover by Spike is what did it for me though. That is what started the old misty eyes!
Even the closing credits are set to beautiful music that plays right along with the sadness of the ending of the movie.
One last thing, a lot of people dont know this, but Spike and Joe McGrath filmed this movie on location at Wiltons Music Hall, London. They did this in an attempt to save it as a historic landmark. I dont know if it worked, but i hope it did.
This movie holds a place in my heart forever.
When the greatness of this movie comes out somday, and it is released widespread on DVD special edition, I want to do the voice over for the commentary track!
Love, Light, and Peace
Donald Miller |
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Posted by:
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Graeme Clark |
Date:
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14 Sep 2004 |
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If you can import DVDs, there's an essential region 2 one available with a good commentary track from director Joseph McGrath. |
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