The Magic Christian (1969) on Netflix
Sir Guy Grand adopts Youngman, a homeless man sleeping in a park, as his heir. The eccentric billionaire spends his fortune on practical jokes and bribes to prove everyone has a price.
- Netflix3.0/5
- IMDb5.8/104,235 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes61%
Trailer
Plot summary
Sir Guy Grand is an eccentric billionaire, the richest man in the world. He adopts Youngman, a homeless man he finds sleeping in a park, as his heir. Together they stage practical jokes on people, and Grand hands out large sums of money to bribe strangers into doing as he asks. Grand treats the plots as lessons for Youngman: everyone has a price, and the amount is what matters.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Magic Christian (1969)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The climactic vat scene was originally to be shot at the Statue of Liberty, and the U.S. National Park Service agreed to allow it. Peter Sellers, Terry Southern and Joseph McGrath sailed to New York on the Queen Elizabeth 2 at a reported US$10,000 each, but the studio refused to pay and the shoot moved to London.
- The scene with the vat of animal blood, urine and excrement was filmed on a stretch of waste ground on London's South Bank, the site where the National Theatre was later built.
- The role of the orphan heir was written with John Lennon in mind but went to Ringo Starr, and Starr and Peter Sellers became good friends during the shoot.
- The Simpsons episode "Homer vs. Dignity" follows the film's plot, and writer Grant Morrison named The Magic Christian as an inspiration for their series Batman Incorporated.
- Peter Sellers liked the book so much that he gave a copy to Stanley Kubrick, who then hired Southern to co-write Dr. Strangelove (1964) as a black comedy rather than a straightforward thriller.
