
            Bedknobs and BroomsticksThe movie is mainly set in a small South Coast English village, Pepperinge Eye, during World War II: an elderly farmer (Cyril Delevanti) is painting out the sign-posts, the Home Guard are exercising, led by General Sir Brian Teagler (Reginald Owen) and Captain Aisley Greer (Arthur Gould-Porter), and Mrs. Hobday (Tessie OShea) is allocating homes to children whom have been evacuated from London (sent to the countryside away from the risk of bombing raids). The three Rawlings children, Charlie (Ian Weighill), Carrie (Cindy OCallaghan) and Paul (Roy Smart) are assigned and reluctantly taken in by Miss Eglantine Price (Angela Lansbury). The children are also unhappy, not least at Miss Price's vegetarian lifestyle, and plan to run back to London, but unexpectedly discover, through her attempts to fly on a broomstick, that Miss Price is a trainee witch, complete with black cat ("Cosmic Creepers") and fully fitted magical laboratory ("poisoned dragons liver"); and to ensure their silence about this, she presents Paul, the youngest, with a magical bed-knob with which he can cause the bed to travel anywhere.Miss Price is eagerly awaiting the last installment of her magic correspondence course from 'Professor' Emelius Browne (David Tomlinson) of the College of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and is very disappointed when it fails to arrive, the College having closed. Using the bed (song: 'Age of Not Believing'), she and the children visit Mr. Browne in London, where he is revealed as a somewhat shady stage-magician turned street-vendor selling magic tricks: he takes Miss Price and the children to his home, a mansion abandoned because of an USN-exploded bomb in the front garden, where the children play in the nursery and he, astounded that Miss Price can actually perform genuine magic, firstly tries to induce her to form a magic variety act with him (song: 'Eglantine'), and then (after being briefly turned into a white rabbit by Miss Price to force him to be sensible) reveals that he copied all the spells used in his correspondence course from an old book, 'The Spells of Astaroth', of which, however, he only possesses the first half, without the words to the "substitutiary locomotion" spell so desired by Miss Price.Mr. Browne decides the other half of the book is likely to be found in the Portobello Road street-market, so all go there the following day to search for the book, meeting amongst others an old-book-seller (Ben Wrigley). After an extensive song-and-dance-number (song: 'Portobello Road', featuring representatives of many nations which were part of the Allied WWII forces, including Scots, Indians and Jamaicans), as the market is closing, Browne is approached by the sinister 'spiv' Swinburne (Bruce Forsyth) who takes him (and the children and Miss Price, and the bed) to The Bookman (Sam Jaffe) who possesses the other half of the book, but this also does not contain the spell words. It is revealed that the spell is actually inscribed on the 'Star of Astaroth', now in the possession of magically enhanced and human-like animals, formerly owned by the sorcerer Astaroth, on the Isle of Naboombu. Paul, who has taken a cloth book about the Isle of Naboombu from the nursery, now activates the bed-knob to take Mr. Browne, Miss Price, and the three children there. (The following section of the movie, on Naboombu, is animation with live-action from these five individuals).Arriving at the Isle of Naboombu, the bed and its occupants falls into the lagoon, where it is washed into a sunken ship, the Beautiful Briny Ballroom where the fish are dancing: Mr. Browne and Miss Price join in (song: 'Beautiful Briny Sea'), and win the prize of a gold cup, but then all the fish disperse on seeing a fish-hook descend, which catches on the bed and draws it and the humans to the surface. There they meet a talking bear, who takes them to meet the King's secretary (a secretary bird): the King (a lion) is in a dreadful rage because there is no-one to referee his football match. Mr. Browne volunteers. The football match, between the King's team, the 'Dirty Yellows' (lion, hyena, gorilla, warthog, crocodile, rhinoceros), and the 'True Blues' (ostrich, elephant, cheetah, hippopotamus, kangaroo - yes, there are more players on the King's side) then takes place, the King scoring the winning goal, and Mr. Browne getting thoroughly beaten up, although not fatally injured, to the disappointment of the medical staff (vultures). After the match Mr. Browne pulls the "gypsy switch" on the King, substituting his referee's whistle for the Star of Astaroth round the King's neck: the humans then leave pursued by the King as soon as he realizes what has occurred, who is turned into a rabbit by Ms. Price.Back in Pepperinge Eye, Miss Price asks for the Star, but as it has come from another world, it has evaporated: however Paul finds the five magic words of the substitutiary locomotion spell on a picture of the Star in his children's book. Miss Price tries out the spell, which animates clothing, with initially uncontrolled effect (also affecting the hat of the local curate, Mr. Jelk (Roddy McDowall): song: 'Substitutiary Locomotion'). Mrs. Hobday arrives to inform Miss Price that alternative accommodation has been found for the children - which saddens them. Mr. Browne, fearing a family type commitment, also decides he should return to London, and goes to the station to await the milk-train.However, a troop of German soldiers under the command of Colonel Heller (John Ericson) have landed from a U-boat (submarine) on a raid, and take over Miss Price's cottage for their headquarters. She and the children are taken to the local castle, now a museum, and locked in: they are joined by Mr. Browne, who has also spotted the Germans and managed to turn himself into a white rabbit in order to escape. Using the substitutiary locomotion spell, Miss Price animates the entire contents of the museum, some hundreds of costumes of Vikings, Knights, Cavaliers, Hussars etc., plus drums, trumpets and a trio of bagpipe players, and launches these against the Germans, herself directing them from her broomstick. The Germans, including their sergeant (Rick Traeger) are driven with numerous comic effects back to the U-Boat, although they detonate explosives which destroy Miss Price's magical laboratory. Miss Price is slightly injured, at which the whole substitutiary locomotion activated army collapses. The Home Guard arrive to see the Germans leaving, and to claim the victory. The movie ends with the children remaining with Miss Price, and Mr. Browne joining the army but vowing to return, escorted by the Home Guard (song: 'Old Home Guard').
    

Bedknobs and Broomsticks


            In 1933, in a castle located high in the Himalayas, master criminal, Dr. Fu Manchu (Peter Sellers), celebrates his birthday by demanding a vial of "elixir vitae," a fountain-of-youth potion responsible for his 168 years of life. When a follower (Burt Kwouk) presents the elixir, his clothing catches fire from the candles on the birthday cake, so he douses the flames with the elixir. Fu Manchu orders the follower tortured and killed, then announces to his other bandit followers, the Dacoits, that they must carry out several international robberies to gather the precious ingredients for more elixir.In America, a Dacoit is sent to a Washington, D.C., museum, where he observes the Star of Leningrad diamond, and learns that Czar Nicolai presented an identical canary diamond to his cousin, King George V, that is on display in London. At night, the Dacoit steals the jewel.In London, FBI agent Giuseppe "Joe" Capone (Sid Ceasar) and his assistant, Pete Williams (Steve Franken), visit Commissioner Roger Avery (David Tomlinson) and his nephew and assistant, detective inspector Robert Townsend (Simon Williams), at Scotland Yard to discuss the case. When Commissioner Avery is shown a clue, he immediately recognizes it as belonging to the Si-Fan, the dangerous, secret Asian crime organization headed by Fu Manchu. The FBI agents ask to speak to Inspector Nayland Smith (Peter Sellers in a dual role), an authority on the Si-Fan, but learn that he is retired.When the Scotland Yard police and the FBI special agents journey to Smith's country home to coax him out of retirement, the retired Inspector examines the evidence and corroborates that the robbery is the work of the Si-Fan. Although Joe Capone believes that Fu Manchu died in 1890, Smith claims that the criminal is alive and well. Just before Smith's retirement, Fu Manchu was responsible for three unrelated diamond robberies. Smith explains that all three jewels represented key ingredients of the elixir vitae that Fu Manchu needs to maintain eternal youth.Later, Smith agrees to work on the case when he deduces that Fu Manchu is assembling a fresh batch of elixir, and will strike next to obtain the George V canary diamond displayed in the Tower of London. There, museum director Sir Nules Thudd assures Commissioner Avery that the jewel is safe behind bars, guarded by a sophisticated alarm system with several guards standing duty. Meanwhile, as Fu Manchu's strength diminishes, he receives electric jolts to his heart that temporarily restore his vitality.At lunch, Smith shares his theory that Fu Manchu will kidnap the royal couple and demand the jewel as ransom instead of stealing the diamond outright. He proposes that Scotland Yard plant decoys to outsmart Fu Manchu. The agents hold auditions to recruit the royal doubles from within their ranks to foil the predicted kidnapping, and Constable Alice Rage (Helen Mirren) is chosen to assume the role of Queen Mary. When Alice, impersonating the Queen, makes a speech at the Botanical Society, she and surrounding officials fall unconscious after breathing the vapors of a deadly plant strategically left by Dacoits. However, the kidnapping plot fails when the kidnappers are unable to move the "Queen" because Smith has handcuffed her to a railing.Soon, King George informs Commissioner Avery that the royal couple plans to attend the theater, so the police alter their strategy. With binoculars, Smith sees several Dacoits waiting to strike, but warns the FBI to wait. When the royal couple appears at their box seats, five sets of identically dressed impostors join them as the national anthem plays. As a result of the confusion, the royal couple is saved and the Dacoits are arrested.Later, Fu Manchu disguises himself as Charles Rotten, an antique dealer that the Queen is scheduled to visit. When Rotten shows Alice some new tapestries, the undercover agent is kidnapped. She is transferred to a secret location in back of a Chinese restaurant, where she informs Fu Manchu and the Dacoits of her real identity. Before she places them under arrest, Fu Manchu serves Alice a glass of rare and addictive wine. Soon, villain and policewoman are singing a music hall duet when a restaurant worker informs Fu Manchu that Nules Thudd is dining at the establishment. Fu Manchu instructs the Dacoits to have Nules tortured by Dr. Arnold Wretch, an obesity specialist.Meanwhile, Alice agrees to play the saxophone as Fu Manchu offers her a lifetime of luxury if she becomes his consort. For treatment, Wretch orders Nules to walk on stilts in a park, where Fu Manchu tempts him with a Chinese banquet. Alice, pretending to be an aristocrat hosting the party, introduces Nules to Fu Manchu disguised as chef Fu. Fu suggests that Nules can enjoy the banquet in return for Fu being allowed to look at the King George V diamond. After Fu Manchu has stolen the diamond and the Crown Jewels of England, he informs Nayland Smith by phone that he has gathered all the elixir ingredients and mayhem will follow.In pursuit of Fu Manchu, Smith and the other agents travel to the retired Inspector's home, which transforms into a hot air balloon that transports them to Nepal. Meanwhile, Alice has joined Fu Manchu at his castle, where he discovers his freshly made elixir is defective. When the Dacoits surround and shoot at Smith's cottage after it lands, Smith demands to see Fu Manchu.At the castle, Smith confesses that the police planted a fake jewel and agrees to surrender the real George V diamond if Fu Manchu will return the Crown Jewels. When the other police officers arrive at the castle, Smith admits that he saved their lives by giving the real diamond to Fu Manchu. Drinking the improved elixir vitae shaves years off of Fu Manchu's life. Alice distributes the missing Crown Jewels to the British officers and the FBI agents receive the Star of Leningrad diamond. For Smith, Fu Manchu has prepared a small bottle of elixir vitae but warns him not drink it until he returns to England. Fu Manchu also suggests that ingesting the elixir will expose Smith to forces he will not be able to resist. When Smith asks for a clue to prepare him for what might happen, the lights dim and Fu Manchu transforms into an Asian Elvis Presley and launches into a rock and roll song "Rock A Fu" with the Dacoits singing backup.
    

The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu


            
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