Stats
Title: Bedknobs And Broomsticks
Release Year: 1971
Directed By: Robert Stevenson
Written By: Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, Songs by Richard and Robert Sherman, from the book by Mary Norton
Recommended by: RIP Angela Lansbury. Truly a One Of A Kind Icon
Star Rating: 3.5
Review
There are some stars who shine so brightly for so long that the idea of them going out is impossible to conceive.
So it was with Dame Angela Lansbury who passed this week. An absolute icon of theater, television and film, she was simply incredible. And, I’d never watched this movie, so it seemed a fitting tribute.
Bedknobs And Broomsticks is absolutely totally OK. Lansbury is wonderful in it. “The Age of Not Believing” does that thing that the best Sherman Brothers songs do, which is make you nod along with it pleasantly in the moment, and then think about twenty minutes later and start crying. (See also “Feed The Birds” and “Hushabye Mountain.”)
But mainly, it’s a wonderful showcase for Lansbury. Her version of English Middle Class warmth is so suited to this material. (An single woman in World War II England decides to become a witch to help the war effort, has a family of evacuated London children dropped on her doorstep) She’s luminous and funny and wonderful in this role.
She will be deeply missed.
Note
Blank Check is still doing Kubrick but I’ve been a little down lately…so I didn’t want to watch A Clockwork Orange. Sorry if you were looking forward to me once again saying, “Ugh, I get why this is amazing, but I DON’T LIKE IT” again.
The Fangirl's Dilemma 