The Magic Christian is

• a comic novel (1959) by U.S. author Terry Southern; and
• a film (Joseph McGrath; UK, 1969) loosely based on Southern's book, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr.

Guy Grand (Sellers in the movie) is an eccentric billionaire who spends most of his time playing elaborate practical jokes on people. A big spender, he does not mind losing large sums of money to complete strangers if only he can have a good laugh. All his escapades are designed to prove his theory that everyone has got their price - it just depends on the amount one is prepared to pay them. Episodic in character , The Magic Christian is an unrelenting and, particularly in its sharply inferior filmed incarnation, often heavy-handed satire on capitalism and human greed. A comic novel is a work of fiction in which the writer seeks to amuse the reader: sometimes with subtlety and as part of a carefully woven narrative, sometimes above all other considerations. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ... Terry Southern (May 1, 1924 - October 29, 1995) was a highly influential American short story writer, novelist, essayist, screenwriter and university lecturer. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Joseph McGrath (1887-1966) was a senior Irish politician. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... Peter Sellers Richard Henry Sellers (September 8, 1925 – July 24, 1980), better known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian, talented comic actor, and performer on The Goon Show (a long-running BBC radio show, 1951-1960). ... Ringo Starr as photographed by John Kelly for the 1968 LP The Beatles (aka The White Album). Richard Starkey, MBE (born July 7, 1940), known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is a popular British musician, best known as drummer for The Beatles. ... A practical joke or prank is a situation set up to produce what the perpetrator imagines to be a humorous physical outcome at the expense of the target. ... Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... In common usage capitalism refers to an economic system in which all or most of the means of production are privately owned and operated, and where investment and the production, distribution and prices of commodities (goods and services) are determined by the influence of supply and demand in a market... Greed is a desire to obtain more money or material possessions or bodily satisfaction than one is considered to need. ...

In one case, Guy Grand pays an actor playing a surgeon in a live television soap opera to deviate from the script, comment in drastic terms on the bad quality of the show, and walk off the set. In another episode, he secretly buys a respectable New York advertising agency, installs a pygmy as its president and has him "scurry about the offices like a squirrel and chatter raucously in his native tongue" in front of all the top executive staff and their prominent clients. In a third, he buys a cosmetics company and launches a big promotional campaign for a new shampoo which, as it turns out in the end, has a very detrimental effect on those who happen to use it. He also shows up at a safari in Africa with three natives carrying a howitzer. Grand's final adventure takes place on board the S.S. Magic Christian. The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... Generally speaking, pygmy (from Greek pygmaios, fist sized, a kind of dwarf in Greek mythology) can refer to any human or animal of unusually small size, for example, the pygmy hippopotamus. ... Safari may mean: Safari (travel), generally an overland journey, or a wildlife-watching tour, especially in Africa Safari (hunting), a hunting journey, mainly for big game Safari (web browser), a web browser for Apple Macintosh computers Safari may also refer to: Safari jacket, a type of clothing Ski-doo Safari... Loading a WW1 British 15 in (381 mm) howitzer 155 mm M198 Howitzer A howitzer or hauwitzer is a type of field artillery. ...

McGrath's film adaptation differs considerably from Southern's novel both in content and in quality. Relocated to 60s London, it also introduces an orphan (Starr) whom Grand picks up in a park and whom, on a whim, he decides to adopt. (The role was written with Starr, a 'natural' deadpan comic, in mind.) The movie is usually remembered for its soundtrack by Badfinger, a British rock band promoted by Paul McCartney. McCartney also wrote "Come And Get It", the film's most popular song whose lyrics refer to Guy Grand's schemes of handing out money to strangers—if they do as he pleases ("If you want it, here it is, come and get it"). A host of British and American actors (Wilfred Hyde-White, Laurence Harvey, Isabel Jeans, Christopher Lee, Richard Attenborough, Yul Brynner, Raquel Welch) have brief roles in the movie, many playing against type. An orphan (from the Greek ορφανός) is a being, typically a human or non-human animal child, whose parents have both died. ... Soundtrack refers to the recorded sound accompanying a visual medium such as a motion picture, television show, or video game. ... Badfinger was a British band from the 1960s and 70s. ... Rock group (or later rock band ) is a generic name to describe a group of musicians specializing in a particular form of electronically amplified music. ... Paul McCartney, as photographed by John Kelley for the 1968 LP The Beatles (aka The White Album). Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is a British singer, musician and songwriter, who first came to prominence as a member of The Beatles. ... Laurence Harvey in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode Arthur. ... Christopher Lee Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE (born May 27, 1922 in London) is a legendary and prolific British actor known for his versatility and film longevity. ... Richard Samuel Attenborough, the Baron Attenborough of Richmond-upon-Thames (born August 29, 1923 in Cambridge, England) is an actor, director and film producer. ... Yul Brynner Yul Brynner (July 7, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was a Russian actor born Yul Borisovich Bryner in Vladivostok, Russia who appeared in many movies and stage productions. ... Raquel Welch in the film poster for One Million Years B.C. Raquel Welch (born September 5, 1940) is an American actress. ...

Extremely notable are the appearances of pre-Monty Python John Cleese and Graham Chapman. (They had written an earlier version of the film script, of which very little survived except for the scenes they appear in.) Cleese is extremely funny as a Sotheby's art dealer named Mr. Dugdale who watches Sellers and Starr butcher a painting with scissors after paying £30,000 for it. Chapman plays a member of the Oxford rowing team who Guy Grand bribes to throw the race. Spike Milligan (writer and former star of The Goon Show, with Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe) also appears as a traffic warden who's bribed to not only take back a parking ticket, but also to eat it. The Monty Python troupe in 1970. ... John Cleese as Q in Die Another Day. ... Chapman in one of his calmer moments Graham Chapman (January 8, 1941 – October 4, 1989) was a British comedian and writer. ... Spike Milligan Spike Milligan, KBE, CBE (April 16, 1918 – February 27, 2002) was a comedian, novelist, playwright, poet, jazz musician (trumpet and guitar - also played the piano - and was a dab hand at raspberry blowing) and is best remembered as the creator, principal writer and performing member of The Goon... The Goon Show was a hugely popular and extremely influential British radio comedy programme, which was originally produced and broadcast by the BBC from 1951 to 1960 on the BBC Home Service. ... Harry Secombe Sir Harry Donald Secombe CBE (8 September 1921–11 April 2001) was a Welsh entertainer, with a fine tenor singing voice and a talent for comedy. ...

Trivia

• It is Paul Merton's favourite film (source: Paul Merton's Perfect Night In, broadcast BBC2, 9pm - Monday 29th August, 2005).

See also The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer for a similar satire on political spin. Paul Merton on the Room 101 set Paul Merton (born January 17, 1957) is a British actor, deadpan comedian and writer, who is best known as a panellist on Have I Got News For You and Just a Minute on BBC Radio 4 and as the host of Room 101. ... BBC Two (or BBC2 as it was formerly styled) was the second UK television station to be aired by the BBC. History The channel was scheduled to begin at 7:20pm on April 20, 1964 and show an evening of light entertainment, starting with the comedy show The Alberts and...

External Links

• The Magic Christian at the Internet Movie Database