BBB
(out of 5)
In this special-effects laden Disney film, three London children are sent out of the city to live in the country during World War II to avoid dangerous air raids. They go to live with a woman (Angela Lansbury) whom they discover is an apprentice witch, and the eldest of the three children blackmails her into sharing her magical secrets with them. Together on a magical bed, they travel to London to visit her professor (David Tomlinson) who will help her develop a magical locomotion technology that will be helpful in the war effort. The effects are excellent, and Lansbury seems to be having a good time with the material, but the overall result is a second-rate Mary Poppins with unmemorable songs by Poppins composers Richard and Robert Sherman.
USA, 1971
Directed by Robert Stevenson
Screenplay by Bill Walsh, Don DaGradi, animation story by Ralph Wright, Ted Berman, based on the book by Mary Norton
Cinematography by Frank V. Phillips
Produced by Bill Walsh
Music by Irwin Kostal
Production Design by Peter Ellenshaw, John B. Mansbridge
Costume Design by Bill Thomas
Film Editing by Cotton Warburton
Golden Globe Awards 1971
