Peter Sellers & Ringo Celebrate Completion Of “The Magic Christian” 1969

Ringo & Sellers At A Party
Peter Sellers and Beatle drummer Ringo Starr are seen playing roulette at a party at Les Ambassadeurs in London. The party was to celebrate the completion of the film  “The Magic Christian” in which they co-star. Among other guests at the party were Beatle John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono who have just bought a 72 acre estate and mansion at Tittenhurst Park, near Ascot, Berks. photo:Syndication International (Daily Mirror) May 5, 1969

One does not necessarily associate Peter Sellers with The Beatles. But strange casting for a strange film brought the two stars of different genres together.

Peter Sellers was smitten when he read and later bought the rights to film the Terry Southern’s book The Magic Christian. Southern had co-written Dr. Strangelove. When Sellers  was filming Dr. Strangelove with director Stanley Kubrick, Sellers tried to convince  Kubrick to take on The Magic Christian as his next project. Kubrick turned down the opportunity.

Sellers told the press in 1965 he would be starring in the film.

The following year Sellers had a change of heart and announced he would instead direct The Magic Christian and it would star Peter Ustinov. That never transpired, but three years later filming would get underway on the satirical novel with Sellers in the lead role.

The plot of The Magic Christian as described on imdb.com: Sir Guy Grand (Peter Sellers) adopts homeless bum Youngman (Ringo Starr) to be heir to his obscene wealth, and immediately begins bringing him into the intricacies of the family business, which is to prey upon people’s greed by use of the vast holdings of the Grand empire. They leave no stone unturned as sporting events, restaurants, art galleries, and traditional pheasant hunts turn into lurid displays of bad manners and profiteering. Things climax at the social event of the season, the inaugural voyage of the new pleasure cruiser, “The Magic Christian”.

The wacky movie would be directed by Joseph McGrath and the screenplay was co-written by McGrath and Terry Southern with Graham Chapman and John Cleese of Monty Python fame contributing additional scenes. Other stars appearing in the film include Raquel Welch, Laurence Harvey, Richard Attenborough and Christopher Lee. The soundtrack had The Beatles discovery, Badfinger performing Come and Get It and Rock Of All Ages.

All these ingredients should have produced a interesting film, yet it was a huge failure critically and financially.

Peter Sellers Should Have Trusted His Instincts

According to imdb.com after watching rushes from the first day of filming, Peter Sellers leapt to his feet and said “Thank God we caught it in time!” He felt his performance was so bad that the movie should be cancelled. He was eventually persuaded to continue.

Upon its release in 1970, Charles Champlin film critic of the Los Angeles Times wrote, “The Magic Christian is tedious, self-conscious, heavy handed and simple-minded.”

Peter Sellers previous experience with the Beatles is visible in director Peter Jackson’s 2021 film The Beatles: Get Back. The film, chronicling the 1969 Let It Be album recording sessions and one scene shows Peter Sellers visiting The Beatles on January 14, 1969.

Sellers has little to say to The Beatles and seems somewhat uncomfortable being there. He  doesn’t say much and appears unimpressed and bored. Sellers leaves after a few minutes.

Most people who knew Peter Sellers said he was a complex, brilliant and often strange man. When asked in 1965 what books he enjoyed reading Sellers replied, “Candy by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg.The Magic Christian  also by Terry Southern. Nigel Dennis, Cards of Identity. Most of Roald Dahl’s short stories.” Sellers delightfully added, “I am also trying to read The Encyclopedia Britannica and the London telephone directory.”