The Magic Christian 1970

Sir Guy Grand, an enigmatic tycoon with a flair for the bizarre, engages in a series of outrageous pranks with his newly adopted protégé, Youngman Grand, a homeless man rescued from the urban wilderness. This peculiar pair revels in a world of manipulation, constantly showcasing the idea that “everyone has their price” - it’s merely a matter of discovering the right amount.

Their antics commence with trivial jokes, like bribing a Shakespearean actor to remove his attire mid-performance during a rendition of Hamlet, or convincing a traffic warden to devour a parking ticket along with its plastic cover, all for a hefty sum. As their laughter-inducing schemes escalate, Grand’s targets rise in stature and the scale of their pranks expands.

At the prestigious Sotheby’s art auction house, Grand learns that a rare portrait from the Rembrandt School could fetch an impressive £10,000 at auction. In a jaw-dropping move that leaves the director, Mr. Dugdale, speechless, Grand submits a pre-auction bid of an astounding £30,000 (approximately £623,700 today) and, after successfully acquiring the artwork, he shockingly severed the portrait’s nose from its canvas with a pair of scissors, while an astonished Dugdale gapes in disbelief. In another grandiose exploit, he turns a lavish restaurant into a spectacle of excess, where he becomes the center of attention, and later, he bribes the coach of the Oxford rowing team to illegally collide with their Cambridge rivals during the celebrated Boat Race, ultimately ensuring an unfair yet hilarious victory.

In a traditional pheasant hunt, Grand escalates the absurdity by utilizing an anti-aircraft gun to dispatch his targets. Throughout these madcap scenarios, Grand insists his pranks serve an “educational” purpose, illustrating his belief that everyone has a price, just waiting to be uncovered.

As Guy Grand and his offbeat companion, Youngman Grand, socialize with the elite aboard the opulent ship, The Magic Christian, they are surrounded by a surreal cast of characters resembling cultural icons like John Lennon and Yoko Ono. While the luxurious voyage appears to offer a reprieve from the humdrum, things take a peculiarly uncanny twist. A lone patron at the bar is approached by an overly flamboyant cabaret performer, while a mysterious vampire doubles as a waiter, dishing out an array of unsettling beverages. The absurdity peaks with a shocking film screening featuring a failed medical operation that tries to transplant a black man’s head onto a white body, leaving the passengers in a state of disbelief.

Amid panic, the passengers scramble to escape the ship, only to realize their captain is intoxicated and unable to help. In a scene reminiscent of a Shakespearean comedy, guests confront the unsettling truth that they are trapped on a ship devoid of a functional crew. A group, inspired by Youngman Grand, ventures into the machine room only to discover the odd sight of the Priestess of the Whip, flanked by topless drummers and attended by a bewildering assembly of slave girls in simple loincloths. As they find an escape route, they’re met with the shocking understanding that The Magic Christian is merely an elaborate set within a warehouse, and their entire escapade has unfolded in the very heart of London.

After this chaotic adventure subsides, Guy Grand orchestrates his next audacious act: he creates a massive vat filled with a grotesque mixture of urine, blood, and animal waste, then tosses in stacks of banknotes. With a casual demeanor, he beckons the local workforce to partake in what seems to be a treasure trove, exclaiming “Free money!” The allure of easy riches draws a crowd, leading to a frenzied scene as individuals dive into the messy concoction in hopes of retrieving the submerged cash. This chaotic moment is eerily accompanied by the iconic tune “Something in the Air” by Thunderclap Newman.

As the film draws to a close, Guy and Youngman Grand return to the park where it all began, again bribing the park warden, aiming for a more straightforward approach to achieving their largely unspoken ambitions.