The Great McGonagall
Released: January 23, 1975Runtime: 85 min
In this high-camp farce, Goons legend Spike Milligan stars as William Topaz McGonagall, an unemployed Scottish weaver and aspiring poet laureate who falls in love with Queen Victoria - a brilliant cameo by Peter Sellers - and thereafter devotes his banal poetry to her. Though McGonagall's solicitations are rejected by the Queen, it doesn't stop the turgid prose, and pathos, from overflowing as McGonagall hilariously attempts to become the greatest poet in the land. The image of the bad poet, trapped by his romanticism and inspired by a muse with a tin ear, appealed mightily to Spike Milligan, and this cult British spoof features the Goons show maestro at his ridiculous, genre-defying best.
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Cast & Crew
Top billed cast
Spike Milligan
as William McGonagall
Peter Sellers
as Queen Victoria
Julia Foster
as Mrs. McGonagall
John Bluthal
as Hercules Paint
Victor Spinetti
as Supposed John Brown
Valentine Dyall
as Doctor
Julian Chagrin
as Publican
Clifton Jones
as Clerk of the Court
Charlie Young Atom
as Sleeper in the Snow
Luie Caballero
as Man with parrot
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