Terry Southern of the Monty Python team. Cleese later described McGrath as having "no idea of comedy structure" and complained that the film ended up as "a series of celebrity walk-ons." The film was shot in London between February and May 1969. The cast was headed by Sellers (as Guy Grand) and Ringo Starr as his son Youngman Grand (a new character created for the movie), with cameo appearances by Spike Milligan, Christopher Lee, Laurence Harvey, Raquel Welch, Roman Polanski and Yul Brynner. As with "Dr Strangelove", Sellers habitually improvised on the script during filming. During production McGrath and Southern discussed a
Joseph McGrath (film director) Joseph McGrath (film director) Joseph McGrath (born 1930, Glasgow) is a Scottish film and television director and screenwriter. He studied at Glasgow School of Art in the late 1940s/early 1950s where his energy and talent was much admired by his contemporaries. McGrath is best known for his collaborations with "The Goon Show" stars Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. He directed the scenes with Sellers and Orson Welles in the multi-director James bond spoof "Casino Royale" (1967). He also directed Sellers and Spike Milligan in "The Magic Christian" (1969) and "The Great McGonagall" (1974). McGrath also worked with director Richard Lester