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Bell, Book, and Candle, 1958
Gillian (Kim Novak) is a witch who, out of some mix of attraction and boredom, decides to put a love spell on her neighbor, Shep (Jimmy Stewart). Forcing Shep to break off his engagement with Merle (Janice Rule)--an old school rival of Gillian's--the spell then causes him to become infatuated. Unfortunately, Shep learns about Gillian's magical abilities and the two come into conflict about Shep's interest in the world of witchcraft.
Despite a really winning cast and a fun visual style, this fantasy-romance never quite comes together as a whole and instead stands as a collection of fun sequences and setpieces.
Kim Novak is absolutely stunning, a perfect storm of her sultry voice, an amazing wardrobe, and a laconic delivery that would be enchanting without a drop of a magic spell. But as with a lot of movies where a magical, powerful person falls in love with an everyday Joe, Shep is . . . fine. I mean, he's Jimmy Stewart, so there's a base level of charm but as a character he's not very compelling. His main job in the film is to be shocked and/or outraged at what he learns about magic. He's also visibly the 25 years older than Gillian, and as much as I like Stewart as an actor, Shep the character kept me asking "Really? This guy?!".
The supporting cast is good fun. Rule's Merle gives a good portrayal of a high school mean girl all grown up, though to be fair she's given very little screen time before we're just supposed to hate her. (Also, is it a total betrayal to say I liked her paintings?). Elsa Lanchester is great fun as Gillian's aunt, Queenie, who kicks off the whole movie by casually breaking into Shep's apartment. Jack Lemmon is a ton of fun as Gillian's warlock brother who also plays the drums at an underground club. Lemmon brings a much needed sparkle to the film, and his energy is missed when he's not on screen.
I did really love the way that the magic in the film was portrayed. It's done mainly via colored lighting cast on the actors' faces, and it's one of those simple-but-effective effects that's enjoyable every time. The movie benefits greatly by having the magic be implicit and not going overboard with effects.
Despite an easy chemistry between Stewart and Novak, I was never really convinced by the romance, which made it hard to root for an ending where they end up together. Frankly she's too cool for him, and he should have the right to pick his own partner without magical interference. As a dynamic it just didn't work for me. I was also not a fan of the animal mishandling in the film. It's pretty obvious in several scenes that the cats being used are not being treated well, and a trivia item on the IMDb confirms that it's worse than I initially suspected.
Enough good here to be worth recommending, but it feels a full step down from what it could have/should have been.
Bell, Book, and Candle, 1958
Gillian (Kim Novak) is a witch who, out of some mix of attraction and boredom, decides to put a love spell on her neighbor, Shep (Jimmy Stewart). Forcing Shep to break off his engagement with Merle (Janice Rule)--an old school rival of Gillian's--the spell then causes him to become infatuated. Unfortunately, Shep learns about Gillian's magical abilities and the two come into conflict about Shep's interest in the world of witchcraft.
Despite a really winning cast and a fun visual style, this fantasy-romance never quite comes together as a whole and instead stands as a collection of fun sequences and setpieces.
Kim Novak is absolutely stunning, a perfect storm of her sultry voice, an amazing wardrobe, and a laconic delivery that would be enchanting without a drop of a magic spell. But as with a lot of movies where a magical, powerful person falls in love with an everyday Joe, Shep is . . . fine. I mean, he's Jimmy Stewart, so there's a base level of charm but as a character he's not very compelling. His main job in the film is to be shocked and/or outraged at what he learns about magic. He's also visibly the 25 years older than Gillian, and as much as I like Stewart as an actor, Shep the character kept me asking "Really? This guy?!".
The supporting cast is good fun. Rule's Merle gives a good portrayal of a high school mean girl all grown up, though to be fair she's given very little screen time before we're just supposed to hate her. (Also, is it a total betrayal to say I liked her paintings?). Elsa Lanchester is great fun as Gillian's aunt, Queenie, who kicks off the whole movie by casually breaking into Shep's apartment. Jack Lemmon is a ton of fun as Gillian's warlock brother who also plays the drums at an underground club. Lemmon brings a much needed sparkle to the film, and his energy is missed when he's not on screen.
I did really love the way that the magic in the film was portrayed. It's done mainly via colored lighting cast on the actors' faces, and it's one of those simple-but-effective effects that's enjoyable every time. The movie benefits greatly by having the magic be implicit and not going overboard with effects.
Despite an easy chemistry between Stewart and Novak, I was never really convinced by the romance, which made it hard to root for an ending where they end up together. Frankly she's too cool for him, and he should have the right to pick his own partner without magical interference. As a dynamic it just didn't work for me. I was also not a fan of the animal mishandling in the film. It's pretty obvious in several scenes that the cats being used are not being treated well, and a trivia item on the IMDb confirms that it's worse than I initially suspected.
Enough good here to be worth recommending, but it feels a full step down from what it could have/should have been.