Main Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Hermione Gingold, Elsa Lanchester
Release Year: 1958
Country: US
Run Time: 106 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
John Van Druten's stage comedy Bell Book and Candle starred Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer on Broadway. The 1958 filmed version stars James Stewart and Kim Novak, fresh from their successful teaming in Hitchcock's Vertigo. Novak plays Gillian Holroyd, a genuine, bonafide witch. Falling in love with publisher Sheperd Henderson (Stewart), Gillian casts a spell on him, obliging him to dump his fiancee and rush to her side. All of this goes against the grain of Gillian's mentor Mrs. De Pass (Hermione Gingold), who does her best to counterract the love spell. Meanwhile, Gillian's wacky warlock brother Nicky (Jack Lemmon) courts disaster by coauthoring a book on black magic with pompous, bibulous novelist Sidney Redlitch (Ernie Kovacs). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The attitudes in this comic fantasy are very much those of a 1950s establishment mindset: Kim Novak's character loses her supernatural powers when she falls in love, and she doesn't mind losing her wiles if it means marriage and a placid domestic life with beau James Stewart. Nonetheless, the film has excellent production values, charismatic performances, and sprightly dialogue. It represented a change of pace for Novak and Stewart after their previous teaming, earlier that year, in the decidedly non-comic Vertigo. Much of the film's strength comes from their screen chemistry, though some of the witty sophistication of John Van Druten's stage play is lost in the translation to the big screen. Supporting performers Ernie Kovacs and Jack Lemmon have fine moments, as does Hermione Gingold. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
Janice Rule - Merle Kittridge; Philippe Clay - French Singer; Bek Nelson - Secretary; Howard McNear - Andy White; Wolfe Barzell - Proprietor; Gail Bonney - Merle's Maid; Monty Ash - Herb Store Owner; Don Brodie - Cab Driver; James Lanphier - Waldo; John Truax - Cab Driver; Ollie O'Toole - Elevator Operator
Credit
Cary O'Dell - Art Director, Jean Louis - Costume Designer, Irving Moore - First Assistant Director, Richard Quine - Director, Charles Nelson - Editor, George Duning - Composer (Music Score), Ben Lane - Makeup, James Wong Howe - Cinematographer, Julian Blaustein - Producer, Louis Diage - Set Designer, Charles Nelson - Sound/Sound Designer, Daniel Taradash - Screenwriter, John van Druten - Play Author
