James Steward and Kim Novak star in Bell, Book & Candle, which
is the sort of sweet-natured romance that old Hollywood was once best known for
making. Based on the Broadway play by John Van Druten, the story has a
book publisher named Shep Henderson (Steward) who meets a shopkeeper named
Gillian on Christmas Eve. Gillian
(Novak) is a bohemian sort of free spirit who runs a store that features exotic
artifacts from Africa and elsewhere. Yet when she meets the conventional, staid Shep,
Gillian finds herself attracted to him. Yet there's a glitch for their potential
romance: Shep is already engaged to another woman.
But Gillian has a little secret of her own: she's a real-life witch, complete
with magic spells, potions, and her familiar, her cat Pyewacket. Gillian is part
of a benevolent underground community of witches and warlocks in New York City.
Gillian, her brother Nicky (played by a young Jack Lemmon) and her Aunt Queenie
(Elsa Lancaster, from the Bride Of Frankenstein) regularly meet with other
benign practitioners of magic at a meeting place in a nightclub called The Zodiac.
When Shep falls hard for Gillian
(and dumps his petty fiancée) thanks to a spell cast by Gillain, their romance
takes off to the point even Gillian falls in love and they plan to get married. The catch is that Shep
still has no idea that Gillian is a witch. To complicate matters some more, a
writer named Redlitch (Ernie Kovacs) shows up at Shep's publishing house with an
idea for a new book that will expose the entire magic community in New York City.
Released in 1958, Bell, Book And Candle was the second on screen pairing of Steward and Novak, who
also both starred together in director Alfred Hitchcock's classic, Vertigo. BB&C would
also be the final romantic lead that James Steward would take,
because he felt that he was getting too old to continue playing this type of
part, especially against female stars who were younger than him.
However, despite Steward's misgivings, he does a sturdy job in BB&C, as does Novak, who is
superb as a secure woman who marches to the beat of her own drummer. But the real treat
of this film is Jack Lemmon, Elsa Lancaster, and Ernie Kovacs. These three
extraordinary actors make the most of their supporting parts, and they are each
very funny; especially Kovacs, whose Redlitch is often on the prowl for a good
time in the Big Apple.
The DVD special features are slim, with just written profiles on the stars and
the director. The viewer is given a choice of watching the film in wide or
fullscreen. Watching Bell, Book And Candle, I could not help but be reminded of
the 1960s TV series Bewitched. One wonders if this movie, itself based on a
successful Broadway play, served as an inspiration for the TV exploits of
Samantha and Darren. In any event, if you're looking for a good movie to pass
the time on a rainy (or snowy) afternoon, Bell, Book And Candle should serve
your needs amply.
--SF
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