Bell, Book and Candle | 
 enlarge | Director: Richard Quine
Actors: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Hermione Gingold
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $14.74
You Save: $10.21 (41%)
New (48) Used (14) from $13.39
Rating:  68 reviews
Sales Rank: 6494
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 106
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 2
Picture Format: Array
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5 x 0.6
MPN: COLD01329D
ISBN: 0767821556
UPC: 043396013292
EAN: 9780767821551
ASIN: 0767821556
Theatrical Release Date: January 1959
Release Date: March 28, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: GREAT PRICE--Factory sealed--I will answer "ALL" email's for status of shipment-(Do give me TIME to respond)-also--SHIPMENT IS PACKAGED SAFE --ENJOY!
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Product Description
Kim novak is an urban witch who uses her powers to snare james stewart in this engaging comedy classic. Special features: subitles in english and spanish production notes interactive menus vintage advertising talent files theatrical trailer bonus trailers scene selections and much more. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 03/28/2000 Starring: Kim Novak James Stewart Run time: 103 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com
Staid, secure publisher James Stewart leads a quiet life until he meets his bewitching downstairs neighbor, Kim Novak. John Van Druten's lighthearted Broadway comedy becomes a lush if lightweight romantic vehicle for Stewart and Novak, who would reunite for Hitchcock's Vertigo the next year. Novak is at her best as a Greenwich witch halfway between the worlds of magic and mortals, looking after her dotty aunt (Elsa Lanchester) and mischievous warlock brother (Jack Lemmon) as they keep their skills in practice. Novak's specialty is making men fall for her, but it's a one-way street: when a witch falls in love, she loses her powers. Director Richard Quine gives the witches an almost beatnik sensibility, a real Greenwich Village subculture hanging out in underground clubs and smart curio shops. Elegantly photographed in rich, glowing colors by James Wong Howe, Bell, Book and Candle is a fantasy world in New York set to a funky bongo-laced jazz score by George Duning. Quine's gliding camera is somewhat marred by abrupt editing, but his handling of actors is superb, in particular Novak, whose mysterious beauty masks inner turmoil and romantic yearnings. Ernie Kovacs appears as a wry author whose specialty is the supernatural, and Hermione Gingold is suitably florid as a witch elder with a penchant for theatricality. For once in his life Stewart is actually upstaged by the slyly comic performances around him. --Sean Axmaker
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| Customer Reviews: Read 63 more reviews...
 Fun, fun movie! September 17, 2008
Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak have purrrfect chemistry in this movie about spells and magic! If you are a fan of the T.V. show "Bewitched" you will love this one!
Bell Book and Candle May 9, 2008
Bell Book and Candle is a most delightful movie for anyone to enjoy. The stars, Jimmy Stewart, Kim Novak and Jack Lemmon (and a bunch of other great stars), are of my generation and makes one wish our younger folks would be exposed to this kind of fine acting. The story is fun and fanciful; makes you laugh and feel good all at the same time. Working with the vendor through Amazon is great.
Bell, Book, Oscar please... April 29, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
By far, one of the goddess-like attributes of the divine Ms. Kim Novak has shown herself to be not only the original mold of what a "character actress" must subject herself to, but with her lightening wit, exceptional beauty, (and trust me, the Divine Miss "N" is still in her prime, even at her now "golden years".
I had the privilege of meeting her on her llama ranch in Eagle Point, Oregon, before it was tragically burned to the ground.
Everything, EVERYTHING she had, from the original script to Vertigo, BB&C, (which insiders tell me, she has a MAJOR role in her character, Miss Gillian Holroyd, her lines, her back story, which come now as no surprise, as a woman who who is unhappy with her life as a witch, must deal with her bumbling, but lovable aunt, and brother, who find turning the stoplights green, and playing pranks on unsuspecting "mortals", or "outsiders" as they refer to them in the film.
After a final test to see if she can possibly win over co star Jimmy Stewart's interests, without..."tricks", as she poignantly portrays her internal struggle to just "sit in a quiet church somewhere, singing carols... instead of bongo drums", she recites to her Aunt Queenie, none other then the infamous Bride of Frankenstein.
The rest of the movie becomes rather fast paced, as Gillian soon realizes that she may have bitten off more than she can chew this time.
But you must see this classic to find what the Divine Miss "N" has taken in, taken on, that sometimes life is just full of surprises.
And if that old recycled piece of advice doesn't take you, then take it to the nearest recycling center, and give another find.
Bell Book and Candle, the underated fun movie March 8, 2008
Jack lemon, Jimmy Stewart, Kim Novak and a cat with a fantastic name. This movie was one of my favorites on those "Sunday" afternoon movies that were on TV when I was a kid. I thought Kim Novak was a living Barbie doll and the bongo sixties beet nick fun element added by Jack Lemon was perfect.
I loved this movie and now that I own it, I can watch it over and over.
 Magic in Manhattan . . . February 20, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This fun, quirky film was adapted for the screen from a play of the same name by John Van Druten. Originally set in England, Van Druten wrote it as a straight play, but in the tryouts, people laughed, so he changed it to a light comedy that starred Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer, that was produced in New York by Irene Mayer Selznick. David O. Selznick of Columbia acquired the film rights and cast his wife, Jennifer Jones, as Gillian, and reset the story in Paris, but Jones became pregnant and Kim Novak replaced her - Novak was fresh from working with Jimmy Stewart in "Vertigo", where, ironically, Novak had ALSO replaced the pregnant Vera Miles. In exchange for lending Novak for "Vertigo", Columbia got a two-movie deal with Stewart, who they slated for "Bell, Book and Candle". Novak's price for coming in on BB&C was that her friend, Richard Quine, direct - and so, after many twists and turns, the story was reset a third time in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.
Many critics thought the film lacked the wit and charm of the original play; however, not having seen the original, this reviewer found plenty of wit and charm to enjoy in this delightful comedy. The film's one flaw is the casting of the legendary Stewart as the romantic lead opposite Novak - he was just too old, and ruefully acknowledged this later on. He was by this time 50 years old, nearly quavery-voiced, thread-papery looking, with receding grey hair and old hands. He was heavily made up to compensate, but it shows, and thus only underscores the miscasting. Opposite someone like Deborah Kerr it might not have mattered, but beside the thirty-something, sumptuously upholstered, and staggeringly sensual Novak (today Hollywood would send Novak to a fat-farm), he is pallid and simply unbelievable as the object of her passion.
However, Stewart was a trooper if nothing else, and never less than sincere, and gave it his best shot. BB&C would have been a better film with someone like, say, Gregory Peck, as the romantic male lead, but it is nevertheless enjoyable, and, as a result of the unevenly cast romantic leads, as often happens, the supporting cast (including the cat, Pyewacket) nearly walks off with the movie.
Novak plays Gillian Holroyd (or Gil, as her intimates call her) who comes from a long line of witches and is part of the underground magic community in Manhattan's Greenwich Village - when it was still genuinely bohemian rather than commercially so. Gil runs a gallery that sells primitive art (the opening titles are very funny, with the actors' names matched up with ancient masks that really resemble them) and lives at the back of the shop. Gil's warlock brother Nicky (slily and adorably portrayed by Jack Lemmon) plays the bongos at the Zodiac Club, where all the local witches/warlocks hang out; her hapless aunt, Queenie (Elsa Lanchester), who is apt to utilize her arcane talents at the wrong times and in the wrong places, lives in the apartment building over Gil's shop. It's a cosy life, lived by separate rules - a community of Adepts who pride themselves on their invisibility to the ordinary mortals around them.
Gil, however, has lately been feeling constrained by her membership in this community, and longs to belong to a somewhat broader one. As the film opens, it is Christmas Eve, and Gil is wondering why she feels so discontent and restless. As she ruminates, she spots the most recent arrival in the building, publisher Shepherd "Shep" Henderson (Stewart), who has already caught Gil's interest. Due to an unexpected bit of occult meddling on Queenie's part - she has cast a spell on his telephone - Shep is obliged to ask Gil if he can use hers to report the "problem", and Gil gets an opening for introductions - alas, Gil has barely batted her eyelashes at him before she finds out that he is engaged, and Gil abandons thoughts of pursuing him - she has a strict rule about taking other women's men. Shep is going out that evening and the sly Queenie recommends the Zodiac Club.
Of course, Gil and Nicky and Queenie have also congregated at the Zodiac Club that evening when Shep and his fiancee, Merle (played with delicious bitchiness by the late Janice Rule), arrive. Gil recognizes Merle as a particularly obnoxious former schoolmate from Wellesley, who sent poison-pen letters and had a reputation as a "beau snatcher". It doesn't take long for the old antipathy between the two women to surface and, at the end of the evening, Gil invites Shep in for a late nightcap. When she learns that he and Merle are planning to get married the next day, Gil abandons her "hands-off" rule, corrals her cat, Pyewacket, who is actually her "familiar", and with Pyewacket's help, casts a love spell on the unwitting Shep. Shep falls instantly and passionately in love with Gil, and the next morning unceremoniously jilts Merle.
Unfortunately for Shep, witches can't fall in love (or cry, or blush, as it happens). As Queenie remarks, "hot blood is not forbidden to us" but love and marriage are quite another matter - in fact, legend has it that falling in love will deprive a witch of her powers (and thereby hangs another discussion!). But having ensnared Shep so deeply that he wants to marry her, Gil is now confronted with what to do with his devotion. In a fit of pique against the "rules" (rooted in what the audience, of course, already knows is her dangerous feeling for Shep), Gil accepts Shep's proposal and decides to "renounce" her powers, after confessing to him what she is and what she has done, so that they can live happily ever after on mortal terms.
Naturally, Shep at first refuses to believe Gil, but when presented with irrefutable evidence of her powers and of the spell she has cast upon him, he is humiliated and outraged, and seeks help in breaking the spell from one of the community's legendary elders, Mrs. DePass (the inimitable Hermione Gingold). The scene in which Mrs. DePass releases Shep from his bondage in her fusty parlor in Brooklyn, for a cool $1,000, is one of the film's most hilarious, complete with a rude parrot yelling at poor Shep, "Who's a fool!? You're a fool!"
Mrs. DePass's expensive counterspell works and Gil's enchantment is undone. However, Shep is so rude as he flaunts his newfound "freedom" in Gil's face that she vows revenge and rushes to collect Pyewacket for an entirely different kind of spell - only to find that Pyewacket flees at her approach. The reason is clear when Gil puts her hand up to her cheek and finds - tears, real tears. She has fallen in love with Shep and, in her misery, is crying over his loss, and has lost her powers.
While Gil and Shep have been struggling with their relationship, Gil's brother, Nicky, in an effort to improve his shabby economic prospects, has agreed to collaborate on a book on magic with a dissolute author who specializes in sensationalist books on the occult, Sidney Redlitch (Ernie Kovacs). Originally, Nicky's orders were to put Redlitch off the scent of the occult community by feeding him erroneous information. But when Nicky realizes the financial rewards of giving Redlitch the real dope on witchcraft, he reveals his occult heritage and offers personal guidance to Redlitch for a 50-50 split. Horrified by the exposure that would result, the last thing Gil does before the confrontation with Shep is utilize Pyewacket to ensure that the book will never find a publisher.
Thus, the scene is set for multiple collisions among the protagonists.
Realizing her niece's hopeless plight (in love but powerless to call her lover back), Queenie persuades Nicky to set aside his anger at Gil for her interference in his book venture, and help her reunite the lovers. Pyewacket is sent to "fetch" Shep back into Gil's presence. When he returns the cat to the shop, Shep realizes quickly that Gil has lost her powers, and why. They fall into each other's arms and Shep murmurs that perhaps it's been "real" all along - "After all, who's to say what magic is?"
Kim Novak, with her platinum hair, smoky voice, and hefty curves, is perfect as Gil. Stewart, as noted above, is totally miscast as Shep, but he is a seasoned professional and brings some modest charm to the role. The supporting cast of great character actors makes the most of every moment onscreen and contributes signficantly to the film's quirky humor.
"Bell, Book and Candle" is well-written, amusing, stylishly produced, and was shot in gorgeous Technicolor.
Having said all that, this reviewer feels compelled to add a few notes on themes that the film raises, probably, as a light romantic comedy, unintentionally. Gillian begins the film as a rather magnificent, almost feline creature who lives independently ("By and for the special", as she phrases it), has a degree in anthropology from a Seven Sisters college, and is endowed with exceptional gifts - a powerful package. But, as the film makes clear, that is Gil's problem: she is TOO powerful a package, and undue power unfits women for love. In order to achieve romantic bliss, Gil has to give up her "exceptional" nature - the very core of who she is. Thus, Stewart's miscasting is not merely visually problematic, but begs the question of why a woman like this would give up so much for so paltry a reward. The story's answer is clear: for a woman, romantic viability, even with a highly unequal partner, outweighs personal authenticity as a value.
Just how much Gil gives up is clear at the end of the film. When Shep brings Pyewacket back to the shop, we see that it has been transformed from an intriguing, atmospheric place of her own making (something not even acknowledged by Shep) that sells primitive (read: potent) art, to a light and airy one called "Flowers of the Sea" that sells nothing more potent than seashells. The now powerless Gil appears in a floaty, light-colored shirtwaist with a gentle, rounded collar, a little pearl pendant, and matching shoes. Gone are the vibrant colors and rich fabrics that once encased her dangerously seductive form; gone are the scarlet high heels that announced that this was not a woman to trifle with. And sure enough, for all her beauty, Novak looks silly in that dress. The bulk once proudly showcased in burgundy velvet looks foolish in the demure clothing of a chastened woman. The physical qualities that made Novak believable when dressed as the powerful witch, make her look awkward dressed as the Little Woman. The outfit emphasizes not that Gil is now "human", so much as safely contained. The transformation of the shop, and the new clothes, make a wistful comment on the diminishment that Gillian has had to accept to be worthy of love.
Thus, for all its charm and lightness, the ending of "Bell, Book and Candle" always makes this reviewer feel a bit sad - for Gil and for women. It raises questions about our attitudes toward women, authenticity, and power. The film's position on those questions, and its warning to women, are clear.
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