Bell Book And Candle

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

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, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen), 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: 5.1, PCM Mono
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV, Pan and Scan
• Subtitle: Spanish, English
• Features:
  • Digitally Remastered Audio & Anamorphic Video
  • Production Notes
  • Interactive Menus
  • Audio: English (Mono) Spanish (Mono)
  • Subtitles: English, Spanish
  • Vintage Advertising
  • Talent Files
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Bonus Trailers
  • Scene Selections

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Art Direction - 1958 (Louis Diage, Cary O'Dell)
•     Nominated Best Costume Design - 1958 (Jean Louis)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Picture - Comedy - 1958

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Richard Quine

• Producer:

  Julian Blaustein

• Screenwriter:

  Daniel Taradash

• Play Author:

  John van Druten

• Cinematographer:

  James Wong Howe

• Composer (Music Score):

  George Duning

• Editor:

  Charles Nelson

• Art Director:

  Cary O'Dell

• Set Designer:

  Louis Diage

• Costume Designer:

  Jean Louis

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Charles Nelson

• Makeup:

  Ben Lane

• First Assistant Director:

  Irving Moore

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, Rovi