Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9612 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-08-19
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Hungarian, Finnish, Icelandic, Portuguese, French, German, Turkish, Arabic, Czech, Greek, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, English, Hebrew, Spanish, Hindi, Bulgarian, Polish, Swedish, Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Bell, Book and Candle (1958) is a sparkling, exotic and intelligent comedy based on John Van Druten's original play about the unlikely subject of witchcraft in Manhattan. In his last romantic lead role, James Stewart is publisher Shep Henderson, sucked into the underworld of Greenwich Village by the extraordinarily beautiful Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak). Their liaison kicks off when Gillian employs her skills to indulge in a bit of fun. By the time Shep gets wise and rejects the artificial premise for a relationship, she has sacrificed her powers to emotional awakening and all is set for a happy ending.

Largely thanks to an eccentric supporting cast, which includes Jack Lemmon as Gillian's warlock brother, Hermione Gingold as a fruity nightclub owner and Elsa Lanchester as Gillian's dotty aunt, the film has a delightfully off-centre quality. It's also a bittersweet allegory about being different. "We forfeit everything and then we end up in a little world of separateness from everyone", sighs Gillian. Novak is at the height of her beauty and here, as in her other 1958 triumph Vertigo (also with Stewart), her other-worldly quality fits the character so perfectly that her thespian limitations are well disguised. It's entrancing in every sense.

On the DVD: Bell, Book and Candle's vibrant Technicolor explodes from the screen in this DVD release, which is enhanced for 16:9 widescreen televisions. Everything looks fresh and new--particularly the exotic nightclub scenes--and the mono soundtrack has lasted well. Extras include selected filmographies and original trailers, and detailed background in the booklet notes. --Piers Ford

Video Description
DVD Special Features
Trailers
Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish.
Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norweigan, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.
98 minutes feature run time.

Synopsis
Great cast in supernatural romantic comedy. When urban witch Novak casts a spell on Stewart to lure him away from a snooty former schoolmate, she finds the spell rebounding due to the intercession of a more powerful witch (Gingold). Lemmon and comic genius Kovacs add lots of laughs. Academy Award Nominations: 2.

Customer Reviews

"Ring the bell, open the book, light the candle"
This charming romantic comedy is set in the world of modern day (1958) witches in New York City. Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak), art dealer, bohemian, and witch, is attracted to her upstairs (mortal) neighbor, Shep Henderson (James Stewart). With the help of her cat familiar, Gillian casts a love spell on the straitlaced Shep; he is immediately besotted and breaks his engagement to another woman. Gillian likes a lot him, but knows that if a witch falls in love for real, she loses her magic powers. Does she dare give up her witchy ways? Will he love her without magic?

Stewart is very sweet and likeable as the buttoned-down publisher, but this is Kim Novak's movie all the way. She's adorably and seductively mysterious, with her velvety voice, haunting gazes, and stunning wardrobe of red and black. There is no silly hocus-pocus or levitating of objects; they aren't necessary. We believe Gillian is a witch from the start, and her desire to be vulnerable is touching. Novak and Stewart teamed up romantically in another movie that year, "Vertigo," and they look just great together. This is a lightweight fantasy (shades of "Bewitched") with beautiful stars, a sweet romance, and a remarkably talented Siamese cat!

A quirky gem!!!...
If you viewed the Hitchcock Masterpiece Vertigo, then you should wish to see the teaming again of the stunningly beautiful Novak and Stewart in this tale of witches in Manhattan. Stewart is the henpecked fiance of the socialite that used to be a college roomate of Novak. Now Stewart is Novak's tenant, who does not suspect he is surrounded by witches. The whole cast is perfection with a very young Jack Lemmon playing her younger witch brother. Kim is GORGEOUS!!

Great fun!! A nice contrast to the heavy melodrama of Vertigo.

She's one of them
Boy meets girl. Girl is actually a witch. Boy dumps fiancee. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy finds out that girl put a spell on him. Let the fireworks begin.

That's the basic plot of "Bell Book and Candle," which tackled the funny witchy-romance story long before Samantha or Sabrina existed, and with more humour and polish than either. It's just a cute romance with a unique twist, a cute cat, and meddling sorcery.

It's Christmastime, and Manhattan witch Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak) is in a rut. Then she meets hunky publisher Shepherd (James Stewart), who is engaged to her old college nemesis. So with the assistance of her cat Pyewacket, she casts a spell to make Shep fall madly in love with her, and drop backstabbing Merle (Janice Rule). Itr works like a... well, like a charm.

But things start to go wrong when Gil's aunt Queenie (Elsa Lanchester) and her pal Nicky (Jack Lemmon) start talking to a bestselling author on witchcraft -- who decides to write a book on the Manhattan witches. What's worse, Gil is falling in love with Shep -- which means her powers will vanish -- and decides to tell him the truth about the love spell.

"Bell Book and Candle" is not really a romantic comedy, so much as a romance movie with some funny characters. And of course there's a low-key fantasy angle -- basically all the witches and warlocks do is cast a few spells, honk car horns, and occasionally boil something in a cauldron. (Hermione Gingold as a showy old witch)

James Stewart tried out whimsy in the delightful "Harvey," where he's a man who claims to have a companion pooka. He plays the opposite side in "Bell Book and Candle" -- he's the victim of magic weirdness rather than the source. Kim Novak gives a chilly, otherworldly performance as a sophisticated witch. Expect weird romantic sparks to fly.

The plot does come slightly unwound in the last act, after Shep takes his love spell cure (his face as he drinks the potion is the funniest scene of the movie) and leaves the building. But it winds itself back up for a satisfactory finale. It also benefits from snappy dialogue that lasts from the first to the last scene ("That girl you know, Gillian Holroyd -- she's one." "A witch? Shep, you just never learned to spell")

All this "Bell Book and Candle" business creates a charming romance, with solid acting, great script, a dash of humor and newt's liver. Enchanting.