Bell Book and Candle ( Bell, Book & Candle ) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Spain ]

One of my favorite Jimmy Stewart films of all time. Recently found a bound copy of the script from 1946. Picture quality was great on blu ray. Kim Novak was a excellent choice for her acting and beauty.

I saw this as a kid and fell in love with it so when I stumbled across it on Amazon, I had to have it.

This is a great movie with stellar performances. Just a nice movie all around. The color and pressing are wonderful.

Shipped quickly, in perfect condition and I absolutely love this movie!!

Jimmy Stewart was always great in all his films especially in Harvey. But I loved this film for the fantasy aspect and the fact that it was the first film about witches I had ever seen. Later on, Elizabeth Montgomery starred in Bewitched on TV but THIS was my first glimpse into the genre. Kim Novak was so beautiful and delightful with James Stewart in this bit of nostalgia. Recommend!

Yet another one of the perfectly made romantic comedies of the late fifties/early sixties that, along with "Auntie Mame", "Charade" and the slew of Doris Day movies, starting with "Pillow Talk" and ending with "Send Me No Flowers", gave an ideal and funny take on life in an innocent time.Kim Novak plays Gillian Holroyd, a kittenish practioner of the eldritch arts living in Greenwich Village, NYC, with her Aunt Queenie, played by Elsa Lanchester. Jack Lemmon plays her brother, Nicky, (always a favorite name of any young male involved in the dark arts in fiction for some reason.) It's Christmas, and, believe it or not, these three conjurers are celebrating it like anybody else, exchanging presents and watching it snow.James Stewart plays the unlikely object of her desire, (the only mismatch I can think of that was worse about this time was Doris Day and Danny Thomas in "I'll See You In My Dreams"!) named Shepherd Henderson ("Shep"). I think maybe someone like John Gavin or Cary Grant or Robert Sterling might have been better choices, but there is one scene in this movie that only Stewart could have done, and it is HILARIOUS!The plot goes like this: Gillian is lonely. She sees Shep moving into her very apt. building just before she and her small family celebrate Christmas. She wishes, using her cat, Pywacket, as a 'familiar', to actually meet him. Shep goes upstairs to get settled in and finds Gillian's aunt, Queenie, fooling around at his desk, even though he distinctly remembers locking the door when he left earlier. She explains that he did NOT lock the door, and she saw how sloppy his desk was and that his window was open on a snowy night, and straightened it all out. After objecting mildly about her unbidden presence there, he dismisses her, seeing how eccentric she is, (and conceding that it IS Greenwich Village, after all,) not realizing the whole truth. Queenie objects to his treatment of her and puts a temporary curse on his phone so he only hears garbled nonsense on it.Early Christmas morning, after partying at the Zodiac Club with Shep and his fiancée, Gillian, Nicky and Queenie exchange gifts at Gillian's place. Gillian gives Nicky records, Queenie a scarf, and Nicky gives Gillian a vial of summoning fluid, which she puts to the test immediately. It isn't clear whether she uses it to bring Shep to her apartment, curse his fiancée or what, but Shep DOES show up fairly quickly and they get to know each other. This is AFTER Shep tells her that he and his intended are getting married later that very day. Gillian then starts humming the haunting theme song, again using Pywacket as a familiar, to put the kibosh to THAT business!What follows is a series of classic scenes that didn't see any equals until the 80s! The scene in Miss De Passe's house where Shep goes to get "de-spelled" and is forced to drink a disgusting potion she whips up is almost worth the price of the DVD on its own. The scene where Nicky meets an author character, played by Ernie Kovacs, (Shep is a publisher,) and takes him to an occult apothecary, is also funny, as the camera pans down the list of diseases and spells it has remedies for.For some reason, after the mid-sixties, Hollywood couldn't make another good romantic comedy to save its life. "A Thousand Clowns" was the last really good one, made smack dab in the middle of the decade, in 1965!"Bell,Book & Candle" is a rare movie that's hard to find, no matter WHO you know, so, if you can find it, (and I found it right here at Amazon,) GET IT!!You'll wonder why the people who produced "Bewitched" even tried, it's such a pale imitation. It's been reported that "B,B&C" was the basis for "Bewitched"...DON'T YOU BELIEVE IT! "Bell, Book and Candle" is in a class by itself, and so much more enjoyable than its saccharine TV counterpart, it isn't funny!

I’m a Baby Boomer and have always loved old movies. One of my favorite sources of old films as a kid was Ben Hunter Movie Matinee (for those of you who do not know, Ben was the Robert Osborne of his generation). I first saw “Bell, Book and Candle” one afternoon spent curled up on the couch. It was a total lark, chosen because it starred Stewart with the inimitable Kim Novak— and who can resist that combination? The term ‘Bell, book and candle’ refers to a ceremony/method of excommunication from the Catholic Church, pre-Vatican II. At the end of this Excommunication ceremony the bishop would close a holy book, the 12 priests involved in the ceremony would blow out their candles and a bell would be rung. The idea behind the ceremony was that the subject would be terrified by it, and repent. The phrase ‘bell, book and candle’ is included in Act III of Shakespeare’s King John.This film is not quite as serious in story line as its title suggest. Taking place in Greenwich Village in the late 1950s, Novak portrays Gillian Holroyd, a witch who takes great delight in casting a spell to bewitch Stewart’s character, Shepherd, a neighbor who just so happens to be engaged to her former rival from college days, Merle (the author was certainly having some fun with character’s names—Gillian’s familiar is a cat named Pyewacket). Although she is more than aware that witches lose their powers if they fall in love, and is torn over the prospect, Gillian accepts his marriage proposal. Eventually, due to complications involving other characters, she is forced to confess to Shep that their engagement was the result of magic done to spite Merle. He leaves her, heartbroken, seeking help from another witch who gives him a special draft to drink which breaks the spell. Even Pyewacket is fed up with Gillian and takes off. The combination of losing Shep, Pyewacket’s desertion and the disapproval of friends is too much for Gillian, who begins to cry. Crying is not an ability witches possess, and serves as proof that she has lost her powers. I love this movie: The entire film is an atmospheric blast from the past, the supporting cast is stellar, the As New Yorker critic Michael Skragow put it, “...the fun quotient is high.” It premiered at Christmas in 1958; was a hit, and it’s still a hit for this fan, especially due to the performances of Stewart, Novak, Elsa Lanchester and Jack Lemon, who steals every scene he is in! Notably the movie is also the last time James Stewart played the lead in a romantic comedy. Still love it after all these years!

Muy buena es una pelicula divertida, inocente y positiva para pasar un rato agradable, tiene muy buena ambientación y vestuario

We watched it, that was the reason we bought it.

No matter what the storyline you can't go wrong with these films. The actors and actresses always brought something new to the table. You can hear what they are saying, there is always a joke element as they were their characters were well known from newspapers or the little news we sometimes had. Anyone involved from the call boy to the scriptwriter worked together and we will never see the likes of this sort of thing again. We rarely saw or knew about the background arguments and problems and the film industry was so tightly controlled you just enjoy your weekly if not nightly flea pit experience, some people went every night and new all the words to a T. Bell, Book and candle was yet another you must watch.

Lovely old (1958) film. The actors are superior to the film itself and maybe some of them could have been used more effectively. Not fast paced but does contain some sparkling dialogue. Love Elsa Lancaster (Bride of Frankenstein) who manages somehow to very slightly underplay a very over the top character - now that's acting, but what a waste of Hermione Gingold.The storyline shows its age a little in attitude. But still to be taken slowly and savoured.

What a great movie! The story of a witch and her upstairs neighbour, it's not like you'd expect. It's certainly not as sweet and domestic as the TV show 'Bewitched'. There's a dark, slighty nasty edge to it that I found refreshing. When this witch casts a spell -- she doesn't wiggle her nose. She falls into a trance and hums a rather unearthly tuneless incantation while staring into the eyes of her cat. It's all very agreeably sinister for a romantic comedy made in the 50s. Definitely worth a watch.