Bell, Book and Candle (1958) on Netflix
Approved19581h 46mComedyFantasyRomance
Gillian Holroyd sells rare masks in Greenwich Village and is secretly a witch. Her neighbor, publisher Shep Henderson, is engaged to Merle Kittridge, the college nemesis she despises.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.8/1015,009 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes76%
Trailer
Plot summary
Shep Henderson, a publisher, moves into the apartment above Gillian Holroyd's in Greenwich Village. Gillian runs a shop that sells rare ethnological masks, and she keeps her witchcraft hidden. She grows bored with her routine and takes an interest in Shep, but her aunt Queenie, who has looked through his letters, reports that he is engaged. On Christmas Eve, Queenie lets herself into Shep's apartment and hexes his telephone, so he comes downstairs to borrow Gillian's. They talk about a bestseller on Mexican magic and the author, Sidney Redlitch, whom Shep wants to meet. Queenie invites them to the Zodiac Club, where Shep turns up with his fiancee, Merle Kittridge, a woman Gillian remembers from college as a malicious rival.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Bewitched creator Sol Saks admitted that he drew on this film as well as the earlier witch-themed I Married a Witch from 1942; screenwriter Paul Wayne said of him, “He was pretty honest about the fact it wasn't a particularly original idea.”
- Taradash and Blaustein hoped to get Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer, who had starred in the play, but Harry Cohn decided on Kim Novak, and her loan to Paramount for Vertigo created the scheduling conflict that put Harrison out of consideration; James Stewart came in because the Novak arrangement included reciprocity.
- Producers launched a search for Siamese cats to play Pyewacket, one release saying as many as 12 cats were needed for the film's stunts, and animal trainer Frank Inn, who owned the cat used in close-ups, reportedly gave it to Novak when he saw the bond she had formed with him.
- The film was scored by George Duning, who identified each witch, including Pyewacket the cat, with a musical signature and achieved an eerie background effect by recording sounds and replaying them at high speed.
