Alls Fair in Love and Magic

A great and often overlooked romantic classic is Richard Quine's 1958 film Bell Book, and Candle, a story about a witch who falls in love with a mortal. The film follows along that similar theme also shown in the television show Bewitched and in the 1942 movie I Married a Witch, starring Fredric Marc, Veronica Lake, and Susan Hayward. Bell Book and Candle is based on a play of the same name, written by John Van Druten. The film again teams up James Stewart and Kim Novak in the lead roles, as did Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo.

The film follows along with Gillian Holroyd (Novak), who is just your average witch-about-town living in Greenwich Village, New York with her cat, Pyewacket. Publisher Shep Henderson (Stewart) walks into her oddities shop one day to use the phone and Gil is smitten with him. Gil grows jealous when it turns out her old college rival Merle Kittridge (Janice Rule ) and casts a love spell on Shep to draw his attentions away from Merle. Unfortunately, Gil starts to fall in love with Shep as well and when a witch falls in love with a mortal, she looses her powers. Meanwhile, Shep's publishing agency has decided to accept a book being written by Sidney Redlitch (Ernie Kovacs ), who is writing about the supernatural with the help of Gil's warlock brother Nicky (Jack Lemmon ). At underground clubs, they meet several members of the supernatural community, including Aunt Queenie (Elsa Lancaster ). Gil eventually confesses her powers to Shep, who is disgusted with her, and Gil has fellow witch Bianca de Passe (Hermione Gingold ) break the spell Gil has cast over him. The film, of course, has a happy ending which I won't divulge here.

Stewart turned 50 on the set of this film and afterwards, ceased to play romantic leads focusing more on father figure roles. Both the film and the soundtrack that was released for it were moderate successes. The title is a reference to the phrase used during to the excommunication process against witches. The original Broadway stage production included Rex Harrison as Shepherd Henderson, Lilli Palmer as Gillian Holroyd, Jean Adair as Miss Queeny Holroyd, Larry Gates as Sidney Redlitch and Scott McKay as Nicky Holroyd. The name of Gil's cat Pyewacket comes from the records of witchfinder general" Matthew Hopkins, who listed is as one of the familiar spirits found in a small English town in 1644. The film was nominated for best Art Direction and Costume design for the 1959 Oscars, but did not win either.

Several reviews of this film are available for more background information. The Moon in the Gutter blogspot offers some insight into why the film has gone overlooked. Moviediva.com does a great article sighting reviews of the film and goes into detail about various interpretations and academic looks at the film and its subtext. The Spinning Image blog has a basic review of the film and one of the original reviews from the year it was released can be found here, thanks to The New York Times.

Murder Trials Agatha Christie Style

With an all-star cast, based on a play written by legendary Queen of Crime Agatha Christie, and directed by the famed Billy Wilder, the 1957 film Witness for the Prosecution is a film you know is going to be good before you even watch scene one. This is a film so filled with suspense, drama, and surprise after surprise that it even tells you at the film not to spoil the ending for others. Even the Royal Family was sworn to secrecy not to reveal the plot after being screened the film.

After being kicked out of the hospital for bad behavior, barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts (Charles Laughton) returns to London after suffering a heart attack, pestering, badgering nurse Miss Plimsoll (Elsa Lanchester) in tow. A fellow lawyer convinces the ailing Sir Wilfrid to take on the case of Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power), a hapless inventor who is accused of murdering wealthy widow Emily French (Norma Varden), who he befriended and may have sent mixed signals to. After French was brutally murdered, it was revealed that she left the majority of her money to Vole, making him look even more suspicious. Vole hopes that his wife Christine (Marlene Dietrich), a German immigrant who he met and married during WWII will help him out of his jam and places all of the hope he has on evading the charges on her. Sir Wilfrid doesn't trust Christine or her testimony. The trial begins and everything you think you knew about the case goes out the window as one shock after another are revealed, leading to a resolution that will have you on the edge of your seat.

It is often mistakenly assumed that Alfred Hitchcock directed the film, since it seems to be just the right plot for the Master of Supsense. Hitch commented on this mix-up, saying that Billy Wilder was often given credit for Hitch's film The Paradine Case. The on-screen camaraderie between Laughton and Lancaster was easy for them to create because they were husband and wife. This was Tyrone Powers' last feature film as he died of a heart attack the following year. Una O'Connor is the only cast member from the original Broadway play to reprise her role in the film. She played Janet McKenzie and also had starred in Bride of Frankenstein with Elsa Lancaster. This was O'Connor's last film as well.

You can watch the film yourself as it is divided into segments on YouTube and can be found here. Afterward, there are some reviews you can check out of the film. I wouldn't do so before because some of them give away spoilers. This review comes from crazy4cinema.com and is a good, brief review. Another review comes from classic film at about.com and is a good overview of the film. The review from apolloguide.com focuses a lot on the directorial side of the film, whereas this review from Marquette University of Law comes at the film from a legal aspect. Finally, this all encompassing review comes from allwatchers.com. So, have fun with all of the twists and turns in this rollercoaster ride of a film.