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.

Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo

This afternoon on Turner Classic Movies, I managed to catch most of Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 psychological thriller, Vertigo. Though criticism was mixed when it opened, Vertigo has gone on to be one of Hitchcock's most famous and critically acclaimed films. And if you want to know about the Hitchcock cameo in this film, it's eleven minutes in at Gavin Elster's shipyard. Hitch is the man wearing a grey suit. The film is listed as #9 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list and #1 on its list of 10 Greatest Films in the mystery genre. It was chosen for preservation by the National Film Registry in 1989 and in 1996, it was restorted and re-released in theatres.

In the movie, John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart) is an ex-detective in San Francisco dealing with extreme fears of heights after watching a fellow officer plummet to his death. Scottie is now so paralyzed by heights that he cannot even stand on a stool in the apartment of his friend and ex-fiancée, Midge (Barbara Bel Geddes). He is hired as a P.I. by old college buddy Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) to spy on Elster's wife Madeline (Kim Novak), who seems to be suffering from a mental illness where she believes she is Carlotta Valdes, a woman who committed suicide a hundred years before and who's painting currently hangs in at the Legion of Honor. When Madeline plummets from the tower at the Mission San Juan Bautista, Scottie Ferguson becomes increasingly troubled and suffers a nervous breakdown. Then he meets Judy Barton, a woman who perfectly resembles Madeline. Scottie's obsession with Madeline grows and he does everything in his power to make Judy become Madeline. I won't give away the ending, but it does conclude with a tense confession and one of Hitchcock's classic ending twists you didn't see coming.

The effects in this movie are absolutely spectacular. Though the movie was made in 1958, a lot of the effects seem like something out of the late 60s. The "contra-zoom" shot was invented for this movie, which recreates the feeling of vertigo Scottie experiences for the audience. The films lighting changes for important events in the plotline and there is a recurring theme of repitition and reflection through the course of the movie.

Vertigo is a classic Hitchcock suspense with twists and turns you have to pay attention to. Like all of Hitchcock's movie, it requires you to think and to put together the pieces of the mystery that Hitchcock so expertly lays out. I would definitely recommend this thriller, not just for Hitchcock or thriller fans, but for anyone who wants to see a good film that will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time.