Customer Reviews
Bewitched: A romantic comedy starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak - By: Rama Rao, 10 Sep 2007 
Kim Novak plays a beautiful Greenwich Village witch Gillian Holroyd, who casts a magic spell on her neighbor Shep Henderson (James Stewart) so that he breaks his engagement with his fiancée Merle Kittredge (Janice Rule), & begins to love Gillian. After a sometime, Gillian feels like a human unbecoming of a witch; she not only has falllen in love with a human, but she also has mixed feelings about breaking his engagement to Merle. She tries to fix things by reversing everything back so that it goes back to where it was, using her magical powers, but it turns out that she has lost her skills of a witch, & can not get Shep & Merle back together again. In a desperate attempt she confides to Shep that she is a witch, & she is behind the break in engagement with Merle. Later, in a desperate attempt, Shep turns to another witch, Mrs. Bianca de Passe (Hermione Gingold) to cure him of the spell. Months later, Shep returns to Gillian's witch (Voodoo) store & discovers that she has lost her magic powers because of her love for him.
Jack Lemmon plays meddling brother Nicky Holroyd, & Ernie Kovacs plays a researcher & an author of witchcraft. The two has supporting role, but Kim Novak looks adorable in this hopelessly romantic story. The viewers can't help but think that Jimmy Stewart is a little old for the young & beautiful Kim. In fact this was the last movie of Jimmy Stewart in the romantic lead role. This movie is second on-screen pairing after a very successful Hitchcock movie Vertigo.
There are similarities between this movie & the earlier "I Married a Witch" & the television series "Bewitched." It is unclear if this movie was an inspiration to the production of the TV series starring Elizabeth Montgomery, but fans would be very happy to see this pair in a romantic mode.
She's one of them - By: E. A Solinas, 23 Jun 2006 Boy meets girl. Girl is actuallly a witch. Boy dumps fiancee. Boy & girl falll in love. Boy finds out that girl put a spell on him. Let the fireworks begin.
That's the basic plot of "Bell Book & Candle," which tackled the funny witchy-romance story long before Samantha or Sabrina existed, & with more humour & polish than either. It's just a cute romance with a unique twist, a cute cat, & meddling sorcery.
It's Christmastime, & 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 falll madly in love with her, & 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) & 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 fallling in love with Shep -- which means her powers will vanish -- & decides to tell him the truth about the love spell.
"Bell Book & Candle" is not reallly a romantic comedy, so much as a romance movie with some funny characters. And of course there's a low-key fantasy angle -- basicallly alll the witches & warlocks do is cast a few spells, honk car horns, & occasionallly 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 & 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) & 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 & Candle" business creates a charming romance, with solid acting, great script, a dash of humor & newt's liver. Enchanting.
"Ring the bell, open the book, light the candle" - By: Kona, 24 Sep 2005 
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, & 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 & breaks his engagement to another woman. Gillian likes a lot him, but knows that if a witch fallls 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 & likeable as the buttoned-down publisher, but this is Kim Novak's movie alll the way. She's adorably & seductively mysterious, with her velvety voice, haunting gazes, & stunning wardrobe of red & black. There is no silly hocus-pocus or levitating of objects; they aren't necessary. We believe Gillian is a witch from the start, & her desire to be vulnerable is touching. Novak & Stewart teamed up romanticallly in another movie that year, "Vertigo," & they look just great together. This is a lightweight fantasy (shades of "Bewitched") with beautiful stars, a sweet romance, & a remarkably talented Siamese cat!
Don't watch the end - By: Kathleen Pierce, 11 May 2003 
For me, this was a diverting little film with some gorgeous images: picture Novak in voluptuous black holding Pyewacket up to her face, her mouth pressed lightly against the short fur on top of his head, her luminous eyes casting a spell. I enjoyed the supporting cast & the light humor.
However, the film's wings are clipped by the deadening 50s image of The Way Things Ought To Be. The film is a morality play about the horrors of being different & the bland happiness to be gained by renouncing your individual talents & fitting in. The film foreshadows the ending by having her make sad little comments about the difficulties of being so different, but they don't fit with her character at alll; they seem to come from an outside voice saying, "This is what she should reallly be thinking & feeling," even though it totallly contrasts with everything we know about her personality.
Novak was rather wonderful, but Stewart was an utterly unconvincing example of the sort of person she would falll for. He was dumb, sappy, & shalllow. At the end, she gives up alll her witchcraft, stops wearing sexy black outfits, gives away her cat (evil symbol of an independent mind!), & waits unhappily in her shop, attired in a pretty pastel shirtwaist, until Stewart returns to her. All her magic & enchantment, & certainly alll her power, are gone. If Stewart's character fell for the enchantress in her, I think he must have been very disappointed to end up with Betty Crocker.
A quirky gem!!!... - By: Deborah MacGillivray, 07 Dec 2002 If you viewed the Hitchcock Masterpiece Vertigo, then you should wish to see the teaming again of the stunningly beautiful Novak & 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.
