List Price: $24.95You Pay Only: $21.99 You Save: $2.96 (12%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780767821551
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0767821556
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 1
Release Date: March 28, 2000
Running Time: 103 minutes
Sales Rank: 5184
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 1959-01
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Staid, secure publisher James Stewart leads a quiet life until he meets his bewitching downstairs neighbor, Kim Novak. John Van Druten's lighthearted Broadway comedy becomes a lush if lightweight romantic vehicle for Stewart and Novak, who would reunite for Hitchcock's Vertigo the next year. Novak is at her best as a Greenwich witch halfway between the worlds of magic and mortals, looking after her dotty aunt (Elsa Lanchester) and mischievous warlock brother (Jack Lemmon) as they keep their skills in practice. Novak's specialty is making men fall for her, but it's a one-way street: when a witch falls in love, she loses her powers. Director Richard Quine gives the witches an almost beatnik sensibility, a real Greenwich Village subculture hanging out in underground clubs and smart curio shops. Elegantly photographed in rich, glowing colors by James Wong Howe, Bell, Book and Candle is a fantasy world in New York set to a funky bongo-laced jazz score by George Duning. Quine's gliding camera is somewhat marred by abrupt editing, but his handling of actors is superb, in particular Novak, whose mysterious beauty masks inner turmoil and romantic yearnings. Ernie Kovacs appears as a wry author whose specialty is the supernatural, and Hermione Gingold is suitably florid as a witch elder with a penchant for theatricality. For once in his life Stewart is actually upstaged by the slyly comic performances around him. --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Bell Book and Candle
Bell Book and Candle is a most delightful movie for anyone to enjoy. The stars, Jimmy Stewart, Kim Novak and Jack Lemmon (and a bunch of other great stars), are of my generation and makes one wish our younger folks would be exposed to this kind of fine acting. The story is fun and fanciful; makes you laugh and feel good all at the same time. Working with the vendor through Amazon is great.
Rating: - Bell, Book, Oscar please...
By far, one of the goddess-like attributes of the divine Ms. Kim Novak has shown herself to be not only the original mold of what a "character actress" must subject herself to, but with her lightening wit, exceptional beauty, (and trust me, the Divine Miss "N" is still in her prime, even at her now "golden years".
I had the privilege of meeting her on her llama ranch in Eagle Point, Oregon, before it was tragically burned to the ground.
Everything, EVERYTHING she had, from the original script to Vertigo, BB&C, (which insiders tell me, she has a MAJOR role in her character, Miss Gillian Holroyd, her lines, her back story, which come now as no surprise, as a woman who who is unhappy with her life as a witch, must deal with her bumbling, but lovable aunt, and brother, who find turning the stoplights green, and playing pranks on unsuspecting "mortals", or "outsiders" as they refer to them in the film.
After a final test to see if she can possibly win over co star Jimmy Stewart's interests, without..."tricks", as she poignantly portrays her internal struggle to just "sit in a quiet church somewhere, singing carols... instead of bongo drums", she recites to her Aunt Queenie, none other then the infamous Bride of Frankenstein.
The rest of the movie becomes rather fast paced, as Gillian soon realizes that she may have bitten off more than she can chew this time.
But you must see this classic to find what the Divine Miss "N" has taken in, taken on, that sometimes life ... Read More
Rating: - Bell Book and Candle, the underated fun movie
Jack lemon, Jimmy Stewart, Kim Novak and a cat with a fantastic name. This movie was one of my favorites on those "Sunday" afternoon movies that were on TV when I was a kid. I thought Kim Novak was a living Barbie doll and the bongo sixties beet nick fun element added by Jack Lemon was perfect.
I loved this movie and now that I own it, I can watch it over and over.
Rating:  - Magic in Manhattan . . .
This fun, quirky film was adapted for the screen from a play of the same name by John Van Druten. Originally set in England, Van Druten wrote it as a straight play, but in the tryouts, people laughed, so he changed it to a light comedy that starred Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer, that was produced in New York by Irene Mayer Selznick. David O. Selznick of Columbia acquired the film rights and cast his wife, Jennifer Jones, as Gillian, and reset the story in Paris, but Jones became pregnant and Kim Novak replaced her - Novak was fresh from working with Jimmy Stewart in "Vertigo", where, ironically, Novak had ALSO replaced the pregnant Vera Miles. In exchange for lending Novak for "Vertigo", Columbia got a two-movie deal with Stewart, who they slated for "Bell, Book and Candle". Novak's price for coming in on BB&C was that her friend, Richard Quine, direct - and so, after many twists and turns, the story was reset a third time in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.
Many critics thought the film lacked the wit and charm of the original play; however, not having seen the original, this reviewer found plenty of wit and charm to enjoy in this delightful comedy. The film's one flaw is the casting of the legendary Stewart as the romantic lead opposite Novak - he was just too old, and ruefully acknowledged this later on. He was by this time 50 years old, nearly quavery-voiced, thread-papery looking, with receding grey hair and old hands. He was heavily made up to compensate, but it shows, and thus ... Read More
Rating: - Great Classic Movie!
This is a great classic movie. James Stewart is wonderful as always and Kim Novak is great as the witch.
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