Something for the weekend. Soundtrack to Bell, Book and Candle (1958). Something of a lost classic now, Bell, Book and Candle was a fun comedic romp teaming up Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak in a tale of sorcery in Manhattan. A star studded supporting cast, including Jack Lemmon and Ernie Kovaks, added to the entertainment. Over the decades the movie has become an interesting period piece of America in the late Fifties. A good movie for a Halloween weekend.
This is a fun watch around the holidays. I first discovered this one night when the sound effects caught my attention. The sound effects when Lemmon uses his magic with the street lights were the ones used by the Scooby Doo cartoon. It didn’t take me long to learn the movie was based on a play that was itself a not so subtle allegory of the gay community. It was also the last movie Stewart agreed to be a romantic lead. He stated he felt uncomfortable being cast alongside such a young Kim Novak at that age in this and Vertigo. After that, he would settle for the old timer (or, as in Liberty Valance, the Old Timer remembering younger times) or in roles with minimal to nonexistent romantic storylines.