Richard Quine's "Bell, Book and Candle" (1958) is one of those rare films that not only seems to improve with age but also strikes me as ageless. It's timelessly contemporary, whether you saw it in '58, '88 or '08.In that sense, it's magical, a quality that drives its most enchanting sequence - when Kim Novak and her cat Pyewacket bewitch Jimmy Stewart, complemented by George Duning's lilting theme, hummed by Novak, and James Wong Howe's shimmering cinematography. (Duning, by the way, came to call his title track for the film ... "Kim's theme.")
The moment is creamy, dreamy and, well, indelible.
Yes! I live for this movie and the scene you spotlight is trly a hightlight!
ReplyDeleteThat moment certainly was indelible - and bewitching: I for one have been under Kim's spell ever since seeing it for the first time. This movie belongs to that small, happy group of films that gives me my view of Manhattan in the post-World War II, pre-hippy era: glamorous, sophisticated, and - unlike its real life counterpart - wonderfully egalitarian, since anyone can go there, via a movie or TV screen.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your ongoing posts on Richard Quine and Kim Novak.
ReplyDeleteThat moment and this movie made me wish I could have a New York apartment someday! After reality set in, I think it's better that I just visit Kim, Jimmy, Elsa and friends rather than try to live their fantasies. It's hard work being sophisticated, I've found.
Great to see you posting anytime, Joe.
I've always loved this as a holiday movie - either for Christmas or Halloween! I love that scene and have always thought that Kim Novak was never given her due as an actress.
ReplyDeleteI was sorry to hear about Tony Curtis; one of my favorites of his is Captain Newman MD. Check out my blog posting: http://blogs.atlanticcityweekly.com/ac-central/2010/09/30/tony-curtis-1925-2010/
Not sure I've written you to say that your blog is a terrific one, so I am now! Attractive and nicely organized, but a bit overwhelming--could get lost for days in all of your blog entries and the links! Congratulations on it! And, like others have said there, terrific that you're bringing lesser-known titles to light.
ReplyDeleteI love that moment (which provided the cover image, for some reason, to Derek Bailey's early 2000s album of jazz standards - I guess he found the image irresistable, too). The rest of the movie doesn't quite reach the same level; it has some enjoyable, lightweight banter and the two leads have some nice chemistry, but there's nothing else that has the formal and aesthetic thrills of that single image, which so perfectly encapsulates the magic of sexual attraction and the bewitching powers of femininity. It's a case of a single image being so powerful, so mysterious and evocative and expressive, that it very nearly renders moot the whole rest of the movie it comes from.
ReplyDeleteEd! I agree with you about this particular moment but disagree - respectfully - about the movie in general. For me, it's one of those underrated films that continues to improve with age. But that's just me.
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