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BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE

BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE
by Richard Quine
Country: USA
Year: 1958
Duration: 106'


Gil works as a primitive arts dealer, but she is actually a witch. Her neighbor, Shepherd Henderson, is a low-key editor engaged to Merle, whom she despises. By conjuring a spell she learned from her aunt Queenie, she makes him fall in love with her and break off the wedding. After having second thoughts about her actions, though, Gil tells Shepherd the truth. At first, he doesn’t believe her; but then, after seeing her perform some magic, he doesn’t want to have anything to do with her and her family of witches. At this point, Merle no longer wants him back, while Gil realizes that she has actually fallen in love with Shepherd and gives up magic for him.

Biography

film director

Richard Quine

Richard Quine (Detroit, MI, USA, 1920 - Los Angeles, CA, USA, 1989) started performing on Broadway and make his big screen debut in John Ford’s movie The World Changes (1934). After working as assistant director, he moved onto directing. His first success was the 1955 feature My Sister Eileen, which he followed up with the comedy The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956), reconfirming his talent as a filmmaker. He then made several other excellent films, including the drama Strangers When We Met (1960), starring Kirk Douglas and Kim Novak. During the 1960s, he made comedies and romantic movies, like The World of Suzie Wong (1960), with William Holden and Nancy Kwan, and The Notorious Landlady (1962), with Jack Lemmon and Kim Novak.

FILMOGRAFIA

Siren of Bagdad (Napoletani a Bagdad, 1953), All Ashore (Marinai a terra, 1953), So This Is Paris (Tre americani a Parigi, 1954), Drive a Crooked Road (Il terrore corre sull’autostrada, 1954), My Sister Eileen (Mia sorella Evelina, 1955), The Solid Gold Cadillac (Una Cadillac tutta d’oro, 1956), Operation Mad Ball (Off Limits ¬- Proibito ai militari, 1957), Bell, Book and Candle (Una strega in paradiso, 1958), It Happened to Jane (Attenti alle vedove, 1959), Strangers When We Meet (Noi due sconosciuti, 1960), The World of Suzie Wong (Il mondo di Suzie Wong, 1960), The Notorious Landlady (L’affittacamere, 1962), Sex and the Single Girl (Donne, v’insegno come si seduce un uomo, 1964), Paris - When It Sizzles (Insieme a Parigi, 1964), How to Murder Your Wife (Come uccidere vostra moglie, 1965), Hotel (Intrighi al Grand Hotel, 1967), The Moonshine War (I contrabbandieri degli anni ruggenti, 1970), The Prisoner of Zenda (Il prigioniero di Zenda, 1979).

Cast

& Credits

regia/director
Richard Quine
soggetto/story
dalla pièce C’era una volta una piccola strega di/from the play of the same title by John Van Druten
sceneggiatura/screenplay
Daniel Taradash
fotografia/cinematography
James Wong Howe
montaggio/film editing
Charles Nelson
scenografia/production design
Cary Odell, Louis Diage
costumi/costume design
Jean Louis
musica/music
George Duning
interpreti e personaggi/cast and characters
James Stewart (Shepherd «Shep» Henderson), Kim Novak (Gillian «Gil» Holroyd), Jack Lemmon (Nicky Holroyd), Janice Rule (Merle Kittridge), Ernie Kovacs (Sidney Redlitch), Hermione Gingold (Bianca de Passe), Elsa Lanchester (Queenie Holroyd), Janice Rule (Merle Kittridge)
produttore/producer
Julian Blaustein
produzione/production
Columbia Pictures, Phoenix Productions
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