One of my favorite movies, this is sheer entertainment that never garnered the recognition it deserves as a sophisticated, romantic fantasy. James Stewart plays Shep Henderson, the staid, conventional businessman snared and enraptured by the magical machinations of witch, Kim Novak. Their romantic involvement is both abetted and impeded by complications inserted by her Aunt Queenie, a witch, and her brother, Nicky, a warlock.
Novak, as Gillian Holroyd the witchery heroine, in partnership with her feline assistant, Pyewacket, activates a zap of a love spell on her intended, accompanied by the full ceremonial ritual of haunting music and alluring wardrobe. Novak in this film has never looked more enticing on screen. Dressed to make the object of her affection swoon, she is attired in a dress of wine colored velvet whose sleeves are manacled by red sequined bands. In this get- up, setting her slanting eyes in a gaze focused to mesmerize, she is a seductress primed to get the man she targets and have the man she wins do her bidding. Here again Stewart showcases his well-honed screen persona of hapless and gullible, performances keynoted by whiny, shrill confusion and frustration. In this film, however, these devices typical of Stewart's acting technique work for his character of the lover seduced by otherworldly powers.
In a film, abundant with eccentricity, it is the performances of the supporting cast that gives the film much of its enjoyable moments. The quirky genius of Ernie Kovacs shines as an alcoholic huckster who authors dubious exposes of witchcraft with enough sensationalist elements to guarantee best sellers. As Sidney Redlitch, Kovacs veritably steals every scene in which he appears. Grandiose in manner, and outrageous in dress, and as one character describes her, appearing as if she lived in a "pickle jar," Hermoine Gingold provides the perfect incarnation of the grand old dame of this New York witchery set. As Bianca de Passe, she reigns over proceedings, a figure lounging in the club where the coven congregates, a Greenwich Village cellar hangout appropriately named "The Zodiac." Jack Lemmon lends his great comedic facility to Nicky, a boyish amalgam of merry-magic prankster and bongo playing beatnik.
There is not one superfluous or dull moment in this movie. The premise and script are clever, it all fits, it all works and it's a whole lot of magical fun.
Novak, as Gillian Holroyd the witchery heroine, in partnership with her feline assistant, Pyewacket, activates a zap of a love spell on her intended, accompanied by the full ceremonial ritual of haunting music and alluring wardrobe. Novak in this film has never looked more enticing on screen. Dressed to make the object of her affection swoon, she is attired in a dress of wine colored velvet whose sleeves are manacled by red sequined bands. In this get- up, setting her slanting eyes in a gaze focused to mesmerize, she is a seductress primed to get the man she targets and have the man she wins do her bidding. Here again Stewart showcases his well-honed screen persona of hapless and gullible, performances keynoted by whiny, shrill confusion and frustration. In this film, however, these devices typical of Stewart's acting technique work for his character of the lover seduced by otherworldly powers.
In a film, abundant with eccentricity, it is the performances of the supporting cast that gives the film much of its enjoyable moments. The quirky genius of Ernie Kovacs shines as an alcoholic huckster who authors dubious exposes of witchcraft with enough sensationalist elements to guarantee best sellers. As Sidney Redlitch, Kovacs veritably steals every scene in which he appears. Grandiose in manner, and outrageous in dress, and as one character describes her, appearing as if she lived in a "pickle jar," Hermoine Gingold provides the perfect incarnation of the grand old dame of this New York witchery set. As Bianca de Passe, she reigns over proceedings, a figure lounging in the club where the coven congregates, a Greenwich Village cellar hangout appropriately named "The Zodiac." Jack Lemmon lends his great comedic facility to Nicky, a boyish amalgam of merry-magic prankster and bongo playing beatnik.
There is not one superfluous or dull moment in this movie. The premise and script are clever, it all fits, it all works and it's a whole lot of magical fun.