Rating of
3/4
Schroedinger's Familiar!
Filmhaus - wrote on 04/13/21
As many movies as I've watched, I'm always surprised when two entirely different films accidentally touch on similar themes in an entirely different way, complementing each other in the process.
That being said, obsession is multi-faceted, and can be played for suspense or laughs.
Released in the same year as object lessons for each, the dark comedy of Bell, Book, and Candle contrasts well against the torrid suspense of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.
Strangely enough, the principle cast members are all the same (Kim Novak & Jimmy Stewart), and the physical chemistry is just as electric. The color choice is just as lurid, with vivid greens and purples leaking off the celluloid.
In each, the femme fatale has subverted her identity to cast a spell of desire onto the helpless everyman, who is saved from the mundanity of bland machinations to a fate worse than death.
He has fallen in love with the idea of a woman who is not what she seems, and she has fallen in love with reality of a man who loves her for what she is not.
While both movies are subject to the machinations of fate, in Vertigo, Jimmy Stewart realizes (too late) that he prefers the reality to the ideal as Ms. Novak plunges to her doom.
In Bell, Book, and Candle, they tearfully embrace, both of them sacrificing their ideal for the reality of love.
Whether on purpose or not, both movies examine the comedic & tragic duality of obsession, and the audience is left to ask themselves "Is being enamored with the concept of someone the same as caring for them?" and "Is the pain of losing the artifice of love worth the gain of the reality?"
What a wonderful thing that both movies exist to see both outcomes, regardless of the answer.
However, personally speaking, as beautiful as Vertigo is, I like the ending of this film much better.
Kim Novak was never more beautiful than she was in 1958, and she is truly enchanting in this film, holding sway over the audience just as much as she does over Jimmy Stewart.
As other reviewers have noted, after watching the movie you wonder if this film wasn't a soft inspiration for the "Bewitched" TV show that followed in the years to come.
Of note, this film also has a tremendous supporting cast including film legends like Jack Lemmon (Some Like It Hot, Days of Wine and Roses, and The Apartment) and Elsa Lancaster (Mary Poppins, Bride of Frankenstein, and Witness for the Prosecution).
The cast appears as if they were having a great time making the film, and I certainly enjoyed watching it!
Highly recommended!
