Bell, Book, and Candle (1958)

After teaming memorably in Alfred Hitchcock’s haunting Vertigo, James Stewart and Kim Novak are together again in the whimsical Bell Book and Candle (1958), a spellbinding romantic comedy directed by Richard Quine and based on John Van Druten’s Broadway hit. Stewart plays a New York publisher entranced by a mysteriously bewitching young woman (Novak); mesmerizing supporting performances by the likes of Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Hermione Gingold, Elsa Lanchester, and Janice Rule lend quirky comic charm to the proceedings. Cinematographer James Wong Howe gives us a glamorous vision of Manhattan, enhanced by George Duning’s sophisticated score (available here as an isolated track).