Bedazzled (1967)

Thanks for the memories!

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Absolutely Fantastic

A Masterpiece!

Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore) is a short order cook secretly infatuated with waitress Margaret (Eleanor Bron). He prays to God for the strength to speak to her. In desperation, he tries to hang himself and fails. The Devil (Peter Cook) comes to him instead. He is given seven wishes for his soul. Only his wishes aren't as simple as he hopes.It's not the first time that I got tricked by a DVD cover. I assumed that Raquel Welch would be the female lead. I don't know much about Eleanor Bron but I would definitely prefer Welch who has a minor role as one of the Seven deadly sins, Lust. Overall, there are a few laughs. It tries to be clever. I would be nice to have a bigger role for Margaret. She is more of an object rather than a full character. The idea is cute with some promise. Some of this works more than others.

What if The Devil were a smartass, lanky British dude instead of an unspeakably evil fire-monster? What if God wasn't a bearded Abercrombie & Fitch model but an invisible, booming disembodied voice who likes to maniacally cackle in his spare time? What if Lust, one of the seven deadly sins, was embodied by the curvaceous Raquel Welch? What if … okay, okay, I've given you plenty of what-ifs to let your imaginations run wild; now, wrap all those what-ifs into a profitable ball of madcap comedic energy and you'll get Bedazzled, one of the finest comedies of the last 50 years.It isn't funny haha like Airplane!, you might say, and it isn't trying to say something like the socially conscious Sullivan's Travels; Bedazzled is a collection of clever quips and dryly funny performances glued together with an insanely ingenious storyline that hits you with the force of a sexy wink from Linda Evangelista. It isn't anything other than consistently wicked and consistently engaging; yet comedy in the 1960s seems to be most attributed to Peter Sellers' greatest vehicles. But The Pink Panther series has its limits; Bedazzled, on the other hand, seems limitless. It may be tongue-in-cheek in its attitudes towards soul selling and heaven and hell's tricky relationship, but it is overtly serious when it comes to being unpredictable and quick. To call it underrated would be an understatement.Dudley Moore, always an under-appreciated comedic talent, portrays Stanley Moon, a hapless fry cook hopelessly in love with his coworker, the lovely Margaret (Eleanor Bron). He has kept his feelings secret for years, and, too nervous to do anything about them, finally decides that he's much too miserable in life to continue going on. So, he ties a noose to his apartment's pipe, jumps, and … well, the pipe breaks. But fear not; just as Stanley is about to lose hope once again, The Devil himself (Peter Cook) appears at his door, offering a sinful deal: if he grants Stanley seven wishes, then he, in return, will collect the poor man's soul. Stanley doesn't even hesitate - what does he have to lose? - and indeed goes through with The Devil's plan. All his wishes revolve around capturing Margaret's attention, but as The Bible has told us several times, you can't just trust the most vile force in the universe.Like Sellers in Doctor Strangelove, Moore is given the chance to try on several personas and see where they go; when he wishes for eloquence in hopes to seduce Margaret with his mind, he adopts a smooth attitude and an intellectual Welsh accent to back himself up. When he asks The Devil to give him the swagger of a rock star, he really turns into a rock star, singing with the charisma of Roger Daltrey. Moore is so insanely versatile that awe is the only emotion that seems to come out of us; the fluctuations in his performances are so subtle that you have to remind yourself just how much talent it takes to switch characterizations back and forth so many times in a single movie.But if I've made the film sound like a fantasy romp with a stellar performance at its core, that only scratches the surface. Cook, as much as Moore, can spit out adept pieces of dialogue with the wit of the most seasoned of comedians (an increasingly impressive feat considering much of the film is improvised), and Stanley Donen, most known for his musical features (Singin' in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) keeps up with the forward thinking ideals of filmmaking in the 1960s, providing Bedazzled with a solid foundation while also giving it room to go off- the-rails when it needs to. Films like Bedazzled work so well not just because of the talent involved; they work so well because everything they do is funny, existing in a parallel universe comprised of remarkably backwards humor. Along with Raquel Welch's sex appeal, it hasn't aged a bit.Read more reviews at petersonreviews.com

I found this one on Netflix streaming movies. I've seen the 2000 re-make with Brendan Fraser, but was unaware of this, the original, until two days ago. Naturally a movie made in 1967, coincidentally the year I graduated from college, will have a totally different look and sensibility. Plus this one was set and made in England, using pretty typical British humor, while the re-make is set and made in the USA.Dudley Moore, who also did the music and co-wrote the script, is Stanley Moon, lowly short order cook in a London dive. He longs for the waitress, but as a small, shy person can only wish from afar.Fret not, along comes Peter Cook as George Spiggott, aka The Devil. He is a rather pleasant chap, but after all these thousands of years wants to get back into God's good graces, and to do so needs to recruit souls. He bargains for Stanley's. Eleanor Bron plays the waitress Margaret . Sex symbol Raquel Welch plays Lust (Lilian Lust). Other actors play characters such as Vanity, Anger, Envy, Gluttony, Avarice, and Sloth , the seven deadly sins.Both the original and the re-remake use the same general approach, the dEVIL will grant 7 wishes, so that he can get the girl, but each situation isn't exactly a good result. The two versions of the movie use totally different circumstances. An entertaining movie, and a nice blast from the past. It was good to see Moore in an early role.

Besides the deft humor (some of it is best appreciated by those who are familiar with Britain of the '60s or the UK in general) there is entertaining music (written by Dudley Moore), some plot twists, and most surprisingly a moral message that can be taken away along with the humor and the music.The 2000 Bedazzled is quite different and more uneven.Oh, and there's Raquel Welch as Lust. Not exactly playing against type.The cast is uniformly excellent. For some reason this film is rarely seen on television and it is not easily found in video stores in either tape or DVD form.