Bedazzled 1968
Cats: Comedy|Not long before this was put to film, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore had become famous on the London and New York theater scene for their comic revues Beyond the Fringe and Behind the Fridge (later in New York this revue was known as Good Evening). Mr. Moore and Mr. Cook had done various British television work. However in 1966 they ended up in The Wrong Box with Peter Sellers, Ralph Richardson, John Mills and Michael Caine. The following year Bedazzled was released. Writen by Mr. Cook and Mr. Moore and directed by Stanley Donen (of MGM musical fame), this movie is nothing short of brilliant.
Mr. Moore stars as Stanley Moon, a short order cook in love with waitress Margaret Spencer (Eleanor Bron) who works with Stanley at Whimpy Burger. Unable to make his feelings known, a desperate Stanley attempts to hang himself but is saved by George Spiggott - AKA Lucifer (Peter Cook). To gain the love of Margaret, Lucifer grants Stanley seven wishes for this purpose in return for his soul. However in everyone of the wishes, something goes wrong. Lucifer claims that it is Stanley’s fault as he does not word his wishes correctly, there is always a loophole for mischief. Stanley wishes for he and Margaret to be completely in love for example. However in one wish scenario, although she is in love with Stanley, Margaret is married to Lucifer (being the perfect husband).
Lucifer lives in a rundown neigborhood in London. His residence in a basement nightclub which is occupied by the seven deadly sins. Anger is the doorman / bouncer, Sloth is a passed out drunk slumped over a table, Envy is always jealously complaining, you get the idea. Lust comes to us in the form of a young Raquel Welch (who better to play Lust than a young Raquel Welch). Lucifer also wants to get back into heaven so while scratching brand new records about to be shipped to stores, tearing out the last page of Agatha Christie novels and cutting buttons of brand new shirts he has taken Stanley in and (as Stanley puts it) becomes his only friend.
There is no point in elaborating on any of the comedic material in the picture as I cannot do it justice. The last wish though I will say is a feat worth seeing. The pop star sequence is (in fuzzy black and white because it’s supposed to be on TV) is genius. I would put this one on in the store constantly almost soley because of this sort of tribute to Shin Dig! type shows of the ’60’s. And it is funny.
Will George / Lucifer get back into heaven? Will Stanley ever win the heart of Margaret? Will Stanley learn any sort of lesson from his experiences with the devil? Don’t sell your soul but record and watch this one and skip that dumb remake. Although the DVD is finally being released on Tuesday April 3rd you can get for almost free (you are paying for your cable, right?) on Sunday April 29th at 2:00AM on The Fox Movie Channel
