With 'Beyond The Fringe', Peter Cook and Dudley Moore - along with Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller - helped define 1960's comedy. They were a classic comedy duo - Cook was tall, witty and handsome, Dudley short, musically gifted and lovable. They progressed to television - the wonderful B.B.C.-2 show 'Not Only But Also' - and finally into films. After appearing in Bryan Forbes' 'The Wrong Box' in which they played greedy, grasping brothers, they landed their own movie, directed by Stanley Donen, known mainly for musicals such as 'Singing In The Rain'.
'Bedazzled' is a comic version of the Faust legend. Moore is 'Stanley Moon', short order cook in a London Wimpy bar, who is suicidally depressed because he feels his life is going nowhere. He even lacks the courage to ask the flighty waitress whom he is obsessed with - Margaret Spencer ( Eleanor Bron ) - out on a date. Salvation arrives in the cloaked shape of a mysterious stranger by the unlikely name of George Spiggot ( Peter Cook ). Spiggot is The Devil, and in return for Stanley's soul gives him seven wishes.
In the first, Moon is a Welsh intellectual who tries to sweep Margaret off her feet ( and into his bed ) with clever talk. She cries 'Rape'! In the second, he is a millionaire who lavishes expensive presents on Margaret, to whom he is now married. But she is openly sleeping with everyone except him. The third wish sees him as a pop star whom the whole world adores. Alas newcomers 'Drimbl Wedge & The Vegetation' are on the same programme, and Margaret transfers her hero worship to them. The fourth wish occurs when Stanley innocently wonders what Margaret is currently up to. He and Spiggot transform into flies who buzz around a morgue. The fifth has Stanley and Margaret passionately in love. But she is happily married to the too-good-to-be-true Peter. Stanley details his sixth wish carefully. There must be no men in Margaret's life. He forgets to specify the sex and is turned into a nun! Which means he has one wish left. Or does he?
Though regarded now as a classic cult comedy, the film was a box office failure in its day. Pete and Dud had many fans, obviously not enough to make the film a hit. The late Harry Thompson - Cook's biographer - thinks British audiences were disappointed not to see the duo's cloth-capped characters in the film. While undeniably amusing, I do not think they would have worked on the big screen. In America, the advertising mistakenly overemphasised Raquel Welch's contribution - she is in it for all of three minutes. 'Bedazzled' opened when the popularity of British comedies was in decline, with only the 'Carry On' series and all-star romps such as 'Monte Carlo Or Bust' ( featuring Pete and Dud, incidentally ) keeping the genre afloat.
Donen does not try to smother Cook's witty script with superfluous visual touches. Another director probably would have. The episodic plot is kept well under control. Sadly, he never worked with Pete and Dud again. The name 'Stanley Moon' came from Sir John Gielgud, incidentally, while 'George Spiggot' was the Moore character in the celebrated 'One Leg Too Few' sketch in 'Not Only But Also'. Another recycled idea was the leaping nuns. Dudley Moore wrote the wonderful soundtrack.
Often overlooked when assessing this film is Eleanor Bron, playing multiple versions of her character. Not only is she beautiful but a marvellous comedy actress. Two years before she had appeared as a Kali Priestess in The Beatles movie 'Help!'.
Funniest moment? Too many to name. Wish No.3 superbly sends up 'Ready, Steady Go' but it is Wish No.5 that never fails to make me cry with laughter. Stanley and Margaret desperately want to commit adultery, but cannot because their mutual admiration for her husband is too great!
One of the funniest motion pictures of all time. Watch it and treat yourself to a Frobisher & Gleason Raspberry Flavoured Ice Lolly at the same time, folks!
In 2000, Liz Hurley and Brendan Fraser starred in a remake, which was okay but not a patch on the original.
'Bedazzled' is a comic version of the Faust legend. Moore is 'Stanley Moon', short order cook in a London Wimpy bar, who is suicidally depressed because he feels his life is going nowhere. He even lacks the courage to ask the flighty waitress whom he is obsessed with - Margaret Spencer ( Eleanor Bron ) - out on a date. Salvation arrives in the cloaked shape of a mysterious stranger by the unlikely name of George Spiggot ( Peter Cook ). Spiggot is The Devil, and in return for Stanley's soul gives him seven wishes.
In the first, Moon is a Welsh intellectual who tries to sweep Margaret off her feet ( and into his bed ) with clever talk. She cries 'Rape'! In the second, he is a millionaire who lavishes expensive presents on Margaret, to whom he is now married. But she is openly sleeping with everyone except him. The third wish sees him as a pop star whom the whole world adores. Alas newcomers 'Drimbl Wedge & The Vegetation' are on the same programme, and Margaret transfers her hero worship to them. The fourth wish occurs when Stanley innocently wonders what Margaret is currently up to. He and Spiggot transform into flies who buzz around a morgue. The fifth has Stanley and Margaret passionately in love. But she is happily married to the too-good-to-be-true Peter. Stanley details his sixth wish carefully. There must be no men in Margaret's life. He forgets to specify the sex and is turned into a nun! Which means he has one wish left. Or does he?
Though regarded now as a classic cult comedy, the film was a box office failure in its day. Pete and Dud had many fans, obviously not enough to make the film a hit. The late Harry Thompson - Cook's biographer - thinks British audiences were disappointed not to see the duo's cloth-capped characters in the film. While undeniably amusing, I do not think they would have worked on the big screen. In America, the advertising mistakenly overemphasised Raquel Welch's contribution - she is in it for all of three minutes. 'Bedazzled' opened when the popularity of British comedies was in decline, with only the 'Carry On' series and all-star romps such as 'Monte Carlo Or Bust' ( featuring Pete and Dud, incidentally ) keeping the genre afloat.
Donen does not try to smother Cook's witty script with superfluous visual touches. Another director probably would have. The episodic plot is kept well under control. Sadly, he never worked with Pete and Dud again. The name 'Stanley Moon' came from Sir John Gielgud, incidentally, while 'George Spiggot' was the Moore character in the celebrated 'One Leg Too Few' sketch in 'Not Only But Also'. Another recycled idea was the leaping nuns. Dudley Moore wrote the wonderful soundtrack.
Often overlooked when assessing this film is Eleanor Bron, playing multiple versions of her character. Not only is she beautiful but a marvellous comedy actress. Two years before she had appeared as a Kali Priestess in The Beatles movie 'Help!'.
Funniest moment? Too many to name. Wish No.3 superbly sends up 'Ready, Steady Go' but it is Wish No.5 that never fails to make me cry with laughter. Stanley and Margaret desperately want to commit adultery, but cannot because their mutual admiration for her husband is too great!
One of the funniest motion pictures of all time. Watch it and treat yourself to a Frobisher & Gleason Raspberry Flavoured Ice Lolly at the same time, folks!
In 2000, Liz Hurley and Brendan Fraser starred in a remake, which was okay but not a patch on the original.