Bedazzled (1967)

scratched records, doo-das and red socks

Elizabeth Hurley as the Devil? What's the point then of a separate character, Lust? And Brendan Fraser? Find me a woman anywhere who'd not give him a tryout. I don't even need to hear any more.

This original was genius. Dudley Moore's "Stanley Moon" really IS a schlub. Who doesn't believe it? Everything about him screams ineffectuality, so when he's suddenly erudite, it's a riot! His "Pop Star" screams desperation! As a fly, it's as we've seen him all along! Having finally been sufficiently specific in his wish that he's become Margaret Spencer's garishly rich husband, even a gift of the Mona Lisa doesn't get her attention!

And Peter Cook's "George Spiggot" is everything Stanley's always wished he could be - tall, learned, sophisticated and UPPER CLASS. If the wishes were never to run out, Cook's Beelzebub could tease and torment Moon unto all eternity and the poor clown would forever blame only himself. His ingrained sense of inferiority will keep him chained and "George" knows this, which is why it's so much fun watching.

And then there's George's constant petty but creative devilry.

This is the one to have; not the remake. July 5, 2008

BeDazzled

Well what a good idea it was to purchase the late-at-night gem! I have only seen this late at night on free-to-air before and somehow can't watch it in broad daylight. Cheeky Peter Cook is great as the disinterested Devil and Dudley Moore falls for the twist every time. A great bit of comedy beofre the likes of Monty Python took over this type of comedy. May 26, 2008

If Flannery O'Connor were Anglican . . .

Given my expectations of a wild satire, I found this a strange movie that has at its thematic heart not the image of Dudley Moore in nun-drag hopping on a trampoline (a fabulous scene as it is), but Peter Cook's anti-modernist monologue toward the end, in which his Mephistopheles promises to advance the spread of soul-less scourges like "supersonic music" (uh, that's rock'n'roll he's dismissing, kids). Don't mistake this for irony like Adam West's "Batman"--Peter Cook's ethos is finally somewhat chilly. I realize I am in a minority of viewers here, but I see the film blending Cook's upper-crust aesthetics with a fairly standard if charmingly disguised Christian morality--but the satire is too glibly judgmental, as in its mockery of rock'n'roll, and in its moderately surprising queasiness about sex (do not be fooled by the image of Welch on the DVD box). Cook, who wrote the script, has his nose raised at all sorts of things one might expect him to have more fun with. Still, some scenes in this are painfully funny, and leave the gravity of most convention, especially when Moore is transformed into a pretentious seducer, a cross between Alastair Cook and Tom Jones, and the Hullabaloo send-up in which Cook plays a dour, narcissist pop star who seems to anticipate Prince c. 1989, without the sex. And the nuns-on-trampoline scene (the only thing in the film that resembles Monty Python) is grade A bizarre. But the recent interview with co-star Barry Humphries (in the bonus section) shows his memory to be spot on, as he recalls that Peter Cook is a beautiful fellow and in some ways a neat wit, but not much of an actor (one can love Cook for his mind and still note that Dudley Moore has to put nearly every scene in this movie on his back and heft it about), and that Cook, while he looked the type of the 60s dandy from a certain distance, is finally a pretty conservative guy--for certain he is in the details of this film. May 25, 2008

Faust fun

Extraordinary cult movie that is worth a dozen other items that bear that ever-hyped classification. This one is a sophisticated, witty and truly unique, the work of director Stanley Donen, completed the same year as TWO FOR THE ROAD, another near-perfect film.
This is a variation on the Faust legend with a lot of mid 60's allusions, some of which may date the film.
Outrageous humor from the team of Dudley Moore and Peter Cook, rivals THE WRONG BOX, their classic from the year previous to this.
The American films of Moore are totally putrid in comparison with this thing; this humor is adult but no one farts or curses. And it is light years ahead of the remake with Brendan Fraser, which turns the devil into a woman, expanding the Raquel Welch cameo in gargantuan proportions.
Really worthwhile. April 5, 2008

Litmus test

The olde production of "Bedazzled" is a litmus test. Like Firesign Theatre recordings.
If you don't get it, trust me, YOU ARE AN IDIOT! Further your English language training and try again.
I know its hard to accept, but you must. February 26, 2008

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