Fantasmes

"Bedazzled", mainly because it's not available on DVD (and even VHS in the UK), has become something of a cult in recent years. This is also due to the simple fact that its a very good film, a very mannered and well-crafted high concept flick.

Dudley Moore and Peter Cook were still friends in 1967. They were two of British TV's most feted stars, and had also enthusiastically appeared together in a few ensemble comedy films. They were no slouches when it came to their first feature either. Stanley Donen was brought in a director, Cook toiled over the witty script, Moore did the perky score.

"Bedazzled" is slightly dated and is quite an uncommercial product overall, but its still a clever and interesting film. It doesnt deliver bellylaughs, but it is pretty thought-provoking and intelligent. There's funny one-liners ("Yes, Irving Moses-the fruitier etc), totally original ideas (the animated fly sequence, Raquel Welsh as Lust), slapstick stuff and a top pop parody with Cook as the indifferent "Drimble Wedge".

The pathos and sadness underpinning the movie is perhaps best summed up with the conned old lady's "Goodbye" as the Eyewash men leave. "Bedazzled" is very British and very 60s, but it still a well-made and well-acted fantasy, much better than the silly 2000 remake.

Bedazzled just gets better as the years go by, and especially after the fiasco of the Liz Hurley remake. This version was written by and stars Pete 'n' Dud, with Eleanor Bron as the soppy Margaret Spencer, waitress at Wimpy's, Barry Humphries (otherwise known as Dame Edna) as Envy, Raquel Welch as Lilian Lust ... through its segments relating to Stanley's wishes (the 'sophistate', the millionaire, the pop star, the fly on the wall, the leaping nun ...) it scores points on every level, as well as reflecting the time - the pop star segment is very Ready, Steady, Go, George Spiggott's club (like Cook's in real life but hopefully the real one was less sleazy), and of course, the depressing town street burger bar. It is a very funny film and a good vehicle for the leads (their other teaming in Hound of the Baskervilles misfired badly). And it is directed by Stanley Donen, who was partly responsible for a string of MGM movie musicals with Gene Kelly in the 1950s.

A hapless loser (Dudley Moore) sells his soul to the Devil (Peter Cook) in exchange for seven wishes, but has trouble winning over the girl of his dreams (Eleanor Bron).

An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, Cook is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was closely associated with the anti-establishment comedy that emerged in Britain and the United States in the late 1950s.

Others have said Cook (and this film) are sort of a precursor to Monty Python, and I can see that. The mocking of religion is there, especially with the nuns on trampolines. The film does seem to run a bit long and get stale in places, but as a whole it is a breath of fresh air, a piece of film history ushering in a new era of comedy.

Cooke and Moore were possibly the finest comedians the UK has ever produced before Python and others followed Pete and Dud were the undisputed kings of the new cutting edge of comedy/satire in the UK.

But always just under the surface (and later out in the open) there was a sadness and dis-satisfaction to both Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore and I think some of that shows up in this film. Think of the old lady taken for all her money by the Devil and the cheery goodbye she still manages. Also part of the film seems to be dealing with the moral flexibility of people given their circumstance.

Stanley Moon (Moore) has limited opportunities as a short order cook all he desires is the love of Margaret one of the waitresses at the Wimpy he works in. But he is a good person, when after a botched suicide attempt he sells his soul to the devil (Cooke) he has all the opportunities in the world but it is easier for the devil to corrupt him.

Throughout the seven wishes (in accordance with 7 the mystic number, 7 days of the week, 7 deadly sins, 7 brides for 7 brothers..)Stanley can only think of his own needs and perhaps this is why they fail to make him happy. On his one opportunity to give a wish away to stop one of the devils petty tricks (sending a swarm of bee's to harass some flower children) he refuses saying 'Their mine and iv'e only got four left!' The other main theme of this film is more to the forefront dealing with Cooke and Moores attitudes towards religion and it's place in what at the time was the modern world. People were beginning to come away from the church and for the first time non-believers were becoming the majority. Part of the film lampoons religion particularly the bouncing nuns, but at the end it's god who wins out over the devil all be it by a technicality. In a way they showed the obvious contradictions and flaws in the Christian faith - religion nice idea but surely it cant be that way? If all of the above makes this film sound heavy going be assured it's not, and where as in others hands it may have become a pretentious mess it becomes a light hearted very funny comedy romp. If you just want a laugh on a Saturday night this will provide it, if you want to look deeper in and start divining meaning from every little aspect you can it's that sort of film.

Highly recommended 9/10 NOTE - AVOID THE REMAKE LIKE THE PLAGUE IT'S Awful

I came to "Bedazzled" with some trepidation, fearing an inconsistent, incoherent, over-indulgent sixties romp but was pleased at how well structured and directed it was. Seasoned Hollywood practicioner Stanley Donen taking on Britain's Anarchic Duo Pete and Dud looked from the outside a risky proposition but Donen does a fine job of guiding Cook's barbed, witty and funny screenplay into an enjoyable film entertainment.

Cleverly adapting the Faustian legend to modern day London it takes swipes at the convention of marriage, pop stardom, morality, religion (of course) and sex (also, of course) along the way. Framed by the device of the lovelorn Moore character's Stanley Moon's seven wishes, all to help him gain the heart of the remote Eleanor Bron character who works with him at the same greasy-spoon cafe, as granted by Cook's very chummy but always-one-step-ahead-of-him personification of the Devil, resplendent in his red socks, the film cleverly falls into a series of sketches like their TV series, taking in along the way personifications of the seven deadly sins for good (or bad) measure.

Most prominent amongst the latter of course as Lillian Lust is the new sex-bomb of the time, Miss Raquel Welch, who gets to flaunt her ample charms in a state of extreme undress in her barely (no pun intended) seven minute part. It being the swinging 60's and all, the sexism exhibited to females is pretty blatant and gratuitous which some today may find objectionable. Whilst I could have done without this cheap-thrill titillation, I found the rest of the film to be sharp, witty and amusing. Cook as the writer naturally gives himself the best lines, in particular his pop star spoof where he invents Neil Tennant twenty years in advance or when he topically sinks the Torrey Canyon oil tanker which was one of the main news stories in the U.K. that year, although the most memorable scene has to be Moore as a nun bouncing on a trampoline with a bunch of bopping Sisters behind him.

The chemistry between Cook and Moore is obvious but there's little sign of the spontaneous improvisation which sometimes prevailed in their TV shows ("Greta, Greta!") but it's no bad thing here as it keeps their performances sharp and to the point.

It's a pity there wasn't a follow-up to this film or indeed any other film collaboration between the two which is a shame because not only did I enjoy this outing but also I'm sure they could have repeated the success they enjoyed here (see what I did there!).