Bedazzled (1967)

Purely Joyful Movie!

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

When I saw the Fraser/Hurley version at the cinemas in 2000 I had no idea it was a remake. This, the original version from 1967 blends classic British comedy with pre-Pythonesque humour.Peer Cook tries to swindle Dudley Moore out of his soul by giving him seven wishes. The wishes all go wrong with varying degrees of amusement. I only burst out laughing once when Dudley is transformed into a nun. In between the wishes Rachael Welsh teases us as Lust while other familiar faces pass the camera before we've realised who they are. We sympathise with both the main characters. Will Dudley get his girl or will he live out his life in a habit? Will God take back Cook or will he just have a laugh?It's very entertaining and stands up well against the remake. Not unmissable but worth your time.

A rather subversive little (slightly black) comedy, but not because of its support for hippies, but due to its demolishing of what constitutes the essence of Christian belief. The movie is at its best not during the materialization of Dudley's seven (well, six) wishes but during all the segments in-between. The dialogue between Dudley and Satan in these scenes is what won me over, and it's during these bits that Christianity, and religious belief in general perhaps, is taken apart with obvious joy by the writer. The mockery might be too subtle for the dimmer viewers, hence a believer of lower intelligence could enjoy "Bedazzled" without getting annoyed or upset. Although, a remark such as the one about a priest being "on our side" (Satan) might be a little too direct, and might reveal the film-makers' intentions even to the very unobservant viewer. Either way, I can imagine that the movie must have upset quite a few people back in the day.The great irony, of course, is that this movie's portrayal and description of God is very accurate, i.e. quite in accordance with how He comes off in the Great Book. A point, however, that will be totally lost on (the more fanatical) believers.Dudley refers to hippies as "those wonderful flower people" right after Satan targets them with a prank. What can one say to that? This was 1967, after all, an extremely naive and (comparatively) innocent period in the history of Western civilization. For all intents and purposes - at least to the lazier and more optimistic minds living at that time - hippies might have appeared to be that which they hypocritically tried to make everyone believe they were. If the movie had been intellectually fool-proof, which it isn't unfortunately but predictably (very few are), instead of glorifying hippies it would have placed them firmly on Satan's side, due to their abundantly obvious (perhaps with a little hindsight) penchant for indulging in at least half of the Seven Deadly Sins: lust, vanity, and sloth. (Hey, nothing wrong with lust; I am merely using the movie's religious-based logic.) Speaking of which, Raquel Welch has a bit part as Devil's servant Lust. She seemed to be rather confused about the accent she was supposed to use. I could have sworn she started off with an English accent but then somehow managed to slip into a light Southern twang. The director Donen probably didn't even try to correct her; he must have figured there was no use, not in a million takes. Or perhaps he'd given up AFTER the million takes. When Dudley's head is shoved onto her ample bossom, that might have been the first ever film sequence with a man resting his head on a pair of fake breasts. Just a thought.There are nice little touches of insanity, such as the notion that the Devil had lost his touch somewhat, being reduced to performing minor acts of "sabotage" such as corrupting pidgens into crapping onto people's heads or performing trivial acts of fraud against little old ladies. Although the in-between segments are the funniest, there is much hilarity in some of the wish-segments too, the funniest being when Satan cons Dudley into becoming a lesbian nun. That entire monastery bit is the film's absolute highlight.What really makes this comedy work most, apart from a meticulously prepared script, is without a doubt Dudley's excellent, totally spot-on nailing of the character. He plays him perfectly. The way he looks at people, the way he talks, plus his mannerisms and body language, all these are ideal for the portrayal of this fairly dimwitted Joe Shmoe loser. Occasionally Dudley says something a little too intelligent for his character, but that's forgivable in a comedy, i.e. plot-devices that advance a joke or gag are acceptable even if they stray from the established logic somewhat.I haven't seen a comedy this funny in years (apart from "Borat" and "Bruno"), but I am not too surprised given that Stanley Donen directed it. He had actually managed to turn a MUSICAL into a funny movie years earlier with "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers", so if he could do that he could do a lot more.

The ultimate compliment that can be paid in life is your material being born again. Such homage has been paid to Peter Cook & Dudley Moore as they collaborated on this script working for big name producer Donlan. The results are a 1960's feeling & era set film.Many fans of Raquel Welsh feel she was wasted here, & in a sense she very much was. Other than one good sequence with Moore in the bedroom, she only gets to be eye candy. Really, her role and Eleanor's role in this are not big on either count. Eleanor gets more camera time, but her role is not really much bigger.This film is very much into the sexist 1960's where women were looked upon as objects of men's desire. Even though in real life Raquel already had 2 kids, she became that desire for a long time before and after this film.The strength of the film is Peter Cook's way in his role as the devil. Instead of being just pure evil, he seems to bring a friendly smile & wave to the role. The collaboration with Moore on the script show in their film long on screen partnership. This chemistry is the glue that holds the film together.The references to drugs and suicide are common themes for the era. Moore's score contains some hip jazz sax which was very much period like work. While Cook is a Devil might care type, Moore is pretty much the same awkward shy but forward type playboy he would later reprise in several other films including the drunk sot of Arthur. Moore is good natured here and keeps getting out witted by Cook's devil.Donlan produces some very 1960's looks down to the scene coloring of the film as there are times the color are psychedelic.

I couldn't believe how bad this lame attempt at religion bashing was.Typical left wing bashing of religion which passes for 'humor' in such sophomoric left wing circles.Spit and sneer at the Bible, nuns, etc etc etc. And that supposed to be hilarious.It wasn't.One of the dullest excuses for humor I had had the bad fortune to waste my time on.The love of Dudley Moore's life was a horsefaced excuse for an actress.The pacing of this lame British 'humor' was deadly and sleep inducing.