40 Fun Facts About Bell, Book and Candle

Which hit 1960s sitcom did creator Sol Saks admit was partly inspired by Bell, Book and Candle?

Bewitched reached ABC six years after the film, and a fellow writer recalled Saks being honest that its modern-witch premise was not a particularly original idea.

What is the name of Gillian Holroyd's cat, the conduit for her spells, in Bell, Book and Candle?

Pyewacket shares a name with an imp listed in a 17th-century English witch-trial confession, and several cats shared the role on screen.

On which night of the year does Bell, Book and Candle open, as Shep Henderson first meets the Holroyds?

Christmas Eve sets the scene, and the score works a few bars of Jingle Bells into the opening credits to match.

The two leads of Bell, Book and Candle had co-starred earlier in 1958 in which Hitchcock thriller?

Vertigo was made on loan: the leading lady's studio lent her to Paramount, and her co-star's services for this comedy were the return favour.

According to the witches' rules in Bell, Book and Candle, what costs a witch her magical powers?

Falling in love strips a witch of her magic, which is why Gillian hesitates before accepting Shep's marriage proposal.

The phrase 'bell, book and candle' first described which solemn rite of the medieval Church?

Excommunication by anathema ended with a bishop ringing a bell, closing a holy book and snuffing out candles as the sinner was cast out of the Church.

In Bell, Book and Candle, what farewell gift does Shep hand Gillian after learning she is a witch?

A broom is Shep's bitter joke once a potion has freed him from the spell; he hands it over as he says goodbye.

Which Grammy-winning singer was set in 2006 to star in a Disney remake of Bell, Book and Candle?

Alicia Keys was to play Gillian and supervise the music as her first producing project, but the remake was never made.

In Bell, Book and Candle, what can Gillian Holroyd do for the first time once her powers are gone?

Gillian can shed tears at last: the film's witches cannot cry or blush, so her weeping shows Shep that her magic has gone.

Bell, Book and Candle is widely seen as which Hollywood star's last role as a romantic lead?

James Stewart got the part of Shep after the producers' idea of Cary Grant foundered on creative differences with the studio.

Which star of Picnic and Pal Joey plays the witch Gillian Holroyd in Bell, Book and Candle?

Kim Novak bonded so closely with the main cat used in close-ups that its trainer reportedly gave the animal to her.

Which future star of Some Like It Hot plays the warlock Nicky Holroyd in Bell, Book and Candle?

Jack Lemmon had already won a supporting-actor Oscar for Mister Roberts when he took the smaller part of Nicky.

Which television comedian plays the hard-drinking author Sidney Redlitch in Bell, Book and Candle?

Ernie Kovacs was more often typecast in films as a military captain, as in Operation Mad Ball and Our Man in Havana.

Which star of Bride of Frankenstein plays the meddling Aunt Queenie in Bell, Book and Candle?

Elsa Lanchester stayed with family fantasy in the 1960s, turning up in Mary Poppins and Blackbeard's Ghost for Disney.

Which Gigi actress plays Bianca de Pass, the sorceress who brews Shep's antidote in Bell, Book and Candle?

Hermione Gingold made both films in 1958, and her sorceress is only a name in the original stage play.

What is Shep Henderson's job in Bell, Book and Candle, which brings the author Sidney Redlitch to him?

Publisher Shep wants to meet a best-selling writer on the occult, so Gillian's potion compels the man to turn up in New York.

Which instrument does Gillian's warlock brother Nicky play at a nightclub in Bell, Book and Candle?

Bongos power the scene in which Nicky's drumming helps drive Shep's fiancée out of the club, and the main theme blends them with violins.

What is the name of the Manhattan nightclub where the witches gather in Bell, Book and Candle?

The Zodiac Club has real jazz players on its bandstand: the Brothers Candoli appear in the film as its musicians.

Shep's fiancée Merle Kittridge has which fear, exploited by the witches, in Bell, Book and Candle?

Thunder terrified Merle at college, so Gillian has the club's musicians blare their instruments at her until she runs out.

In Bell, Book and Candle, Merle once reported Gillian to a college dean for not wearing what?

Shoes never appealed to Gillian, who still goes barefoot as an adult, and the old grudge prompts her revenge on Merle.

What breed is the cat that Gillian Holroyd keeps as her magical companion in Bell, Book and Candle?

Siamese cats were sought in a publicity-minded casting search early in 1957, a full year before filming began.

In which Manhattan neighbourhood does Gillian run her shop in the film Bell, Book and Candle?

Greenwich Village was a change for the screen: the stage play keeps all its action inside an apartment in Murray Hill.

What does Gillian Holroyd sell in her New York shop when Bell, Book and Candle begins?

Primitive masks crowd the shop until Gillian's magic deserts her, after which she fills it with delicate, colourful shells.

Which best-selling book by Sidney Redlitch does Shep Henderson admire in Bell, Book and Candle?

Magic in Mexico made its author an authority on the subject, yet he doubts that Nicky is a warlock until a spell proves it.

In Bell, Book and Candle, what does Nicky make flash on and off to prove he is a warlock?

Street lights return for the film's last gag, when every lamp on the block goes dark and the camera finds the culprit perched above.

What does Aunt Queenie hex in Shep's apartment after he shows her out in Bell, Book and Candle?

His telephone goes dead, which sends Shep downstairs to borrow Gillian's and gives the two their first proper conversation.

Which director of Bell, Book and Candle later became engaged to the film's leading lady?

Richard Quine and his star became engaged while making their third film together, Strangers When We Meet, but the wedding never took place.

Which playwright of I Am a Camera wrote the 1950 Broadway comedy Bell, Book and Candle?

John Van Druten also directed the first production, and said the comedy had started out as a rather more serious play.

Which studio, then run by Harry Cohn, made Bell, Book and Candle with its contract star as Gillian?

Columbia billed the comedy as one of its blockbusters, and Cohn overruled producers who wanted the play's Broadway leads.

Which designer of Rita Hayworth's Gilda gown earned an Oscar nomination for Bell, Book and Candle?

Jean Louis also made the sheer, sparkling gown Marilyn Monroe wore to sing for President Kennedy in 1962.

Which cinematographer, nicknamed 'Low-Key' for his shadowy lighting, photographed Bell, Book and Candle?

James Wong Howe was best known for black-and-white films and won both his Oscars for them, The Rose Tattoo and Hud.

Which producer first bought the film rights to Bell, Book and Candle for his wife, Jennifer Jones?

David O. Selznick bought the rights in 1953 and sold them on three years later; his former wife Irene had produced the play on Broadway.

Bell, Book and Candle earned Oscar nominations for costume design and which other craft category?

Art direction went up for Cary Odell and Louis Diage, but the musical Gigi beat the film to that Oscar and to the costume prize as well.

Which actor was Broadway's first Shep in Bell, Book and Candle and later directed its London run?

Rex Harrison was the producers' first hope for the film as well, until a scheduling clash ruled him out.

Which German actress, then married to her leading man, was Broadway's first Gillian in Bell, Book and Candle?

Lilli Palmer wore gowns designed for her alone by Valentina, and later played Gillian again in London's West End.

Which Shakespeare play of the 1590s contains the phrase that later gave Bell, Book and Candle its title?

King John borrowed a phrase that was already about three centuries old in English, first recorded around 1300.

The cat's name in Bell, Book and Candle comes from an imp reported by which self-styled Witchfinder General?

Matthew Hopkins said an Essex woman, kept from sleep for several nights, confessed the names of her imps, including Jarmara and Sacke and Sugar.

Which star of The Time Machine led an unsold 1976 TV pilot of Bell, Book and Candle?

Yvette Mimieux starred opposite Michael Murphy in the half-hour NBC pilot, which aired once and was not picked up.

Which future film composer, then a studio pianist, plays piano on the Bell, Book and Candle soundtrack?

John Williams is heard on the tracks cut in Hollywood with the Brothers Candoli; most of the score was recorded in Munich.

Which Hollywood animal trainer, later famous for the Benji films, owned the main cat in Bell, Book and Candle?

Frank Inn also trained Orangey, the cat seen in Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Incredible Shrinking Man.