Bell, Book and Candle
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40 free Bell, Book and Candle trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Bell, Book and Candle is the 1958 romantic comedy in which a modern Manhattan witch decides to enchant the man upstairs, and discovers that magic has rules of its own. It began as a Broadway hit, reached the screen with a cast of Hollywood favourites, and left its mark on later witch stories on film and television. This quiz covers the story and its characters, the actors who played them, the making of the film, its awards-season fortunes, the original stage production, and the centuries-old phrase that supplied the title. It suits fans of classic Hollywood, lovers of vintage romantic comedy and anyone who enjoys a witch tale with more charm than fright. Each answer comes with a short explanation, so you will pick up a few stories worth retelling.
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Q 01Which hit 1960s sitcom did creator Sol Saks admit was partly inspired by Bell, Book and Candle?
Bewitched
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.
Q 02What is the name of Gillian Holroyd's cat, the conduit for her spells, in Bell, Book and Candle?
Pyewacket
Pyewacket shares a name with an imp listed in a 17th-century English witch-trial confession, and several cats shared the role on screen.
Q 03On which night of the year does Bell, Book and Candle open, as Shep Henderson first meets the Holroyds?
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve sets the scene, and the score works a few bars of Jingle Bells into the opening credits to match.
Q 04The two leads of Bell, Book and Candle had co-starred earlier in 1958 in which Hitchcock thriller?
Vertigo
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.
Q 05According to the witches' rules in Bell, Book and Candle, what costs a witch her magical powers?
Falling in love
Falling in love strips a witch of her magic, which is why Gillian hesitates before accepting Shep's marriage proposal.
Q 06The phrase 'bell, book and candle' first described which solemn rite of the medieval Church?
Excommunication
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.
Q 07In Bell, Book and Candle, what farewell gift does Shep hand Gillian after learning she is a witch?
A broom
A broom is Shep's bitter joke once a potion has freed him from the spell; he hands it over as he says goodbye.
Q 08Which Grammy-winning singer was set in 2006 to star in a Disney remake of Bell, Book and Candle?
Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys was to play Gillian and supervise the music as her first producing project, but the remake was never made.
Q 09In Bell, Book and Candle, what can Gillian Holroyd do for the first time once her powers are gone?
Shed tears
Gillian can shed tears at last: the film's witches cannot cry or blush, so her weeping shows Shep that her magic has gone.
Q 10Bell, Book and Candle is widely seen as which Hollywood star's last role as a romantic lead?
James Stewart
James Stewart got the part of Shep after the producers' idea of Cary Grant foundered on creative differences with the studio.
Q 11Which star of Picnic and Pal Joey plays the witch Gillian Holroyd in Bell, Book and Candle?
Kim Novak
Kim Novak bonded so closely with the main cat used in close-ups that its trainer reportedly gave the animal to her.
Q 12Which future star of Some Like It Hot plays the warlock Nicky Holroyd in Bell, Book and Candle?
Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon had already won a supporting-actor Oscar for Mister Roberts when he took the smaller part of Nicky.
Q 13Which television comedian plays the hard-drinking author Sidney Redlitch in Bell, Book and Candle?
Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs was more often typecast in films as a military captain, as in Operation Mad Ball and Our Man in Havana.
Q 21What breed is the cat that Gillian Holroyd keeps as her magical companion in Bell, Book and Candle?
Siamese
Siamese cats were sought in a publicity-minded casting search early in 1957, a full year before filming began.
Q 22In which Manhattan neighbourhood does Gillian run her shop in the film Bell, Book and Candle?
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village was a change for the screen: the stage play keeps all its action inside an apartment in Murray Hill.
Q 23What does Gillian Holroyd sell in her New York shop when Bell, Book and Candle begins?
Primitive masks
Primitive masks crowd the shop until Gillian's magic deserts her, after which she fills it with delicate, colourful shells.
Q 14Which star of Bride of Frankenstein plays the meddling Aunt Queenie in Bell, Book and Candle?
Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Lanchester stayed with family fantasy in the 1960s, turning up in Mary Poppins and Blackbeard's Ghost for Disney.
Q 15Which Gigi actress plays Bianca de Pass, the sorceress who brews Shep's antidote in Bell, Book and Candle?
Hermione Gingold
Hermione Gingold made both films in 1958, and her sorceress is only a name in the original stage play.
Q 16What is Shep Henderson's job in Bell, Book and Candle, which brings the author Sidney Redlitch to him?
Publisher
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.
Q 17Which instrument does Gillian's warlock brother Nicky play at a nightclub in Bell, Book and Candle?
Bongos
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.
Q 18What is the name of the Manhattan nightclub where the witches gather in Bell, Book and Candle?
The Zodiac Club
The Zodiac Club has real jazz players on its bandstand: the Brothers Candoli appear in the film as its musicians.
Q 19Shep's fiancée Merle Kittridge has which fear, exploited by the witches, in Bell, Book and Candle?
Thunder
Thunder terrified Merle at college, so Gillian has the club's musicians blare their instruments at her until she runs out.
Q 20In Bell, Book and Candle, Merle once reported Gillian to a college dean for not wearing what?
Shoes
Shoes never appealed to Gillian, who still goes barefoot as an adult, and the old grudge prompts her revenge on Merle.
Q 24Which best-selling book by Sidney Redlitch does Shep Henderson admire in Bell, Book and Candle?
Magic in Mexico
Magic in Mexico made its author an authority on the subject, yet he doubts that Nicky is a warlock until a spell proves it.
Q 25In Bell, Book and Candle, what does Nicky make flash on and off to prove he is a warlock?
Street lights
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.
Q 26What does Aunt Queenie hex in Shep's apartment after he shows her out in Bell, Book and Candle?
His telephone
His telephone goes dead, which sends Shep downstairs to borrow Gillian's and gives the two their first proper conversation.
Q 27Which director of Bell, Book and Candle later became engaged to the film's leading lady?
Richard Quine
Richard Quine and his star became engaged while making their third film together, Strangers When We Meet, but the wedding never took place.
Q 28Which playwright of I Am a Camera wrote the 1950 Broadway comedy Bell, Book and Candle?
John Van Druten
John Van Druten also directed the first production, and said the comedy had started out as a rather more serious play.
Q 29Which studio, then run by Harry Cohn, made Bell, Book and Candle with its contract star as Gillian?
Columbia
Columbia billed the comedy as one of its blockbusters, and Cohn overruled producers who wanted the play's Broadway leads.
Q 30Which designer of Rita Hayworth's Gilda gown earned an Oscar nomination for Bell, Book and Candle?
Jean Louis
Jean Louis also made the sheer, sparkling gown Marilyn Monroe wore to sing for President Kennedy in 1962.