Bedazzled (1967)

Actually, to say “Bedazzled by Stanley Donen” is a tad misleading: it is Peter Cook’s mordant wit and infectiously persistent sense of bad taste that supports and ener... more >

Actually, to say “Bedazzled by Stanley Donen” is a tad misleading: it is Peter Cook’s mordant wit and infectiously persistent sense of bad taste that supports and energises this eclectic swinging London update on Faust. Dudley Moore is Stanley Moon, a (short) short order cook with the hots for waitress Eleanor Bron. Self-effacing and under-confidant, Moon sells his soul to the Devil (Cook) in return for seven wishes, one of which he hopes will confidently secure a romantic victory with the tenderly tenebrous Bron. From this premise a lively and fitfully uproarious tour of Cook’s comic mind is fuelled. His script is peppered with outrageous lines and scenarios that prefigure the Monty Python movies by a good few years, and scenes such as cuddly Dudley's initiation into an order of trampolining nuns must rank with anything the Marx Brothers had to offer. The revue-style format gives Cook and Moore an opportunity to show off their sketch show versatility, and, to Donen's credit, he lets Cook’s unique vision steer the proceedings, while deftly co-ordinating the monkey business with some strikingly opulent visuals. < less

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DVD Extras

• Interview with Barry Humphries
• Archive 'on-location' footage.

Film Details

Cast

Raquel Welch, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Eleanor Bron

Technical Details