Bedazzled (1967)
Peter Cook is the devil. Dudley Moore is Stanley Moon a cook at a Wimpey's restaurant (McDonalds to you kids) ,every day he day dreams about Margaret (Eleanor Bron). a waitress there, but cannot find the courage to ask her out. Depressed he decides to hang himself but is interrupted by the devil in the shape of George Spiggott (Cook). Spiggott explains that he needs 100 billion souls so he can get back into heaven, he offers Moon seven wishes for his soul ,Stanley see's this as an opportunity to romance Margaret. Based on a story by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore ,Bedazzled's main strength is Peter Cook performance his character and performance is so charismatic , Cook the actor is so underrated yet in the 1960's he certainly cut a fine figure, and revels in the part of the devil as he torments Stanley Moon (Moore) at every opportunity, this could also have shades of there real life relationship to come . The Rise And Rise Of Michael Rimmer would see Cook play another type of devil in the shape of a man who takes over advertising agency and then proceeds to manipulate his way into politics. Every time Moon (Moore) makes a wish Spiggott (Cook). twists his wish so that it eventually back fires and Moon has to cancel his wish and use up another one. While not tormenting Moon ,the devil whiles away his time getting pigeons to poop on people or phoning up women and telling then there husbands are cheating on them. The swinging 60's make a great back drop for the film and having Raquel Welch as Lilian Lust one of the seven deadly sins was a stroke of genius, she only has a minor role but if you have seen any the stills of her from the film then you'll understand why. While Cook is pretty damn good Dudley Moore also pulls the stops out, he can play sheepish little nobody's like no other actor can ,Stanley Moon soon realises by the end of the film that having his wishes granted is not the way to get what he wants in life, and he eventually reverts back to how he was at the start, a cook in fast food café. But this time he finds the courage to ask Margaret out, she's busy ,but does hint at maybe another night. I think there's a lesson to be learnt from all this but I'm damned if I know what it is, Still Bedazzled is a funny and at times crazy film, which poses the question whether its better to wish for what we want or just be happy with what we got in live. Although I would used all my wishes on Ms Welch.
out of 5