Dudley Moore is the amiable but timid Wimpy Bar cook , Stanley, who agrees to sell his soul if he can't 'make it' with the girl of his dreams, waitress Eleanor Bron. Peter Cook (as Satan) provides him with seven wishes in exchange for his soul and luscious Raquel Welch (as Lust) is on hand to offer temptation... Moore is charming enough and some sly commentary on Christian morality is interesting, however what really makes this film is the performance of Cook. Cook manages to combine upper class arrogance with a cheerful, even at times, casual lunacy into the role of the Devil.
Directed by
Stanley Donen
Written by
Peter Cook (story) and Dudley Moore (story) Peter Cook (screenplay)
Starring
Peter Cook (George Spiggott / The Devil); Dudley Moore (Stanley Moon); Eleanor Bron (Margaret Spencer); Raquel Welch (Lilian Lust); Alba (Vanity); Robert Russell (Anger); Barry Humphries (Envy); Parnell McGarry (Gluttony); Danièle Noël (Avarice); Howard Goorney (Sloth); Michael Bates (Insp. Reg Clarke); Bernard Spear (Irving Moses); Robin Hawdon (Randolph - Harp Teacher); Michael Trubshawe (Lord Dowdy); Evelyn Moore (Mrs. Wisby). Please contact SFC to add other cast members and characters.
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A good ending but a shame about most of what went before it
Mark Banks (United Kingdom)
Opinion: Limited Recommendation
The ending to Bedazzled is pretty much the highlight of this film, though mostly because it means that what went before it is now over. And to give away that ending ('spoiler' is really not the appropriate word here) it is that Stanley decides to reject the devil's way of doing things and choose to do things his way - implicit in which is the message that he will follow his own heart and conscience from now on. What precedes this ending is mostly a cynical look at religion and a comical look at the devil. The devil is portrayed mainly as someone whose main means of acting in the world is by causing little annoyances, as opposed to the true horrors of paedophilia, murder, racism, genocide etc. Pride can also be added to that list, though the film does little to put that in its real place - in the end it is Stanley that comes out as the real victor as opposed to God. I also thought the scene with Lilian Lust went too far (though in the end she wasn't portrayed as a positive character at least) and the scene with the nuns was belittling too. One final note is that at one point in the film the devil says "I know... I've lost my spark, there used to be a time when I'd get lots of ideas... the only thing I've come up with recently is advertising". If only that were true; 1967, the year in which this film was made, also happened to be the year in which the abortion act was passed in the UK.
