Bedazzled (1967 film)

Lore & Background

The film was produced and directed by Stanley Donen and written by comedian Peter Cook, who also stars alongside his comedy partner Dudley Moore. The plot follows Stanley Moon, a short-order cook in a Wimpy restaurant in London, who is infatuated with waitress Margaret Spencer but too shy to approach her. After a failed suicide attempt, he is interrupted by George Spiggot, who claims to be the Devil and offers Stanley seven wishes in exchange for his soul. A trial wish for a raspberry ice lolly confirms George's identity. George's heightened pride caused God to expel him from Heaven, and he is now in a game: if he is first to claim 100 billion souls, he will be readmitted. His staff of seven deadly sins, especially Lust and Envy, help him with minor acts of vandalism and spite. Stanley uses his wishes to try to satisfy his love for Margaret, but George twists his words to frustrate him; whenever Stanley blows a raspberry, he undoes the effects of a wish. The wishes include becoming a talkative intellectual, a multi-millionaire, a pop singer, a fly on the wall, a quiet country life, and a nun—each ending in disappointment. Stanley's seventh wish is revealed to have been used for the trial ice lolly. Ultimately, George spares Stanley eternal damnation because he exceeded his quota of 100 billion souls, but when he ascends to Heaven, God's disembodied voice rejects him again for doing the right thing with the wrong motive. Stanley returns to the restaurant and asks Margaret to dinner, and she suggests meeting another night. George tries to entice Stanley again, but Stanley declines, preferring to start a relationship his own way.

Reader's Guide

Upon its release, reviews for Bedazzled were mixed. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it a 'pretentiously metaphorical picture' that becomes 'awfully precious and monotonous' but complimented Donen's 'colorful and graphic' mise-en-scène. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was far more positive, comparing the film's humour to that of Bob and Ray and calling its satire 'barbed and contemporary ... dry and understated,' and overall a 'magnificently photographed, intelligent, very funny film.' A January 1968 review in The Monthly Film Bulletin panned the film, calling it a 'tired farrago' with 'fourth-form' wit and a 'feebleness of the script,' though it noted 'one genuinely hilarious moment – three nuns on a trampoline.' In a retrospective review from 1989, Leslie Halliwell described it as a 'camped-up version of Faust which resolves itself into a series of threadbare sketches for the stars.' The Virgin Film Guide in the 1990s said, 'Cook and Moore brilliantly shift from character to character ... and the movie never flags.' The Time Out Film Guide 2009 described the film as a 'hit and miss affair' with a 'threadbare' plot. The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film three out of five stars, noting a 'briefly clad, briefly glimpsed Raquel Welch' as one of the Deadly Sins and Barry Humphries as Envy. On Rotten Tomatoes, Bedazzled holds an approval rating of 74% based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. In 2000, 20th Century Fox released an American remake of the same name, featuring Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley.

Did You Know?

• The film's title track 'Bedazzled' was performed within the movie by the fictional psychedelic rock band Drimble Wedge and the Vegetation, featuring Peter Cook as the vocalist.
• Dudley Moore wrote the film's soundtrack, which was performed by the Dudley Moore Trio.
• A novelisation of the film was published in 1968 by Sphere Books, written by Michael J. Bird based on the screenplay by Cook and Moore.
• The film features a cameo by Raquel Welch as one of the seven deadly sins, and Barry Humphries as Envy.

The Faustian Bargain Reimagined

The narrative engine of Bedazzled is a deliberately modernized take on the Faust legend, transplanted into the restless energy of 1960s London. Stanley Moon, a timid short-order cook at a Wimpy restaurant, is so paralyzed by his crush on waitress Margaret Spencer that he attempts to end his life. His would-be execution is interrupted by George Spiggot, a self-proclaimed Devil who offers seven wishes in exchange for Stanley's soul. What follows is a running gag of linguistic sabotage: every wish Stanley makes is technically granted but warped in spirit. Wanting eloquence turns him into a pretentious intellectual; wanting wealth makes Margaret physically affectionate only with other men; wishing to be a pop star is immediately upstaged by the insufferable Drimble Wedge and the Vegetation. Even a casual remark about being a fly on the wall lands them both as literal insects in a morgue. The final twist—George revealing the trial ice-lolly wish consumed the seventh slot—caps a structure where the Devil's victory is less about malice than about bureaucratic pride, since his real goal is hitting a quota of 100 billion souls to earn readmission to Heaven.

A Swinging London Canvas

Bedazzled was produced as a British DeLuxe Color picture in Panavision format, giving Stanley Donen a wide, vivid canvas on which to stage his comedy. Donen, known for his visual flair, brought a distinctive sense of color and graphic composition to what is fundamentally a two-hander between Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Cook, who also wrote the screenplay, cast himself as the Devil George Spiggot, while Moore took the role of hapless Stanley Moon. The setting is firmly planted in the Swinging London of the late 1960s, with references to Wimpy restaurants, pop music, and the cultural ferment of the era. The film's comic structure relies heavily on the chemistry between Cook and Moore, their long-standing stage partnership, with Moore's character serving as the bewildered straight man to Cook's sardonic, pride-driven antagonist. The seven deadly sins populate the background as George's staff, particularly Lust and Envy, who carry out minor acts of vandalism and spite to help him reach his soul quota. The blend of high-concept fantasy with low-key British wit gives the production a uniquely period-specific flavor.

The Soundtrack That Outlived the Film

Dudley Moore composed the entire score for Bedazzled, performing it with his band, the Dudley Moore Trio. The most enduring musical artifact is the title track, which within the film is performed by the fictional psychedelic rock group Drimble Wedge and the Vegetation, with Cook's character serving as vocalist. The song's monotone, hypnotic quality is central to the plot—Margaret and the other groupies are spellbound by it, abandoning Stanley. Beyond the screen, Bedazzled became Moore's best-known composition and has been widely covered by artists including Tony Hatch, Nick Cave, and The Love Interest. Moore himself recorded several instrumental arrangements of the piece. The soundtrack thus functions on two levels: as an in-diegetic plot device that embodies the shallow, seductive culture George Spiggot represents, and as a standalone musical work that gained a life independent of the film. The contrast between the song's catchy, almost innocuous melody and its sinister in-film purpose adds a layer of irony that resonates with the film's broader satirical targets.

Critical Divisions and Enduring Footprint

Reviews of Bedazzled at the time of its December 1967 release—first at New York's Plaza Theater on the 10th, then London's Carlton Theatre on the 21st—split sharply along critical lines. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times found the film pretentiously metaphorical and ultimately fagging out in sheer bad taste, though he conceded Donen's mise-en-scène was colorful and graphic. Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, took the opposite view, praising the satire as barbed and contemporary, dry and understated, and calling the whole package a magnificently photographed, intelligent, very funny film. The Monthly Film Bulletin's January 1968 review was far less generous, dismissing the script as a tired farrago and the wit as strictly fourth-form. Despite these early divisions, the film secured a place in popular culture through its novelisation, published by Sphere Books in 1968 and written by Michael J. Bird based on Cook and Moore's screenplay. The combination of a well-known comedic duo, a timeless Faust framework, and a catchy title song has kept Bedazzled in circulation long after its initial theatrical run.