Bell Book and Candle

About the movie

Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak) is a modern-day witch living in Greenwich Village. Publisher Shep Henderson (James Stewart) moves into the apartment above hers and she becomes interested in him. When she learns that he is to marry her college nemesis Merle Kittridge (Janice Rule) the next day, Gillian uses her cat, Pyewacket, to cast a love spell on Shep. Shep is immediately enamored with Gillian and breaks up with Merle on the morning of their wedding. Gillian arranges for author Sidney Redlitch (Ernie Kovacs) to visit Shep in the hope that Shep will publish his next book, about witches in New York. When Gillian learns that her warlock brother Nicky (Jack Lemmon) is collaborating with Sidney, she worries that Shep will learn about her true nature and her spell on Shep. When she discovers that she is actually falling in love with Shep, something that will make her lose her powers, she must decide what she really wants.—Patrick Depew