Bedazzled

Plot synopsis:
Stanley Moon (Moore) works in a Wimpy's restaurant and is infatuated with the waitress Margaret Spencer (Eleanor Bron). In despair he attempts suicide but is interrupted by the Devil, incarnated as George Spiggott (Cook). ("Mr Spiggott" had previously been one of the characters in the sketch One Leg Too Few).
Spiggott is in a game with God, trying to be the first to gather 100 billion souls. If he achieves this first, he will be readmitted to Heaven. He is also busy with minor acts of vandalism and spite, helped by his staff of the seven deadly sins, notably Lust (Raquel Welch) and Envy (Barry Humphries).
In return for his soul, Spiggott offers Stanley seven wishes. Stanley uses these trying to satisfy his love for Margaret, but Spiggott twists his words to frustrate him.
Stanley wishes to be more "articulate". George turns him into a talkative and pretentious intellectual with a strong Welsh accent. Margaret becomes an equally pretentious character, who enthusiastically agrees with all of Stanley's beliefs. Stanley stresses the importance of breaking free from one's social and moral constraints. When Stanley makes his move, however, she is horrified and starts screaming "rape".
In this wish, Stanley is a "multi-millionaire" and Margaret is his "very physical" wife, but it turns out she is "very physical" with anyone except him ... including George.
In the third wish, Stanley is a rock star. However, his fame is short lived, and is usurped by a new band whose lead singer (George) speaks flatly about his lack of interest in anyone except himself. Margaret is a vapid and excitable groupie, as happy to admire one as the other.
Stanley comments that he wishes he was "a fly on the wall" and George seizes on the opportunity to use up one of Stanley's wishes. They become flies on the wall in a morgue, where the inspector is showing Margaret various dead bodies, hoping that she will identify one as Stanley.
George promises Stanley a wish where he has a quiet life in the countryside, with children, and Margaret making the anniversary dinner. It soon becomes apparent, however, that Margaret is actually George's wife. While deeply in love, even the attempt to consummate their affection drives both Stanley and Margaret into emotional agony.
Stanley attempts to frame a wish that George cannot ruin: He wishes that he and Margaret loved one another, lived away from the big city, and would always be together. However, George turns him into a nun of the Order of Saint Beryl, or the Leaping Beryllians, who glorify their founder by jumping on trampolines (expanding on a sketch that appeared in Cook and Moore's Not Only... But Also). Margaret is also a nun in the order, but refuses to consummate their love as they are both women.
When Stanley tries to use his seventh wish, George reveals he has already used it: Before signing the contract, George offers him something to prove he is the Devil, and Stanley asked for a raspberry ice lolly. Stanley was unaware that this counted as a wish until he is unable to escape his sixth wish.
Ultimately, Spiggott spares Stanley eternal damnation because he has exceeded his quota of 100 billion and can afford to be generous. Stanley is returned to his old job and life, wiser and more clear-sighted. Spiggott goes to Heaven to meet God, but is rejected again; St Peter (Lockwood West) explains that when he gave Stanley back his soul, Spiggott did the right thing, but with the wrong motive.
In the closing scene, Stanley and Margaret are back in the restaurant. Stanley finally asks her out but she says she's already doing something, though she does suggest perhaps another night. Stanley smiles, happy that he has found the courage to talk to her. Spiggott tries to entice Stanley again, but Stanley turns him down. Spiggott leaves and threatens revenge on God by unleashing all the tawdry and shallow technological curses of the modern age:
"All right, you great git, you've asked for it. I'll cover the world in Tastee-Freez and Wimpy Burgers. I'll fill it full of concrete runways, motorways, aircraft, television and automobiles, advertising, plastic flowers and frozen food, supersonic bangs. I'll make it so noisy and disgusting that even you'll be ashamed of yourself. No wonder you've so few friends — you're unbelievable!"

Tags: romantic, alternate reality, satire, prank

Review:
Stanley Donen was brought in a director, Cook toiled over the witty script, Moore did the perky score."Bedazzled" is slightly dated and is quite an uncommercial product overall, but its still a clever and interesting film.
There's funny one-liners ("Yes, Irving Moses-the fruitier etc), totally original ideas (the animated fly sequence, Raquel Welsh as Lust), slapstick stuff and a top pop parody with Cook as the indifferent "Drimble Wedge".The pathos and sadness underpinning the movie is perhaps best summed up with the conned old lady's "Goodbye" as the Eyewash men leave.
Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore), a down-and-out Londoner who has a miserable job at the local Wimpy Burgers and has the hots for a beautiful waitress named Margaret Spencer, tries to hang himself, but then the Devil has to come in and save him.
Cooke and Moore were possibly the finest comedians the UK has ever produced before Python and others followed Pete and Dud were the undisputed kings of the new cutting edge of comedy/satire in the UK.But always just under the surface (and later out in the open) there was a sadness and dis-satisfaction to both Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore and I think some of that shows up in this film.
Also part of the film seems to be dealing with the moral flexibility of people given their circumstance.Stanley Moon (Moore) has limited opportunities as a short order cook all he desires is the love of Margaret one of the waitresses at the Wimpy he works in.
But he is a good person, when after a botched suicide attempt he sells his soul to the devil (Cooke) he has all the opportunities in the world but it is easier for the devil to corrupt him.Throughout the seven wishes (in accordance with 7 the mystic number, 7 days of the week, 7 deadly sins, 7 brides for 7 brothers..)Stanley can only think of his own needs and perhaps this is why they fail to make him happy.
On his one opportunity to give a wish away to stop one of the devils petty tricks (sending a swarm of bee's to harass some flower children) he refuses saying 'Their mine and iv'e only got four left!' The other main theme of this film is more to the forefront dealing with Cooke and Moores attitudes towards religion and it's place in what at the time was the modern world.
Cooke's genius was non-conformity and the movie is full of it, trampolining Nuns, a hypnotically haunting Pop song, thought controlled pigeons, unforgivable abuse of kind old ladies and all captured in a cinematographic magic as were "the Prisoner" and "The Avengers" and which can never be recreated by a sequel.There are so many great asides, lines and scenes, that to mention one or the other does not do justice; it is the wealth of colourful detail in the scenes, the events, the characters and the script.
I have not seen the 2000 remake of Bedazzled for the same reason I never did see the Psycho remake - why mess with something so good?Dudley Moore as a short-order cook leading a life of quiet desperation and Peter Cooke as the Devil team-up to deliver an extremely funny movie with surprisingly deep theological commentary.
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, an already famous comedy team brought their expertise to this film, a reworking of the Faust legend.Moore plays Stanley Moon, a grill cook at the Whimpy Burger, who is in love with Margaret Spencer (Eleanor Bron), a waitress there.
When his attempt to go and ask for a date is thrarted by his own hesitation, he decides to end it all.Enter George Spiggot a.k.a. The Devil (Peter Cook) who tells Stanley that he can be with Margaret, in exchange for his soul.
Bron is wonderful as Margaret, and Stanley Donen's direction only accents the well written script.The only other big name in the supporting cast, Raquel Welch, projects sheer sexuality as Lilian Lust, the sexpot of the Seven Deadly Sins.Concerning the remake, I wish it were more like the plotline of the original, because I think that Liz Hurley would have made a terrific Lilian Lust.
through its segments relating to Stanley's wishes (the 'sophistate', the millionaire, the pop star, the fly on the wall, the leaping nun ...) it scores points on every level, as well as reflecting the time - the pop star segment is very Ready, Steady, Go, George Spiggott's club (like Cook's in real life but hopefully the real one was less sleazy), and of course, the depressing town street burger bar.
Definitely the finest fruit of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's comedy partnership, one of the funniest films ever made, and one of my all-time favourite films ever.
So it was made on the cheap, so the production values are utterly 60s generic, so the sets were banged together with spit and sawdust - who cares when Peter Cook is just the best devil you could ever imagine, when the jokes are that thick and fast and that good, when Dudley Moore is the perfect hapless foil, when his music is so memorable, when Raquel Welch is such a good sport as Lillian Lust ("pick yer clothes up Lily, you're due down at the Foreign Office").Now to complete my joy, they have to withdraw and destroy all copies and prints of the hideous Liz Hurley re-make which must NEVER, EVER be confused with this timeless gem which has given me and so many friends and acquaintances so much pleasure for so many years.Watch it and when you've finished laughing (and thinking - after all, it is a perfectly plausible version of the Faust legend) raise a glass to the genius that was Peter Cook at his best (and this IS Peter Cook at his best) and to the beauty of his absurdly unlikely partnership with a sharp witted, sad-faced jazz piano player who was half his size and who went on to be perhaps the unlikeliest Hollywood movie star of them all.
Now that I have finally seen it, I just wanted to make some comments.In its plus column, Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore are a great comedy team, and while their acting is a little bit more stilted in a film than it was in their television or stage shows, their interplay is still excellent.
This leads to a fun, funny, at times surreal farce packed with great dialog and a twist (and twisted) ending involving nuns on trampolines.The wish sequences, which place Moore in various situations and personas that eventually end up in Cook's favor, are little more than sketches that poke fun at intellectuals, the upper class, pop culture fads, and other social mores.
But as it stands this interesting tale becomes just another subplot that doesn't quite come off, just like the pointless scenes concerning a dotty police officer investigating Moore's attempted suicide.So while "Bedazzled" may not be a flawless piece of movie making, it is still a great, one-of-a-kind comedy that stands as one of the funniest movies ever made.
However, in the future, I will continue to dig out my videotape of Bedazzled a couple times a year, and wish that someone today would make funny, intelligent movies like this (actually, "Dogma" is pretty good, too.
I watched the Peter Cook and Dudley Moore comedy series on television in London as a teenager.I saw the film when it first came out.I saw it again recently at home on DVD.It is a time capsule.
But Also...", when they made this comic take on the Faust legend.Dudley Moore is Stanley Moon, a short order cook hopelessly in love with the oblivious Margaret Spencer (Eleanor Bron).
After a suicide attempt, Moon encounters the Devil, in the form of George Spiggott (Peter Cook) who offers him seven wishes in exchange for his soul.The film is, at times, very funny and Moore and Cook have genuine charisma in their parts, however the film is overlong and some episodes outstay their welcome.
Penned by the late, great Peter Cook, and co-starring his long-time partner, Dudley Moore (they performed together in `Beyond the Fringe,' `Not Only  But Also,' and later, `Derek and Clive'), this film was made two years before that wacky, irreverent Python gang made their first BBC TV appearance as `Monty Python's Flying Circus' in 1969.
George persuades dim-witted Wimpy Burger fry cook Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore) to sell him his soul, for the price of seven granted wishes.
The interaction between Cook and Moore, the Margaret-obsessed wishes that Stanley makes and the ways that George always thwarts them, the trivial but `wicked' things the Devil has to do on a daily basis (`it's my job'), and the sheer irreverence of it all, will have you rolling on the floor with laughter!Just remember, when everything seems to be going wrong, just blow a `raspberry'!.
Having had my view of what comedy is revolutionised by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore via the immortal Derek and Clive, I could not wait to check them out together in a film.
When I finally got the chance to see Bedazzled, I was incredibly excited to see what the most ingeniously funny duo ever could offer in a cinematic medium.Moore plays Stanley Moon, a depressively lonely cook with a secret attraction to the waitress who rarely notices him.
Bedazzled finds Dudley Moore as a short order cook at a Wimpy's in London trying his best to score with the lovely Eleanore Bron who comes in every day for an order.
He'll do just about any old thing to make it with her and when you say that, you know that old Scratch will come up from the bowels of the earth to offer you a deal for your soul.But Moore doesn't give up that easy in fact he worms seven different chances with this girl and as the devil his partner Peter Cook comes up with a loophole every time.
For those who want a look at London back in the day, Bedazzled is definitely the film for you.The only other American on this film besides director Stanley Donen is Raquel Welch who plays the deadly sin of lust personified.
And I can't think of anyone better for that time period.There is some physical comedy in Bedazzled, but the real treat is watching Moore and Cook fence for Moore's soul.
A wonderfully funny take-off on "Faust", with Peter Cook as an affable, more than generous Devil, giving poor Dudley Moore every opportunity to find happiness, only to thwart him each time.
Granted, Moore's pretty much the deadpan comic relief (and his constant, "You just can't stop, can you?" gets pretty monotonous after a while), but the diatribes on God, religion, the Devil, sin, etc., are pretty funny.The movie itself is pretty basic, though, and the scenes with Dudley Moore getting his wishes seem to drag on a bit (someone else noted the first one with 15 minutes of psuedo-intellectual dialogue by the score).
Moore is perfect for the role of Stanley Moon (a/k/a "Sister Luna"), who matures from mousy whining to thoughtful self-acceptance, but the real gem performance is that of Peter Cook as the Devil.
The Prince of Darkness is shown to be a mere beggar at the door after all.---But this makes it sound like a comedy version of the "Prophecy" films, with which it has only a little in common (notably the idea that the fallen angels' deepest longing is for reunion with God, also seen in "Dogma"), and ignores the many parts of the movie that are just plain funny.
Most of the jokes work really well, it's just too bad that some of the sketches are dragging on for too long and the movie itself feels a bit long.Man oh man, let me start of by saying that Peter Cook and Dudley Moore are horrible actors.
I loved this film cos i love Peter Cook and Dudley Moore,If they usually make you giggle then you should like this film.Dudley plays a lonely fella who works as a short order cook at Whimpeys.He sells his soul to the devil (Peter) in exchange for a number of wishes which he uses to try and get the girl he's in love with( the waitress at Wimpeys).He becomes a pop star, an intellectual, a nun and a fly amongst others and each time he fails to get her because the devil ruins it for him in one way or another.Dudley Moore and Peter Cook play there parts perfectly and the sound track acompanies it well too.I think dudley composed some of the music.All in all ,a charmingly funny film..
Bedazzled is a 1967 film written by and starring Peter Cook along with the gorgeous Raquel Welch and Dudley Moore, retelling the Faust legend in the Swinging London of the 1960s.
Sounded a little poufy to me.")put it when Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore) complained about George Spiggot's ("...another one of my earthly pseudonyms") meddling with his wishes.One of my all-time favorite movies.
Soberb British humor made by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore,this movie l watched in 2011 for the first time and l found it weird but funny mainly if compare to American remake,the movie is a little dated by now but still shines,clever and social criticism on sixties,Peter Cook is a misleading Devil who make a agreement with poor unhappy man called Moon (Dudley Moore) who was in love to a girl,seven wishes in exchange of his soul,but each wish end up in a nightmare....the Devil deceive the foolish man every time...really fantastic black humor comedy helped by unmistakable British accent...in time a little appearance of the astonishing Raquel Welch as Lust...Gorgeous ever!!!.
A hapless loser (Dudley Moore) sells his soul to the Devil (Peter Cook) in exchange for seven wishes, but has trouble winning over the girl of his dreams (Eleanor Bron).An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, Cook is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s.
But "Bedazzled" isn't the kind of comedy one laughs at; it's more the kind that one smiles at and thinks to himself "that's funny." In the beginning, there's Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore), a fry cook who can't quite get the nerve to ask out a waitress, Margaret, whom he's developed a rather large crush on.
I grant you that PETER COOK and DUDLEY MOORE are two very talented British performers but even their kind of talent needs a better than average script to overcome the tired gags conjured up to give a new spin to the Faust legend.Cook is a dim-witted short order cook who gets to realize some of his wishes (but always with a hex on all of them) from devil Cook, and the film is a series of jokes with Cook's best laid plans always going amok as he struggles to find and conquer his true love.DUDLEY MOORE completely nails his Stanley Moon characterization, as does PETER COOK with his sharp and snotty comments as the Devil, always up to no good.
The usually less-than-dependable Dudley Moore does a good job here as Stanley Moon, a short order cook leading a go-nowhere life but always eyeing waitress Margaret Spencer (Eleanor Bron, whom you may recognize from "Help!").
It's 1967, Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore) has a dead end job as a Wimpy's cook and is hopelessly in love with waitress Margaret Spencer (Eleanor Bron).
Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore) is a short order cook secretly infatuated with waitress Margaret (Eleanor Bron).
While I consciously had never bothered with the recent remake, I did miss the original a couple of times in the past on Cable TV; now that I have finally caught up with it, I'd say it's a curious, with-it updating of the Faustian legend for the Swinging Sixties crowd which, in spite of frequently hitting its various targets, is rather patchy overall, thus rendering its cult status slightly overrated.The three leads – Dudley Moore (as the timid cook hero), Peter Cook (as Mr. Spiggott alias The Horned One) and Eleanor Bron (Moore's co-worker and object of desire) – are very appealing, although the film is perhaps best-remembered today for Raquel Welch's steamy, scene-stealing cameo as one of Spiggott's cohorts, Lilian Lust.
A wily devil named George Spiggot, who has seven wishes to grant, targets the soul of a short-order cook at Wimpy's in "Bedazzled," Stanley Donen's stylish take on Faust.
There is a touch of genius about Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's "Bedazzled".In order to buy his soul, the very low rent Devil, George Spiggott (Peter Cook), grants hapless Wimpy short order chef Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore) seven wishes.
Even though in real life Raquel already had 2 kids, she became that desire for a long time before and after this film.The strength of the film is Peter Cook's way in his role as the devil.
Moore is good natured here and keeps getting out witted by Cook's devil.Donlan produces some very 1960's looks down to the scene coloring of the film as there are times the color are psychedelic..
So Moore sells his soul to the devil, Peter Cook, in return for seven wishes involving his waitress.Surprise -- the wishes go wrong.
This, the original version from 1967 blends classic British comedy with pre-Pythonesque humour.Peter Cook tries to swindle Dudley Moore out of his soul by giving him seven wishes.
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore worked together in a variety of media for a long time.
The film is great enough with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.
It is exactly the same premise, a guy - Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore) - wants to be with a girl - Margaret Spencer (Eleanor Bron) - and along comes The Devil, aka George Spiggott (Peter Cook), and the guy signs a contract for seven wishes in exchange for his soul.