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This is a mixed bag of a dvd set. Two black & white "screwball" comedies from the thirties in "His Girl Friday" and "Bringing up Baby"; and two rather more conventional romcoms in colour from the fifties in "Pillow Talk" and "Bell, Book & Candle". Katharine Hepburn is outstanding as a madcap heiress who brings both love and chaos to the orderly life of Cary Grant's palaeontologist in "Bringing up Baby". The pace is electric, the humour surreal and there's a radical message about straight men needing to be at least somewhat gay in order to find true love. Another Howard Hawks film, "His Girl Friday", again features Cary Grant. This time in a more cynical, worldly role as a newspaper editor in a battle of wits with a very feisty Rosalind Russell as his ace reporter. The humour here is much more verbal but delivered with a breathtaking speed. Forget feminine wiles and masculine grit. This is about masculine wiles and feminine grit. The fifties films are much more conservative, but "Bell, Book & Candle" proves an unexpected delight, reuniting James Stewart and Kim Novak from Hitchcock's "Vertigo". Stewart is drawn almost in spite of himself to Kim Novak's witch in a contemporary New York with its own small underground occult scene. It's not the verbal fireworks or the supernatural effects that sparkle here, more the subtle blend of humour and pathos. Kim Novak has a sublime way of conveying inner torment and self-doubt even as she delivers the requisite funny lines. The one disappointment is "Pillow Talk". Doris Day and Rock Hudson are very accomplished and even watchable, as from being warring neighbours having to share the same phone line they start to fall in love. But there is no real chemistry to their relationship - it's all professionalism - no illusion that this pair of actors really are in love with each other, as the other three films convey. One moment says it all: the two leads sharing a huge belly laugh over something only mildly amusing to the viewer. But all in all, there's plenty to lift the spirits in this box set. The combo may not make much sense, but it certainly delights the senses.Read full review
I just love classic films for their timelessness and this box set does not disappoint. All starring some of the best and well love actors/actresses that have ever been since on the big screen. I bought this box set mainly for the film - Bell, Book and Candle. It has a great story line and if anything i love this film for the location, which adds to all the magic.
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