Hasn't this cat got anything better to do? Couldn't you give him something to read?

Bell Book and Candle

(1956)

Amiable romantic comedy with James Stewart's book publisher the subject of an enchantment by witch Kim Novak (this was released the same year as Vertigo).

Novak makes a suitably catty witch (her familiar is a feline named Pyewacket) but Stewart's not quite playful enough (apparently Cary Grant wanted the role, and he'd have been a better fit).

There is strong witchy/warlocky support from Jack Lemmon (who would later team again with director Richard Quine for the superior How to Murder Your Wife), Elsa Lancaster and Hermione Gingold. Stewart attempts to tell his ex that Novak is a witch. She replies, "Shep, you just never learnt to spell."

***

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