Borne out of the masterminds of UK’s ‘60s satire boom, BEDAZZLED is a concoction from the double-act Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, half of the quartet in BEYOND THE FRINGE stage revue, with Stanley Donen holds fast the directorial rein, the story is threadbare, a comical iteration of the Faust legend.

Moore plays a saddo Stanley Moon, who sells his soul to the Devil, impersonated as George Spiggott (Cook), to exchange for 7 wishes, and Moon’s goal is simple, all he wants is Margaret Spencer (Bron), the girl of his dreams, that only takes one simple wish, right? But George is too crafty to let Moon have that, finding loopholes in Moon’s wishes, after five different scenarios (being articulate, being rich, being popular, being mutually in love and being always together), another two are squandered with a tricksy “trial wish” and a “fly-on-the-wall” actualization, those are low moves, ultimately BEDAZZLED finishes exactly where it begins, a clean plate for Moon, only he is wiser enough to resist the Devil’s temptation and there is slim chance that he might finally get his girl, but for mankind, it doesn’t bode well, when an exasperated Devil swears to unleash many a bane to our world, a funny footnote, presaging a pressing imminence of technophobia.

While the poster misleadingly blows the trumpet for Raquel Welch, aptly cast as Lust, one of the undeveloped seven deadly sins here, her brief, pneumatic presence solely makes for a perfect tease, nothing else, Cook’s script is prone to poke fun at the Devil’s mischievously pernicious acts, a burden he carries grudgingly. And Donen’s two-shots of juxtaposing Cook and Moore (for their disparate statures) are funny enough, the latter’s persona of gormless guilelessness emanates a unique appeal that explains why Moore can later become a legitimate movie star, whereas a straight-face Cook’s screen career doesn’t go anywhere, George’s final encounter with the God is a major letdown, he can not deliver disappointment or puzzlement proper, and that hurts the film’s own skit-like whimsicality.

To today’s eyes, the film's insidious remark about rape is totally beyond the pale, although Donen’s proficiency in visualizing a prismatic showcase is admirable (nuns on trampolines!), in the long run, BEDAZZLED’s wicked humor feels too dry to sustain a feature’s length and its face-value drollness is never sublimed into something more tonic for one’s constitution. There is a Hollywood remake in 2000 by Harold Ramis, starring Brendan Frazer, with Elizabeth Hurley as the Devil, a populist change that drums up the sexual tension for mainstream’s consumption.

referential entries: Donen’s TWO FOR THE ROAD (1967, 6.7/10); Steve Gordon’s ARTHUR (1981, 7.2/10).