A trio of packages from Australia, Germany, and Italy came in today containing a quintet of restocks. The titles consisted of Tom Savini’s “Night of the Living Dead,” Spike Lee’s “Mo’ Better Blues,” Martin Scorsese’s “The Age of Innocence,” Carl Reiner’s “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid,” and Stanley Donen’s “Bedazzled.”
A former Broadway chorus dancer, Stanley Donen got his start in Hollywood as a choreographer who, on multiple occasions, worked up to a year directing complex numbers in Gene Kelly musicals like “Cover Girl” and “Anchors Aweigh.” After co-directing “On the Town” with Kelly, Donen directed nine pictures for MGM (including “Singin’ in the Rain,” also with Kelly, and “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” on his own). As musicals fell out of favor, Donen branched out to make acclaimed non-musicals like “Indiscreet,” “Charade,” “Arabesque,” and “Two for the Road.”
Having left Hollywood and moved to England in 1960, Donen became a fan of the British stage show “Beyond the Fringe,” which caused such a sensation that it crossed the pond and ran on Broadway from 1962 to 1964. The show was comprised of satirical sketches performed by a quartet of young comedians that included Peter Cook and Dudley Moore; “Beyond the Fringe” would prove to be hugely influential, paving the way for later sketch comedy acts like Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Cook and Moore would team again for the BBC2 series “Not Only… But Also” before making films together, first taking on supporting roles in “The Wrong Box” by Michael Forbes and then starring in Donen’s “Bedazzled,” which was based on a story by the duo and a screenplay by Cook.
“Bedazzled” gives the “Faust” story a Swinging London makeover, casting Moore as a miserable chef who longs for the waitress (Eleanor Bron) in his burger joint and Cook as the devil who, in exchange for Moore’s soul, offers him seven wishes. Director Harold Ramis, who remade the film in 2000 with Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley, gives an interview discussing his love of the film as an extra on the Blu-ray.