“Ring the Bell, Close the Book, and Snuff the Candle.”  This is a line from the 1958 delightful and funny film “Bell, Book and Candle” staring James Stewart, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, Elsa Lancaster, Ernie Kovaks, Janice Rule and Hermione Gingold (note her first name... and her last name reminds me of Gringotts and their gold.)  Now for those of you who are under thirty-five (and I am guessing that most of you are who are reading this) you probably have never, ever heard of this movie let alone the famous box-office draw actors who starred in it.  This movie was actually based on a play of the same title written by John Van Druten.

The general story centers on the romantic relationship between Shep (Jimmy Stewart) and Gillian (Kim Novak).  What makes their love affair unique is that while Shep is quite human… or muggle… if you will, Gillian is very much a witch with extraordinarily bewitching seductive powers.   Along with Shep and Gillian, the rest of the odd assortment of characters conjuring up laughs are Gillian’s beautiful Siamese cat/familiar, Pyewacket,  her nosy but nice Aunt Queenie, her way cool brother, Nicky, Shep’s very muggle-esk fiancé, Merle Kittridge, the “supernatural expert” muggle-author, Sidney Redlich, and the “greatest” witch of her age, Bianca de Passe.  Mixed together they enchant the screen with quirky humor and beguiling romance.

I watched this movie again recently (after not seeing it for several years) and my eyebrows raised several times at the similarities between it and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books/movies.  I thought I’d list some of them here… hopefully without giving away the entire plot and ending of BB&C in case any of you decide to rent/buy it and add it to your own magical movie collection.

Our beloved Harry Potter series takes place in London and Scotland, in the UK.

Gillian and Shep live in Manhattan, New York.  Both locales are islands in the North Atlantic.

Gillian is a witch who lives not with but in the same building as her aunt, Queenie.

Harry is a wizard who lives not with but in the same building as his aunt, uncle and cousin.

Queenie is a witch although not a great witch. 

Aunt Petunia may not be witch but there definitely something different about her.

Shep is a human who suddenly finds himself in the realm of witches and wizards.

Harry is a wizard who has always lived in the realm of muggles until he suddenly finds himself in the wizarding world.

The Leaky Cauldron in London is the local meeting place for magical folks of all sorts in Harry Potter’s world.  In Gillian’s world, the hip place to hang is The Zodiac.  Both establishments are tucked away in non-obtrusive, non-obvious side streets and only those in the know know where to find their entrances.  The Weird Sisters would most likely fit right in as one of the Zodiac’s key bands in addition to their London gigs.

Dumbledore’s Put-Outer is very handy for snuffing out street lights. Nicky, the warlock in BB&C, is very talented at putting out street lights too.  The only difference is Nicky doesn’t use a Putter-Outer or any other magical tool.

Gillian is a very talented witch.  She’s an expert at Love spells, Summoning charms, conjuring up instant rain storms and Repelling charms (although the latter isn’t used as you might think.)  Although we don’t get to see her do it it appears she’s also very good at a form of transformation aka transfiguration.

A great character actress, Hermione Gingold, plays Bianca de Passe,  the head witch about town in BB&C.  I think both she and Harry’s Divination teacher, Sybil Trelawney, must shop at the same fashion bazaars with an emphasis on the bizarre.  She is also an expert, apparently, at brewing up disgusting potions that look and taste very much like Polyjuice Potion…but there is a slight twist to the effect it triggers.

Now there are plenty more little subtle similarities and differences too (like nobody uses wands) but I’ll leave it to you to divine what those might be.  Bell, Book and Candle is such a fun movie. I really suggest you check it out.  True, it’s not a Harry Potter book or movie but this little screen gem might help you to pass a few hours between now and July 16^th.