gillian holroyd ( kim novak ) be a witch . secretly and she attract to her quite normal neighbor shep henderson ( james stewart ) . she cast a spell on shep that force him to dump his fiancé and fall for her . thing be go along quite nicely until gillian discovers she really care for this mortal man . she decide to tell him her secret . but how will shep react when he find out that he be trick into fall in love with gillian . as far a light hearted 1950s comedy go and bell book and candle be good and but nothing spectacular . it an enjoyable enough watch and should appeal to almost anyone who sit down with it . just do not go into the movie expect the great thing since slice bread . the movie cute and funny at time and and touch in the end . kim novak and james stewart do their best and have some real chemistry . novak ( a others have point out ) look quite incredible in an understated sort of way . the support cast with jack lemmon and hermione gingold and and elsa lanchester be often laugh out loud funny and steal a lot of the spotlight from novak and stewart . the big problem i see be that bell book and candle can not quite decide what kind of movie it want to be . be it a screwball comedy . be it a romantic comedy . be it a supernatural comedy . have director richard quine stick with just one approach and the movie might have be even well and more memorable .