The comedy team of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were a major influence on Monty Python's Flying Circus, among others -- but sadly (except for a couple of SNL appearances) their dry British humor was seldom made accessible to U.S. audiences. Bedazzled, a goofy, good-natured comedy based on the Faust legend, is probably Cook's/Moore's most finished product. It proves, among other things, that Moore's nebbish persona was funnier before he became universally known for 10 and Arthur (by then, the duo had unfortunately parted ways). But it's Peter Cook's witty screenplay and performance that are most memorable, and make Bedazzled a minor classic.

Moore is a burger-flipper with a secret crush on a waitress, the rather sour Eleanor Bron. Cook is the Devil, who offers Moore the change to get the girl plus money, fame, etc. in exchange for his immortal soul. Then ensues a string of vignettes, some dated, some hilarious, in which Moore gets seven wishes and Cook repeatedly cheats him out of happiness, while randomly tormenting hippies and various other small evil acts.

The film's biggest flaw is the 1966-era Swinging London setting (the time and place revived by Austin Powers) which were hip at the time, I guess, but now make the look of the film very dated. Fortunately, the themes are timeless (sin, temptation, etc.), making Bedazzled fair game for remakes (it is itself a sort of remake, of the Faust legend) like the 2000 Brendan Fraser/Liz Hurley version. Fraser and Hurley are both good sports, but the Cook/Moore version is much better, and worth revisiting.

Unlike later wannabes (for example, any film in which Alanis Morissette played God - talk about instantly dated) Cook's screenplay is not only funny but smart, and actually understands the theology it sends up. In fact, this is a film that Christians (or at least Catholics) should enjoy -- irreverence aside, Bedazzled presents a sympathetic portrayal of human weakness and redemption which is straight out of the catechism.

Both Cook and Moore are now dead; it's a shame their partnership didn't last longer and produce more films like this one.

Aka Stanley Donen's Bedazzled.