FILM 2226: BEWITCHED (2005)

TRIVIA: The Bewitched (1964) theme heard about halfway through this movie, complete with lyrics, sounds like Frank Sinatra, but it was actually a 1964 recording done by Steve Lawrence, who was known for his uncanny impersonation of Sinatra.

The part of Nigel Bigelow was written specifically for Sir Michael Caine.

When Aunt Clara's (Carole Shelley's) bag drops from the chimney, a whole bunch of doorknobs fall out of it. This is a reference to the original series, in which Aunt Clara "collected" doorknobs.

Kristin Chenoweth's part was written specifically for her, because Nicole Kidman very much enjoyed her performance as Glinda in the Broadway musical "Wicked."

After Isabel (Nicole Kidman) tells Jack (Will Ferrell) that she's a witch, he asks, "Am I gonna get pregnant? Because I cannot get pregnant right now!" Endora cast a spell causing Darrin to feel the same pregnancy symptoms that Samantha was feeling in an early episode of Bewitched (1964).

The house that Isabel rents was chosen by writer and director Nora Ephron because it had belonged to friends of her parents, and she visited it many times as a child. By pure coincidence, those friends were Larry Berns and his wife, Sandra Gould, who played the second, better-known Gladys Kravitz. Alice Pearce, the first Gladys Kravitz, died after the second season, and was replaced with Gould. Ephron claims in the DVD commentary that she didn't realize this until after the movie was made.

Jim Carrey was approached to play Jack Wyatt/Darrin Stephens, but had to decline because of other commitments. As he resembles Dick York, it was commonly felt that he would be the only good choice for the role (and that anyone like Will Ferrell would just be miscast).

When Penny Marshall was attached to direct in 1993, her cast was to include Meryl Streepas Samantha Stephens, Barry Humphries in his Dame Edna Everage persona as Endora, Robin Williams as Uncle Arthur, Shelley Winters as Gladys Kravitz, and Jerry Seinfeld and Billy Crystal alternating scenes as Darrin Stephens, in a nod to the role being re-cast midway through the original series' run.

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This is featured on the podcast Blank Check episode Bewitched With Dana Schwartz