The Bewitching Day Is Upon Us!

ALL ABOARD!

HAPPY ALL HALLOWS EVE TO ONE AND ALL!

Despite the temptation by many of my friends to watch the Universal Horror Films, or those who would rather indulge in the new age of “Slasher” movies, I would prefer to have a more benign approach to this holiday.

 One of my favorites and perhaps most misunderstood images of Halloween are the witches.  To emphasize my point, I start this article with a personal choice, I Married a Witch, starring Fredric March and the sultry Veronica Lake.  This lighthearted comedy tells the tale of a young witch whose love for a human (over 270 years prior) is spurned as he is betrothed to another.  The result is that the first in a long line of Wooley men is cursed to never find real love in their lives.  And so it goes until the witch decides to set a hotel on fire in which she would become a victim.  Wallace Wooley rushes into the burning building and rescues the fair maiden from certain disaster, much to the chagrin of his fiancé, Susan Hayward.   Enchanted by the witch, he abandons his fiancé and runs off with the sorceress to a J.P. – ending up being married.  On their wedding night, she decides to tell her husband that she is no ordinary girl.   Her father (portrayed by Cecil Kellaway), most upset with his daughter, forces her to return to a spirit form or else he will cast an irreversible spell on poor Wooley.  She manages to outsmart her father, who seems to have a weakness for bottles of alcoholic spirits.  When he enters one, she quickly caps it and he remains so, much like a genie in a lamp.  Years pass and you see how the bottle is now safely locked away while Mr. and Mrs. Wooley live a “normal” life and raise their children.

This film becomes the backbone for the TV series, Bewitched.  It has a similar plot with a witch falling in love with a mortal, resulting in their eventual marriage.  Instead of having an interfering father, Samantha has a mother who would rival any male witch.  Endora, brilliantly acted by Agnes Moorhead provides the same cruel fate to Darrin Stevens as her male counterpart would have inflicted on Wallace Wooley.  There is no denying though that Sam and Darrin are truly in love.  Just as the Wooley daughter would be giving her parents a bit of trouble, trying to ride a broomstick around the house, when the Stevens end up with Tabitha, there are similar concerns with her powers.

Perhaps a film that combines the old stereotypical witches with the more attractive types already mentioned would be the film Hocus Pocus.  Here we have the Sanderson Sisters - Winifred, Mary, and Sarah - witches whose main goal is to retain their youthfulness by stealing the essence of kids.  The Sisters lure the younger sister of Thackery Binx to their cottage for their evil purpose.  When Thackery, his parents, and the townspeople go in force to the cottage, they capture and hang the witches.  Winifred, however, delivers her final curse – that on Halloween night when the moon is full, a virgin will beckon them from the dead once more to complete their mission of stealing the town’s children and regaining their youth.

Another favorite of mine features a reluctant witch, Sally Owens (Sandra Bullock), her

sister Gillian (Nicole Kidman) are total opposites in attitude in Practical Magic.  While Sally abandons magic as it has brought nothing but heartache and sorrow in her life, Gillian uses it to gain whatever and whenever she desires it.  The girls’ parents died when they were young and so they were raised by two aunts (Stockard Channing and Dianne Weist), also well versed in witchcraft.   Suffice to say that Gillian finds real trouble, requiring that Sally has to strike a balance between embracing the witchcraft she has sworn to not use and enlisting the help of regular mortals to set her sister free.  Gillian is now possessed by the spirit of her abusive boyfriend, seeking revenge for his death.  While this film is classified as romantic comedy, it also has suspense and thriller moments as well, making it a good choice for this holiday.

HAPPY HAUNTING TO YOU ALL!