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The Crucible (1996)
The Crucible Directed by Nicholas Hytner Screenplay by Arthur Miller Based on The Crucibleby Arthur Miller Produced by Robert A. MillerDavid V. Picker Starring Daniel Day-LewisWinona RyderPaul ScofieldJoan AllenBruce DavisonRob CampbellKarron GravesJeffrey JonesPeter VaughanFrances Conroy Cinematography Andrew Dunn Edited by Tariq Anwar Music by George Fenton Distributed by 20th Century Fox Release date November 27, 1996 (United States) Running time 126 minutes Countries United States, United Kingdom Language English Budget $25 million Box office $7.3 million[1] The Crucible is a 1996 American historical drama film directed by Nicholas Hytner and written by Arthur Miller, based on his 1953 play. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor, Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams, Paul Scofield as Judge Thomas Danforth, Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor, Karron Graves as Mary Warren, and Bruce Davison as Reverend Samuel Parris. Set in 1692, during the Salem witch trials, the film follows a group of teenage girls who, after getting caught performing a ritual in the woods, band together and falsely accuse several of the townspeople of witchcraft. Principal photography began in Massachusetts and Nova Scotia on September 11, 1995, and concluded on November 18. The Crucible was theatrically released in the United States on November 27, 1996, and was a commercial failure, grossing only $7.3 million against its $25 million budget. Despite this, it received positive reviews from critics, with Day-Lewis, Ryder, Scofield, and Allen earning widespread acclaim for their performances. The Crucible was screened at the 47th Berlin International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Bear. At the 54th Golden Globe Awards, Scofield and Allen were nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively, while Allen received a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the 69th Academy Awards, and Scofield won Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 50th British Academy Film Awards. Arthur Miller received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Plot In Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, a group of village girls meet in the woods with slave Tituba, attempting to conjure love spells. Abigail Williams kills a chicken and drinks its blood, wishing for John Proctor‘s wife Elizabeth to die. When Abigail’s uncle, Reverend Samuel Parris, discovers them, the girls run away, but his daughter Betty collapses unconscious. Betty will not awaken, nor will Thomas and Ann Putnam‘s daughter Ruth, who was also conjuring. Giles Corey, who suspects that the children are just acting out, and John Proctor, with whom Abigail had an affair, visit the Parris household. Believing Betty and Ruth to be demonically possessed, Parris and the Putnams call Reverend John Hale from nearby Beverly to examine Betty. To save herself and the other girls from punishment, Abigail accuses Tituba of witchcraft. After being whipped, Tituba confesses to seeing the devil and is saved from being hanged. Struck by their new power, the girls begin naming numerous…
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Sarah Jessica Parker’s Real Life Ties to the Salem Witch Trials
Sarah Jessica Parker played one of film’s most famous and possibly ditziest witches ever when she took on the role of Sarah Sanderson, sister of Winifred and Mary Sanderson, in Hocus Pocus. The fan favorite film told the story of the Sanderson sisters who were hanged for the crime of witchcraft in the 1600s and are subsequently resurrected in the 1990s. As they attempt to carry out their nefarious plans to gain immortality by stealing the lives of children, they meet their match in three kids, a rebellious zombie, and a talking cat. It was after Parker played the role, however, that she found out she had actual ties to the terrifying Salem Witch Trials. It was during an appearance on Who Do You Think You Are?–a series that dives deep into the ancestry of celebrities–that the connection was made. Parker’s tenth-great grandmother, Esther Dutch Elwell–along with Abigail Rowe and Rebecca Dike–was accused of “wickedly and feloniously sundry acts of witchcraft upon the body of Mrs. Mary Fiche of Gloucester” by Betty Hubbard who was 17 years old at the time. The accusation went before the court and a warrant was drawn up for the arrest of the three women. Fortunately for them, the court was dissolved before Esther, Abigail, and Rebecca could be brought to trial. Esther went on to live a full live until well into the 1700s when she died at the approximate age of 82 years old. The handwritten warrant still exists and Parker was able to view scans of the document during the episode. It’s one of those strange, circular connections people just don’t expect to make, and it definitely falls on the spooky spectrum