The Witches (1966 film)
Encyclopedia
The Witches is a 1966
British
horror film
made by Hammer Films
. It was adapted by Nigel Kneale
from the novel The Devil's Own by Norah Lofts
, under the pseudonym Peter Curtis. It was directed by Cyril Frankel
and starred Joan Fontaine
, Alec McCowen
, Kay Walsh
, Ann Bell
, Ingrid Boulting
and Gwen Ffrangcon Davies.
while teaching as a missionary
in Africa
. On her return to England
, she is hired by a wealthy brother and sister (McCowan and Walsh) to become head teacher of their small private school in a rural village. There she becomes suspicious of the way the villagers are treating a 14-year-old girl (Boulting); her investigations point to witchcraft.
, Buckinghamshire
was the filming location
for the fictional village of Heddaby. Interiors were filmed at Hammer's usual studio at Bray
in the same year the famous horror film company vacated their home altogether for (mainly) Elstree
and Pinewood
. The cast featured child-actor Martin Stephens
, then 17. The supporting cast also included Hammer regular Duncan Lamont
, as well as John Collin
, Michele Dotrice
, Leonard Rossiter
and Bryan Marshall
.
The score
was by Richard Rodney Bennett
. In a later magazine interview Nigel Kneale
said he was dissatisfied with the way the film had turned out. Personally he found modern black magic practitioners to be fairly risible and he had intended to poke fun at the idea of an English coven. However his blackly comic touches were smoothed out by the production team, who wanted the film to be entirely serious.
1966 in film
The year 1966 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Animation legend Walter Disney, well known for his creation of Mickey Mouse, died in 15 December 1966 of acute circulatory collapse following a diagnosis of, and surgery for, lung cancer...
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
made by Hammer Films
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
. It was adapted by Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay...
from the novel The Devil's Own by Norah Lofts
Norah Lofts
Norah Lofts, née Norah Robinson, was a 20th century best-selling British author. She wrote more than fifty books specialising in historical fiction, but she also wrote non-fiction and short stories...
, under the pseudonym Peter Curtis. It was directed by Cyril Frankel
Cyril Frankel
Cyril Frankel is a British film and television director, now retired. His career in television began in 1953 and he directed for over 30 TV programmes until 1990....
and starred Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine
Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland , known professionally as Joan Fontaine, is a British American actress. She and her elder sister Olivia de Havilland are two of the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s....
, Alec McCowen
Alec McCowen
Alexander Duncan "Alec" McCowen CBE is an English actor. He is known for his work in numerous film and stage productions. He was awarded the CBE in the 1985 New Year's Honours List.-Personal:...
, Kay Walsh
Kay Walsh
Kay Walsh was an English actress and dancer. She grew up in Pimlico, raised by her grandmother....
, Ann Bell
Ann Bell
Ann Bell is a British actress, best known for playing war internee Marion Jefferson in the BBC World War II drama series Tenko during the early 1980s. She was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, daughter of John Forrest Bell and Marjorie Bell, and educated at Birkenhead High School...
, Ingrid Boulting
Ingrid Boulting
Ingrid Boulting was born in Transvaal in 1947 - daughter of English film-maker Roy Boulting and niece of John Boulting and Sydney Boulting a.k.a. Peter Cotes...
and Gwen Ffrangcon Davies.
Plot
A schoolteacher (Fontaine) has a nervous breakdown after being exposed to witchcraftWitchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
while teaching as a missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. On her return to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, she is hired by a wealthy brother and sister (McCowan and Walsh) to become head teacher of their small private school in a rural village. There she becomes suspicious of the way the villagers are treating a 14-year-old girl (Boulting); her investigations point to witchcraft.
Production
The village of HambledenHambleden
Hambleden is a small village and civil parish within Wycombe district in the south of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about four miles west of Marlow, and about three miles north east of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire....
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
was the filming location
Filming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage...
for the fictional village of Heddaby. Interiors were filmed at Hammer's usual studio at Bray
Bray Studios (UK)
Bray Studios is a film and television facility at Bray, near Windsor, Berkshire, England. The films Alien and The Rocky Horror Picture Show were shot there...
in the same year the famous horror film company vacated their home altogether for (mainly) Elstree
Elstree Studios
"Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England, since film production begun in 1927.-Name:...
and Pinewood
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
. The cast featured child-actor Martin Stephens
Martin Stephens (actor)
Martin Stephens is an English former child actor, best known for his performances in the films Village of the Damned and The Innocents...
, then 17. The supporting cast also included Hammer regular Duncan Lamont
Duncan Lamont
Duncan William Ferguson Lamont was a British actor. Born in Lisbon, Portugal, but brought up in Scotland, he had a long and successful career in film and television, appearing in a variety of high-profile productions....
, as well as John Collin
John Collin (actor)
John Collin was a British actor frequently seen on UK television during the 1960s and 1970s mainly in supporting roles. John Collin's best known role was as Detective Sergeant Haggar in the long running BBC police series Z-Cars...
, Michele Dotrice
Michele Dotrice
Michele Dotrice is an English actress best known for her portrayal of Betty, the long-suffering wife of Frank Spencer, played by Michael Crawford, in the BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em, which ran from 1973 to 1978....
, Leonard Rossiter
Leonard Rossiter
Leonard Rossiter was an English actor known for his roles as Rupert Rigsby, in the British comedy television series Rising Damp , and Reginald Iolanthe Perrin, in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin...
and Bryan Marshall
Bryan Marshall
Bryan Marshall is an English actor, with a number of major credits in film and television to his name.Marshall was born in Clapham, London...
.
The score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
was by Richard Rodney Bennett
Richard Rodney Bennett
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, CBE is an English composer renowned for his film scores and his jazz performance as much as for his challenging concert works...
. In a later magazine interview Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay...
said he was dissatisfied with the way the film had turned out. Personally he found modern black magic practitioners to be fairly risible and he had intended to poke fun at the idea of an English coven. However his blackly comic touches were smoothed out by the production team, who wanted the film to be entirely serious.
External links
- The Witches at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Tongue-in-cheek review of The Witches