Maid of Salem

This is not one of Claudette Colbert's more famous films, though it deserves more attention. It's an excellent retelling of the Salem Witch Trials and does a reasonably good job of explaining both how the hysteria began and the evil attitudes of those in charge that allowed for the hangings. Both Colbert and co-star Fred MacMurray do a great job with the excellent and intelligently written script. The movie would be a good film to explain the hysteria to kids but is entertaining enough that most should enjoy the film. In fact, apart from people with VERY SHORT attention-spans, I can't see how anyone could not enjoy the film.

In 1692 Salem, a devious child's lies about a slave's involvement in witchcraft sends an entire community into an uproar. Costume drama starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray isn't stuffy, though neither is it a vivid depiction of contagious hysteria. Worked on by three writers (Walter Ferris, Durward Grimstead, and Bradley King), the story elements are rather interesting (especially coming out of Hollywood in 1937), though to anyone who has since read Arthur Miller's "The Crucible", the hoked-up melodrama on display here won't be tolerated for very long. Biggest problem with the picture may lie in the casting: Colbert and MacMurray are an ill-matched pair of lovers hindered by the witch-hunt, MacMurray being far too contemporary a presence for these surroundings. *1/2 from ****

This was one good movie, with none of the melodramatic acting you often get from films in the 1930's, when actors were still adjusting to sound. Considering the dramatic time period when it takes place (the Salem witch trials of 1692), that says a lot for the writers and the actors!

Claudette Colbert should have won an award for this one, especially those trial scenes, when she makes you feel all her character's going through, wanting to prove her innocence and at the same time protect the man she loves (Fred MacMurray, who gives an excellent performance).

You get a real sense of how the witchcraft hysteria takes over, and how people used that fact to their own advantage with so many outrageous accusations. (I wonder if Arthur Miller was influenced by this movie when he wrote his play?)

There are other familiar faces (like Sterling Holloway, Beulah Bondi, Gale Sondergaard, as well as some others) that add to what turns out to be a picture no one should miss!

Solid 30's costume melodrama, certainly an artistic equal to director Frank Lloyd's more famous "Mutiny on the Bounty". Excellent acting from Colbert and, surprisingly, MacMurray (but then he's great in "Double Indemnity" too). Sterling Holloway is wonderful as the spurned suitor, and Madame Sul-Te-Wan is great as the VooDoo Woman. An excellent introduction to the Witch-Hunting syndrome that is suitable to show to young children. Witch-Hunting still occurs today in politics, religion, workplace, school and sometimes even in the family, and this film could be a tool for inciting discussion.

"Maid of Salem" is one of seven films that Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray made together. Most of their comedies fared much better than this movie about the Salem witch trials of 1692-1693. The filming location was on the Paramount Ranch in the Agoura Hills near Los Angeles. The film has some notably large crowd scenes that represent the hysteria of the period. And, it has a large cast with several notable actors besides the stars. Among them are Louise Dresser, Gale Sondergaard, Harvey Stephens, Beulah Bondi, Bonita Granville, and Donald Meek.

The script has a mix of characters – some fictitious and others closely resembling real people of the time. Colbert plays Barbara Clarke and MacMurray is Roger Coverman of Virginia. Both are good in their roles, but a number of other characters have as much screen time. The screenplay is choppy in places, the directing is not very strong, and the editing is weak. The cinematography and other production qualities are not very good.

For all its weaker attributes, "Maid of Salem" has some value in the story of a frightening and dark period in early New England history. The Salem witch trials were the American counterpart of the lengthy witch-hunt in Europe. That reached its peak between 1580 and 1630 during the European wars of religion. In America, the preaching and writings of New England Puritan minister Cotton Mather (1663-1728), held much sway with the highly superstitious colonies of Massachusetts. Mather was not directly involved, but is generally considered the source that aroused the fear and fervor that led to the frantic witch-hunts and trials.

I recall a visit in the mid-1990s to Massachusetts. I toured the area so rich in history -- Boston, Concord, Lexington, Salem and the homes of famous authors – Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne. At Salem I walked through the House of the Seven Gables – the subject of a Hawthorne novel by the same name. It was not far from the Charter Street Cemetery. The oldest cemetery in Salem is near the Commons and the Salem Witch Museum. I read some of the headstones with their simple, short epitaphs that included 12 women and six men who were executed for witchcraft. Here was Rebecca Nurse, hanged on July 19, 1692; and there was Margaret Scott, hanged Sept. 22, 1692. In another place was Bridget Bishop, hanged June 1, 1692; and nearby was Giles Correy, pressed to death on Sept. 19, 1692. John Proctor and Martha Carrier were hanged on Aug. 19, 1692. Samuel Wardwell and Mary Easty were hanged on Sept. 22, 1692.

Also buried there is Ann Putnam (1679-1716), who was the leader of a group of young girls whose accusations led to the frenzy and witch trials. The girl, who then was 13 years old, claimed to be afflicted and she testified against several defendants in court. Years later, she made a public apology for her role in the trials. Of course, her apology fell on the deaf ears of several people whom she led to the grave. Putnam died at age 37 and is buried with her parents in an unmarked grave. Bonita Granville plays the character, Ann, in "Maid of Salem," and gives the best performance of the movie.

Author Nathaniel Hawthorne's great-great-grandfather is buried in the early Salem cemetery. John Hathorne (sic) died May 10, 1717. He was one of the two magistrates who presided over the pre-trial examinations in Salem Village. These took place before the actual witch trials, and two actors play these roles in the movie. In the film, the names are fictitious, but they are based on real persons.

The source of this specific story and screenplay is almost as intriguing as the subject matter. Bradley King was the pen name of Josephine McLaughlin, born in Chicago on July 8, 1894. She was a successful screenwriter who wrote 56 scripts for films between 1920 and 1947. She was married several times. One was a short marriage to silent film director John Griffith. After a later husband, George Hiram Boyd, lost most of her $400,000 fortune to bad investments, she divorced him in 1940. She wrote her last screenplay for the 1947 movie, "That's My Man," and disappeared at age 53. She had been having poor health. She was never heard from again, and there's no known record of her death. All but one of her 40 silent films are lost, but most of her 20 or so sound films still exist. Her 1923 silent film, "Anna Christie" starred Blanche Sweet and is still extant. But, that film is little remembered since the 1930 remake that starred Greta Garbo.

I wonder if King-McLaughlin had any friends who might have tracked her down, or reported her to the police as missing.