Winter of the Witch

I had to laugh at the other comments that mention seeing this film in school -- Disston School in Philadelphia used to show it too, when they weren't running The Red Balloon (which I must have seen 10 times) or Paddle to the Sea (maybe 12 times, but better than The Red Balloon, for sure). All I remember from it was a witch and pancakes -- the acoustics in our auditorium weren't the greatest. They also would run Alan Arkin's film "People Soup," which was worlds more entertaining than any of the above. They also showed us "Brian's Song" once, but we girls cried so hard I don't think they wanted to risk it again.

You have to hand it to the filmmakers, though -- they must have done something right to make us remember it -- even if it was just the witch/pancake angle.

I could cut and paste everyone's statements into this text. I wonder if there are other IMDb films that pull together movie orphans like this one has? I, too, watched this annually in Elementary School and NEVER forgot it. I remembered the song that accompanied the freeze frame dot frenzy and the sound of the running film projector in the background. I also remember thinking it was out of date---I saw it in 1982-84 so no one dressed like that anymore. I was a melancholy kid at times and remember thinking how great it would be to eat mood-altering pancakes--this movie really opened up my eyes relative to I suppose the way LSD did for the adults who made the film!! I found someone who had a VHS and got a copy...it holds up to memory. The other movie he sent me was "ciphor in the snow." I can't believe they showed us that film now that I'm viewing it through the eyes of an adult. It breaks your heart. Sigh--thanks for a place where people love this movie as much as I. I'd never met anyone else who remembered seeing it besides my brother.

.....then by all means let me know directly at the above e-mail address so that I may arrange for a copy for you. Probably the most memorable memory of off-the-wall gradeschool 16mm screenings I've ever logged. And many seem to be in the same boat as I. Who could possibly forget the unsinkable Hermoine Gingold as a sad old witch whose abode is intruded upon by a single mom and her young son in search of an alternative to urban hustle & bustle, setting into motion an irresistibly oddball tale of friendship and redemption. An inspired and unique experience; there really is nothing else quite like it, and those 'happy' pancakes are a hoot. It's enough to make you want to drop everything and embark on a pilgrimage to Goshen (NY) where this was filmed, just to see if there's anything left of the gloriously creaky old mansion depicted in the film, if not any leftover pancakes.

For about the last 10 years I'd been having vague visual recollections of what I thought was a film I must have seen sometime between grades K-2 (circa 1975-1978) at Pinecrest Elementary School in East Lansing, Mich. It involved a kid named Nicholas who had some connection with a witch who made pancakes. I also kept picturing a three-chimneyed haunted house with pink and purple polka dots flying all over the place. Since nobody else who was in grade school at the same time seemed to have a similar recollection, I figured I was either hallucinating or simply a few fries short of a Happy Meal. So I finally googled the keywords "witch" and "pancake" and came across this book, "Old Black Witch," that featured a similar-sounding setting, with a kid named Nicky (and -- according to commentators on Amazon.com -- a racist subtext). So I punch the author's name into IMDb and I'll be damned, the film actually exists! I'm not delusional after all! I don't even remember if the flick was any good (it was certainly no "Paddle to the Sea" -- the other school-library classic from the period), but I'll give it a 10 just for the fact that it's not just a figment of my imagination.

I'd give it a 20 if I could actually get my hands on a VHS or DVD version.

Hooray!! I am so glad that I finally found the name of this movie!! Thank you. I saw this movie in grade school in Hudson, Ohio in the 80s and am so glad to have found the name. Does anyone remember a movie seen in grade school about a man's last thoughts before he was hung? Or, a movie about two kids watching a huge TV screen watching lions? Or, a movie about kids that came out of a test tube like apparatus which actually looked like a tar barrel? The education department showed us some weird stuff when we were younger. BTW, what is the deal with this blog that I have to have ten lines of text in order to make a comment?