Week Ninety-Three
|
| "Maid of Salem" 1937 |
MOVIE NAME: MAID OF SALEM
STUDIO: PARAMOUNT PICTURES INC.
PRODUCER: HOWARD ESTABROOK
DIRECTOR: FRANK LLOYD
DATE: 1937
TYPE: HISTORICAL,DRAMA
CAST:
CLAUDETTE COBERT as Barbara Clarke , FRED MACMURRAY as Roger Coverman ,HARVEY STEPHENS as Dr. John Harding , GALE SONDERGAARD as Martha , LOUISE DRESSER as Ellen Clarke , BENNIE BARTLETT as Timothy, EDWARD ELLIS as Nathaniel Goode BELULAH BONDI as Abigail , BONITA GRANVILLE as Virginia, TOMMY BUPP, as boy
SOURCE: A F I, Catalog of Feature Films 1931-1940
STORY: In 1692, Puritan ethics are strictly enforced by elder Nathaniel Goode. The women of Salem become fascinated with stories about Satan told to them by Tibula, a slave in the Goode household. Meanwhile, Barbara Clarke, who lives with her Aunt Ellen and son Timothy, meets with fugitive Roger Coverman, who fled Virginia after being pronounced a traitor for resisting taxation. Roger and Barbara meet in secret. Fear of the occult grows and two women at Cape Ann are arrested for witchcraft. Virginia Goode steals her father's book on witchcraft, and, caught by Tibula, is punished by her father and schemes for vengeance against Tibula. During the town's hysteria and paranoia, Virginia feigns a hallucinating fever, which convinces the elders that she is a victim of Tibula's witchcraft. She is forced to confess implicating two other innocents. Barbara goes to defend Tibula, but is stopped when Ellen reveals that Barbara's mother was hanged in England for witchcraft. Roger is arrested in Virginia. When an old woman is sentenced to die at "Gallows Hill," by the Cheeves, a couple who carries an old grudge against her, Barbara defends her and is accused of being a witch herself. Timothy, who saw Barbara kiss Roger good-bye in the night, tells the court Barbara had assured him that she was with "no man" and the judge twists this testimony as an admission of Barbara's consorting with the devil. Roger escapes and makes his way to Salem not knowing the governor has pardoned him. During Barbara's trail, she refuses to confess to being a witch, but because she must protect Roger's anonymity, is unable to prove that she was not with the devil. Barbara's fate is sealed when the truth about her mother is revealed. As Barbara is about to be hanged, Roger finally arrives, solving the mystery of Barbara's lover. Virginia then admits it was spite that made her incriminate Tibula. Realizing that all were wrongly accused, Crown Justice Sewell appeals to the governor abolish the trail for witchcraft. Barbara and Roger embrace as she is freed. The governor then orders that "Gallows Tree" be burned.
|
Back |