The Witching Hour

Hubble bubble toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. It’s Halloween: pumpkin carving proceeds apace, Hulu has sported a -ween suffix for the past month and witches are very much de rigueur.

Alongside their ability to tweak reality, what makes witches so compelling is their versatility. They can be dark figures of dread and misfortune. They can be agents of mischief or protectors of those in need. Or they can be centuries-old sorceresses who prefer to live as ordinary suburban housewives.

Hop on your broomstick for a quick tour of some of the most memorable witches ever to cast a spell on the big (or small) screen.

The Wizard of Oz (1939) Eldritch, malevolent and green, the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) is the ultimate wicked witch, seared into the consciousness of generations of filmgoers. She cackles, conjures fireballs, skywrites with smoke and is relentless in pursuit of the ruby slippers. Glinda (Billie Burke), her ostensibly good counterpart, seems positively flat in comparison.

I Married a Witch (1942) Jennifer (Veronica Lake at her most enchanting) appears out of the smoke—from a hotel fire she instigated—and insinuates herself into Wallace Wooley’s (Fredric March) life, wreaking cheerful havoc on her prey. Alluring, capricious and prone to cavorting round the house in Wally’s pyjamas, Jennifer is Wally’s complete opposite—and also his perfect match. His impending marriage to someone else is merely a minor inconvenience.

Bell, Book and Candle (1958) Bell, Book and Candle asks us to believe that a woman who looks like Kim Novak needs magic to ensnare a man. In all fairness, she was in a hurry. Gillian Holyroyd (Novak) cares little for convention, selling ‘primitive’ art and preferring to walk around barefoot. When she learns the new neighbour (James Stewart) she’s interested in is engaged—to an old school enemy no less—she seduces him as a game but ends up losing her heart. The film’s most delightful conceit is its community of witches and warlocks, who blend in with the beatnik crowd. Of course they have a club and of course it’s in the Village.

Bewitched (1964-72) Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery) is the reason this list includes television. Like Jennifer and Gillian before her, she falls in love with a mortal. (Both films were made by Columbia Pictures, which also owned the production company behind Bewitched.) Together, she and Darrin (Dick York; later Dick Sargent) contend with the challenges of a ‘mixed marriage’, as Sam’s relatives—particularly her mother Endora (Agnes Moorehead)—constantly interfere and Darrin’s obsession with convention goes hand in hand with a nigh pathological hatred of magic. Sam refrains from using her powers not because she’s been cowed by Darrin, but because she respects his desire to earn things through hard work. What’s more, she loves him. Her charm is Elizabeth Montgomery’s own. No other actress could achieve the same blend of humour, confidence, warmth and strength and make it seem effortless besides (c.f. Nicole Kidman in Nora Ephron’s misbegotten imitation). Despite all his professions of love, I don’t think Darrin really knew how lucky he was.

The Girl on a Broomstick (1972) Enchanting Czechoslovak whimsy. Saxana (Petra Černocká), a young witch at a dreary magic school, struggles to keep up with her lessons and ends up with 300 years of detention. Longing for something better, she transports herself to the human world, only to find it more byzantine than she imagined. The film is extremely creative, making the most of simple practical effects: the headmaster at Saxana’s school has four arms, which all move with convincing independence; multiple characters are transformed into animals via the magic of stop motion. It also has a mischievous sense of humour, ensuring it never takes itself too seriously. Saxana herself is an unusual mix of naivete and self-assurance that ought to be annoying but isn’t. My only complaint is that we don’t spend more time in the magical world or learn enough about its customs.

The Witches of Eastwick (1987) Witches gone wild. Bereft of husbands and bored with life in their small New England town, friends Alex (Cher), Jane (Susan Sarandon) and Suki (Michelle Pfeiffer) fantasize about their ideal man, only for a devilishly fascinating stranger (Jack Nicholson, who else?) to appear who seems made to order. Loosely based on John Updike’s novel of the same name, and far more fun, the film explores the intoxicating delights of witchcraft. (Exhibit A: John Williams’ impish score. Exhibit B: a tennis match in which awe at the ball levitating quickly gives way to joyous flippancy.) The women revel in doing as they please, in defiance of hypocritical neighbours, but there’s a price to be paid for getting carried away.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-2003) and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018-2020) The two faces of Sabrina Spellman. Born to a warlock and a mortal, Sabrina balances the ordinary trials of high school (homework, friendships, dating) with the more supernatural challenges of learning to be a witch (wayward spells, dangerous rivals and the arcane rules of magical society). Here endeth the resemblance. The earlier show is a light-hearted sitcom in which Sabrina (Melissa Joan Hart) bumbles through mayhem largely of her own making. Its successor is a horror series in which Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka) does battle with the Devil himself. I wonder what one version of her would make of the other.

Practical Magic (1998) Magic is hereditary in the Owens family line, as is a tendency to produce a pair of brunette and red-haired sisters every generation and a curse that dooms the men they love to die young. The townsfolk accept the Owens’ powers as a fact and ostracize the family. Sally (Sandra Bullock) grows to hate the craft, denying her gifts and doing everything she can to lead a conventional life. Her younger sister Gillian (Nicole Kidman) skips town the first chance she gets and hurls herself into relationships, the latest of which could spell disaster not just for Gillian, but Sally too. Inspired by more than adapted from Alice Hoffman’s book, Practical Magic vacillates wildly in tone—romantic-comedy one moment, horror the next—but is consistent in its celebration of family and sisterhood. Besides, there are times when being an Owens has its perks. Midnight Margaritas anyone?

Charmed (1998-2006) The Power of Three will set you free. To their considerable surprise, the Halliwell sisters learn they are the Charmed Ones: powerful witches pledged to protect innocents from evil. With magical threats around every corner and regularly making house calls (the Halliwells never put wards up around the Manor for some reason) the sisters must juggle witchcraft, day jobs and increasingly complicated love lives. Each sister’s power is cleverly tailored to her personality. Prue (Shannon Doherty), the assertive eldest, is telekinetic. Piper (Holly Marie Combs), the middle sister and ever the peacemaker, can impose time outs by freezing time. And Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), the impulsive youngest, has premonitions that force her to consider consequences. (Paige (Rose McGowan), a late addition, has a power more suited to the plot than to her.) For all its lore and angst, the show is at its best when it remembers the Halliwells are siblings first, witches second—sharing in jokes, handing out unsolicited fashion advice and teasing each other as only sisters can.