Maid Of Salem (1937)

 

Maid Of Salem - 1937

Coming up next we have 1937's "Maid Of Salem", a story about a young woman who is wrongly accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials.  Her sympathies for those accused and her own origins conspire against her, and only the testimony of a "phantom" can save her.

The film's cast includes Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Harvey Stephens, Gale Sondergaard, Louise Dresser, Benny Bartlett, Edward Ellis, Beulah Bondi, Bonita Granville, Virginia Weidler, Donald Meek, E.E. Clive, Madame Sul-Te-Wan, Sterling Holloway, Zeffie Tilbury, J. Farrell MacDonald, and Lionel Belmore.

Our story takes place in the quiet, Puritan town of Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

A lovely young woman named Barbara Clarke resides there with her aunt.  The two women support themselves by making candles.

On one of her deliveries, Barbara makes the acquaintance of political refugee Roger Coverman of Virginia, who is hiding out with his uncle because of a bounty on his head.  Barbara is quite charmed by Roger, and the two of them begin spending time together secretly.

They have to be careful to not be seen.  Because of the bounty on Roger's head, it is imperative that he stay in the shadows.  The two of them spend as much time as possible together.  However, observers see Barbara on occasion speaking in dark corners with a cloaked figure who does not show his face.  She is also observed dancing with no one occasionally.  Roger eventually has to return to Virginia so that he can clear his name.

Barbara is already a figure well-acquainted with scrutiny.  She loves pretty things, and earns the ire of the elders at church when she appears in something other than Puritan garb.

At one Sabbath meeting, the sin of witchcraft is said to be spreading throughout the surrounding countryside.  Everyone is advised to be on the lookout and guard themselves against the evil that seems to be encroaching on the surrounding area.

The wife of one of Barbara's oldest friends becomes jealous of her and begins to harbor resentment towards Barbara.  This is especially dangerous because the woman is one of a small handful of people who know a secret about her.

Soon, witchcraft seems to reach the town of Salem, with various "outbreaks" being reported.  Mass hysteria breaks out and many people (mostly women) are arrested for having brought the community into contact with the dark arts.

Barbara is warned by her aunt and a friend not to speak out in support of any of the accused.  Her own mother was burnt as a witch in England when someone who hated her fabricated the information with which she was arrested.  Any suspicion cast in her direction would be enough to spell her doom.

However, at a trial Barbara can not sit idly by while her friends are accused and found guilty of witchcraft even though they are completely innocent.  Because she speaks up for them, she is arrested.

At her trial, her acquaintance with a cloaked, faceless figure is brought up.  Because of his situation, Barbara cannot name him, and by doing so seemingly seals her fate.  The information about her mother is also made public by the jealous wife of her friend.  Barbara is sentenced to be hanged.

Roger Coverman's appearance at the eleventh hour puts to rest all of the charges against Barbara.

The two fall into each other's arms as the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony puts an end to the witch trials and orders that the tree on which the accused were hung be destroyed.

Cast rundown:

   Claudette Colbert..............................Barbara Clarke

   Fred MacMurray.................................Roger Coverman

   Harvey Stephens...............................Dr. John Harding

   Gale Sondergaard.............................Martha Harding

   Louise Dresser..................................Ellen Clarke

   Benny Bartlett..................................Timothy Clarke

   Edward Ellis.....................................Elder Nathaniel Goode

   Beulah Bondi....................................Abigail Goode

   Bonita Granville................................Ann Goode

   Virginia Weidler................................Nabby Goode

   Donald Meek....................................Ezra Cheeves

   E.E. Clive.........................................Thomas Bilge

   Madame Sul-Te-Wan..........................Tituba

   Sterling Holloway..............................Miles Corbin

   Zeffie Tilbury....................................Goody Hodgers

   J. Farrell MacDonald..........................Captain Edwards

   Lionel Belmore.................................Tavern Keeper

And that's it for Maid Of Salem.  Taking place between February 1692 and May 1693, the Salem Witch Trials saw the arrest of over 200 people for the crime of witchcraft.  Thirty were found guilty, and nineteen of them were executed.  It has been established that nearly all of them were innocent and were the victims of the mass hysteria and panic that were the result of pamphlets that cautioned and gave instances of witchcraft in the area.

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Woman Against Woman (1938)

 

Woman Against Woman - 1938

Coming up next we have 1938's "Woman Against Woman", a story about a woman who finds herself suddenly divorced from her husband.  Her behavior towards his next wife is less than cordial, and the claws come out as each woman fights for the affections of the man.

The film's cast includes Herbert Marshall, Virginia Bruce, Mary Astor, Janet Beecher, Marjorie Rambeau, Juanita Quigley, and Zeffie Tilbury.

Lawyer Stephen Holland has a surprise one day at his office.  His former nanny, who is also the nanny of his daughter Ellen, quits and decides to move to California.  When pressed for a reason, the nanny tells Stephen that she doesn't like the way his wife controls his life and the life of their child.  She leaves Stephen with some very sobering thoughts about what his life has become.

When he gets home, Stephen goes to see his daughter.  The two are very close.

When he goes to talk to his wife Cynthia, Stephen finds that she's dressing for a dinner date that he had already told her he didn't want to take part it.  She convinces him to go.  "I don't like dining at the house of a man I detest!" he exclaims.

When they return home, Cynthia's behavior during their evening out causes Stephen to make a decision.  He wants a divorce.  "You've changed my mind for me so often it's a miracle I've got one left," he says before he leaves the house for good.

Initially, Cynthia is stunned, but then her mood turns into anger.

When the divorce comes through, Cynthia plays heavily on Stephen's mother's sympathies.  Mrs. Holland is firmly on the side of her former daughter-in-law.  Cynthia confides in her that she hopes that Stephen will realize his mistake and come back to her.

In Washington D.C. to present a case, Stephen meets Ms. Maris Kent at the home of some good friends of his.  Maris is at the affair with her grandmother, who can't stand the cowboy band that is playing.  "What with all these cowboy singers and cowboy bands on the radio, I often wonder who’s left to watch the cows," says Grandma as she hurries out the door.

Maris and Stephen are drawn to each other, and the two of them spend every moment that they can together.  Eventually, Stephen proposes and he is eagerly accepted by Maris.

When she confides to her grandmother that she's worried because she doesn't know if she's going to the chopping block or to the altar, Grandma tells Maris, "Baby, there isn't a bride in the world that doesn't wonder which it's going to be."

Cynthia, still hoping to be reunited with Stephen, isn't at all pleased to here of his remarriage.

Mrs. Holland, still on Cynthia's side, is cordial but distant, and doesn't fully embrace Maris as her daughter-in-law.

Finally, the two wives meet.  Initially, Cynthia makes a favorable impression on Maris, who declares her to be wonderful.

But Cynthia's true colors eventually come out.  She drags Stephen away from Maris, leaving her alone on their first holiday together, and she also plays on the sympathies of her friends in town to undermine Maris's position.

Maris has enough of Cynthia's nonsense and confronts her about it.  Cynthia decides to take her daughter and leave town for good, never to let Stephen see little Ellen again.  However, Stephen and his mother calm her down enough that she decides to go and spend some time with Ellen at a mountain lodge instead.

Interrupting Stephen during an important court hearing, Cynthia tells him that Ellen is very ill and has been asking for him.  (In reality, Ellen is just fine.)  Stephen says he can't get away, but that if Ellen gets at all worse Cynthia is to let him know.  Upset that her ploy to get Stephen to come to her didn't work, Cynthia decides to go dancing.

Naturally, when Stephen, Maris, and his mother come to make sure Ellen is alright, they find Cynthia has misled them.  Mrs. Holland is furious with her former daughter-in-law, and Cynthia realizes she's overplayed her hand.

Maris gives Cynthia a few hard truths, which annoys Cynthia.  "I don't have to listen to this," she says indignantly.  To which Maris replies, "Oh, yes, you do.  You’re beaten, and you know it.  You never wanted to leave town.  You wouldn’t know what to do without a couple of hundred shoulders to weep on."

The next time they all meet, the three behave like old friends and settle into a comfortable world where they can all peacefully exist in the same town.

Cast rundown:

   Herbert Marshall..............................Stephen Holland

   Virginia Bruce..................................Maris Kent

   Mary Astor.......................................Cynthia Holland

   Janet Beecher..................................Mrs. Holland

   Marjorie Rambeau............................Mrs. Kingsley

   Juanita Quigley................................Ellen Holland

   Zeffie Tilbury...................................Grandma

And that's it for Woman Against Woman.  At one hour in length, this is one of the shortest feature films that we've included on the blog.  However, that doesn't mean this movie lacks anything.  On the contrary, it is full of humor, zippy dialogue, and the kind of '30s chic that only Herbert Marshall, Virginia Bruce, and Mary Astor can supply.

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