The Witches (1967 film)

Not to be confused with The Witches (1966 film).

The Witches (Le Streghe)
Italian film poster
Directed by	Luchino Visconti Mauro Bolognini Pier Paolo Pasolini Franco Rossi Vittorio De Sica
Screenplay by	Giuseppe Patroni Griffi Cesare Zavattini Age & Scarpelli Bernardino Zapponi Pier Paolo Pasolini Fabio Carpi Enzo Muzzi
Produced by	Dino De Laurentiis
Starring	Silvana Mangano Clint Eastwood Annie Girardot Totò Alberto Sordi
Cinematography	Giuseppe Rotunno
Edited by	Mario Serandrei Nino Baragli Giorgio Serralonga Adriana Novelli
Music by	Piero Piccioni Ennio Morricone
Production companies	Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Les Productions Artistes Associés
Distributed by	Dear Film (Italy) Lopert Pictures Corporation (US) United Artists (International)
Release date	1967 (1967)
Running time	110 minutes
Countries	Italy France
Language	Italian

The Witches (Italian: Le streghe) is a 1967 comedy anthology film produced by Dino De Laurentiis in 1965. It consists of 5 short stories, directed by Luchino Visconti, Franco Rossi, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Mauro Bolognini and Vittorio De Sica. Each story is about witches and features Silvana Mangano.

This is one of De Laurentiis' more eclectic films. Clint Eastwood also makes an appearance in the final story.

Segments

"The Witch Burned Alive"

A famous actress arrives in an Austrian chalet to spend an evening with friends. The woman is gotten drunk by the guests, and when she falls unconscious, friends remove her makeup to look at the imperfections of her face, always believed beautiful by her fans.

"Civic Sense"

A man is wounded in a traffic accident. A woman stops the car and offers to take him to the hospital. The woman, however, only does this to pass the road traffic. When she arrives at her destination, she throws him out.

"The Earth Seen from the Moon"

This comic episode, directed by Pasolini, tells the story of a red-headed father and son, Ciancicato and Baciu Miao (Totò and Ninetto Davoli). Ciancicato has just lost his wife and wants to marry a new wife. Ciancicato finds a deaf girl among the shacks on the outskirts of Rome and makes her his bride. To buy a better house nearby, he concocts a plan for her to threaten to commit suicide (distraught by her sick children) by jumping from the Coliseum, and take a collection to save her, but she slips on a banana peel and falls, and is buried next to his former wife.

"The Girl from Sicily"

In this short episode, a Sicilian woman tells her father a man made a pass at her; he retaliates by massacring the family.

"An Evening Like the Others"

Clint Eastwood is a western movie lover who does not know how to change the flat relationship with his wife. One day Eastwood disguises himself as a gunslinger to entertain his wife, but she is not impressed and he realizes that their relationship is broken forever. In the final scene, she imagines herself as a glamorous star, walking along in an evolving series of haute couture while being ogled by a growing crowd of middle aged businessmen. She lastly dons a magnificent gown made of multiple layers of silk, each in a vibrant shade, which she peels away layer by layer.

Episodes and directors

Director	Italian title	English title
Luchino Visconti	"La strega bruciata viva"	"The Witch Burned Alive"
Mauro Bolognini	"Senso civico"	"Civic Sense"
Pier Paolo Pasolini	"La Terra vista dalla Luna"	"The Earth Seen from the Moon"
Franco Rossi	"La siciliana"	"The Girl from Sicily"
Vittorio De Sica	"Una serata come le altre"	"An Evening Like the Others"

Cast

Actor	Portrayed	Episode(s)
Silvana Mangano	Gloria Lady Assurda Cai Nunzia Giovanna	"The Witch Burned Alive" "Civic Sense" "The Earth Seen from the Moon" "The Girl from Sicily" "An Evening Like the Others"
Annie Girardot	Valeria	"The Witch Burned Alive"
Francisco Rabal	Valerie's Husband	"The Witch Burned Alive"
Massimo Girotti	Sportsman	"The Witch Burned Alive"
Elsa Albani	Gossip	"The Witch Burned Alive"
Alberto Sordi	"Truck Driver	"Civic Sense"
Totò	Ciancicato Miao	"The Earth Seen from the Moon"
Angelo Santi	Gordon	"An Evening Like the Others"
Piero Torrisi	Batman	"Civic Sense"
Luigi Leoni	Her Husband	"The Earth Seen from the Moon"
Marilù Tolo	Waitress	"The Witch Burned Alive"
Pietro Tordi	Father	"The Girl from Sicily"
Véronique Vendell	Young girlfriend	"The Witch Burned Alive"
Clint Eastwood	Carlone (Charlie in English dub)	"An Evening Like the Others"
Dino Mele	Waiter	"The Witch Burned Alive"
Franco Moruzzi	Sadik	"Civic Sense"
Helmut Berger	Waiter	"The Witch Burned Alive"
Laura Betti	A tourist	"The Earth Seen from the Moon"
Armando Bottin	"Nembo Kid"	"Civic Sense"
Clara Calamai	Ex-actress	"The Witch Burned Alive"
Ninetto Davoli	Baciù Miao	"The Earth Seen from the Moon"
Leslie French	Industrialist	"The Witch Burned Alive"
Gianni Gori	Diabolik	"An Evening Like the Others"
Paolo Gozlino	Mandrake	"An Evening Like the Others"
Valentino Macchi	Man in stadium	"An Evening Like the Others"

Crew

Screenwriters

Screenwriter	Episode
Giuseppe Patroni Griffi Cesare Zavattini	"The Witch Burned Alive"
Age & Scarpelli Bernardino Zapponi	"Civic Sense"
Pier Paolo Pasolini	"The Earth Seen from the Moon"
Age & Scarpelli Bernardino Zapponi	"The Girl from Sicily"
Cesare Zavattini Fabio Carpi Enzo Muzii	"An Evening Like the Others"

Other

Ennio Morricone Piero Piccioni	Composers (Music score)
Giuseppe Rotunno	Cinematographer
Alfredo de Laurentiis	Executive producer
Mario Garbuglia Piero Poletto	Art directors
Piero Tosi	Costume designer
Adriana Novelli Giorgio Serralonga Mario Serandrei Nino Baragli	Editors
Renzo Marignano	First assistant director
Goffredo Rocchetti	Makeup

Release

Le streghe was never released outside of Europe as United Artists bought the film when Clint Eastwood's career began to take off. United Artists decided not to release it in theaters but instead kept it in their library vault to prevent its viewing.

References

Bibliography

• Munn, Michael (1992). Clint Eastwood: Hollywood's Loner. London: Robson Books. ISBN 0-86051-790-X.

External links

• Card + Videoclip "Le streghe" 1967
• The Witches at AllMovie
• The Witches at IMDb