Magical beings on the silver screen take audiences on a journey into worlds that only exist in their imagination. They fly, cast spells, play tricks, and blur the line between the real and the fantastic. For many years Hollywood treated witchcraft and magic as mostly bad things, but over time some supernatural powers have earned a better reputation.
On this edition of Movies on the Radio, host Frank Stasio talks with film experts Marsha Gordon and Laura Boyes about the lasting legacy of witches, wizards and warlocks in the movies. They discuss how portrayals of religion, gender, and beauty have evolved in these films over time. They also break down listeners’ top picks just in time for Halloween. Boyes is the film curator at the North Carolina Museum of Art and Gordon is a film professor at North Carolina State University.
Here are a few of our favorite movies featuring Witches, Wizards and Warlocks:
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
The Worst Witch (1986)
The Craft (1996)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2001)