Believing Betty and Ruth to be demonically possessed, Parris and the Putnams call Reverend John Hale from nearby Beverly to examine Betty.

Giles Corey, who suspects that the children are just acting out, and John Proctor, with whom Abigail had an affair, visit the Parris household. When Abigail's uncle, Reverend Samuel Parris, discovers them, the girls run away, but his daughter Betty collapses unconscious.īetty will not awaken, nor will Thomas and Ann Putnam's daughter Ruth, who was also conjuring. Abigail Williams kills a chicken and drinks its blood, wishing for John Proctor's wife Elizabeth to die. In Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, a group of village girls meet in the woods with slave Tituba, attempting to conjure love spells. Arthur Miller received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. At the 54th Golden Globe Awards, Scofield and Allen were nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively, while Allen received a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the 69th Academy Awards, and Scofield won Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 50th British Academy Film Awards. The film was screened at the 47th Berlin International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Bear. Set during the Salem witch trials, the film chronicles a group of teenage girls who, after getting caught conjuring love spells in the woods, are forced to lie that Satan had 'invaded' them, and subsequently accuse several innocent people of witchcraft.ĭespite underperforming commercially, grossing only $7 million on a $25 million budget, the film received positive reviews, with Day-Lewis, Ryder, Scofield, and Allen earning widespread acclaim for their performances. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor, Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams, Paul Scofield as Judge Thomas Danforth, Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor and Bruce Davison as Reverend Samuel Parris. The Crucible is a 1996 American historical drama film directed by Nicholas Hytner and written by Arthur Miller, based on his 1953 play of the same title.

The crucible miller