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Movies On The Radio: Witches, Wizards, And Warlocks

WUNC | By Laura Pellicer,
Frank Stasio
Published October 25, 2017 at 12:48 PM EDT
The Wicked Witch of the West watches her crystal ball and plots to get the Ruby Slippers. Wizard of Oz, 1939
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The Wicked Witch of the West watches her crystal ball and plots to get the Ruby Slippers. Wizard of Oz, 1939

Host Frank Stasio talks about witches, warlocks and wizzards with film professor Marsha Gordon and film curator Laura Boyes on this month's edition of Movies on the Radio.

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)

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio
Laura Pellicer
Laura Pellicer is a producer with The State of Things (hyperlink), a show that explores North Carolina through conversation. Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, a city she considers arrestingly beautiful, if not a little dysfunctional. She worked as a researcher for CBC Montreal and also contributed to their programming as an investigative journalist, social media reporter, and special projects planner. Her work has been nominated for two Canadian RTDNA Awards. Laura loves looking into how cities work, pursuing stories about indigenous rights, and finding fresh voices to share with listeners. Laura is enamored with her new home in North Carolina—notably the lush forests, and the waves where she plans on moonlighting as a mediocre surfer.
See stories by Laura Pellicer
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio