The Crucible is an adaptation of American playwright Arthur Miller’s work of the same name. The plot focuses on the hysteria and questionable trials surrounding the witch scare in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Arthur Miller used the historical event as an allegory for McCarthyism in the 1950s, with falsely accused witches representing the falsely accused Communists (as it turns out, intercepted Soviet correspondence and the opening of more material in Russian archives has proved that most of these people were indeed Communists or in league with them, but that’s not the focus on this review).
Arthur Miller actually wrote the adapted screenplay, making some changes here and there (whether of his own accord or the director's I don't know). Of course, the movie allows the actual recreation of the old Puritan town of Salem, though this is still very much an actor-driven dialogue affair. The movie starts Reverend Samuel Parris (Bruce Davison) coming upon his niece Abigail Williams (Wynona Ryder) and the other town girls performing an African ritual with the help of slave woman Tituba. Desperate not to be convicted of witchcraft, Abigail (with a lot of help from the other girls) desperately put all the blame on Tituba, then start accusing other citizens, mostly older women, of having interactions with the Devil.
