It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Arthur Miller's knockout play The Crucible was published in 1952, so it always struck me as odd that we didn't get a film version until 1996- after the Cold War ended. It's been a decade since I saw the 1996 adaptation, and I wasn't impressed by it. I don't totally remember why, but I thought it was a mistake to actually show the girls engaged in witchcraft-like activities and thought the ending was a bit abrupt, cutting off Proctor's prayer on the gallows. But as it turns out, it actually wasn't the original film version. The first was a French movie from 1957- The Crucible, or The Witches of Salem.I did like this version better. Although it too shows the girls engaged in witch-like activities (indeed, in this version Abigail appears to be a bona fide witch), it seems slightly more restrained. All of the subject matter involving the supernatural and the political made this movie intriguing and compelling to me. After watching 15 minutes or so, I knew I wanted more. The 1957 film definitely borrows from Miller's play but in a way it is its own take on the Salem witch trials of 1692. It manages to get its point across adequately. It does strike me as odd that the French and Germans would take interest in a witch case from America when Europe had many brutal witch hunts of its own- but setting the story in Salem is true to Miller's story which is the obvious inspiration.

Notable left wing sympathizers Yves Montand and Simone Signoret read Arthur Miller's The Crucible in bed nightly and determined to play it in France, which they did on the Paris stage and a little later on film. Roulou directed some 23 mostly undistinguished films - though he fared better as an actor - and he makes little or no attempt to be cinematic, allowing in the main the text to do its work. At the time - mid/late 50s - Montand was still far better known as an outstanding singer both in concert and on record despite his fine performance in Clouzot's Le Salaire de la peur, whilst his wife, Signoret was well established as one of the finest French actresses of her generation yet the viewer is unaware that they are anything other than two fine actresses interpreting a fine script. This is one that tends to get lost in the shuffle and is unfairly neglected.

Everybody knows Arthur Miller's "the crucible" ;few people outside France know that,long before the excellent version starring Daniel Day-Lewis,the play was filmed in France.One should note that it was first performed on stage ,featuring roughly the same actors,directed by Raymond Rouleau ,a man who was primarily a theatre man (and also a good actor :"Falbalas" "L'Assassinat du Père Noel") So "Les Sorcières de Salem " was the French title (= Salem Witches).Critics were divided on the Montand /Signoret's performance;historian Jean Tulard goes as far as to write that it was their fault if the film was not successful.But Jean Tulard is a right-wing writer whereas Signoret and Montand were at this time securely under the influence of communism.This film was for them a political gesture.But Miller's play was so strong it survived the dated events it actually depicted (McCarthyism).It has become the symbol of personal freedom,freedom of thought.Informing and signing papers abound along the drama and could not fool the audience about what Miller was actually saying.Yves Montand's performance was somewhat dwarfed by Day-Lewis ' sensational portrayal of Proctor.But on the other hand,Mylene Demongeot is dazzlingly talented as Abigail .Sensual,maleficent,she steals every scene she is in;she should have become one of the greatest French actresses but it was not to be :she got lost in mediocrities such as OSS 117 or Fantomas.Too bad .As the precedent user has pointed out,Rouleau's directing was influenced by Dreyer and particularly "Dies Irae".Rouleau plays the part of judge Danforth.

This great movie does not receive the recognition it deserves and unfortunately, does not yet have a dvd version in order to reach a greater audience. The performances by both Yves Montand and Simone Signoret are memorable and Sartre's screenplay adds a tone which is darker and deprived of hope to Arthur Miller's play. It explores the theme very well and I'd certainly have it my collection with Dreyer's "Day of Wrath", another masterpiece.