Grand High Witch - The Film

The Film

In the film version of the novel, the Grand High Witch (played by Anjelica Huston) is arguably more terrifying and fearsome than her counterpart in the novel. In the film, she appears as "Eva Ernst," a tall, attractive woman of breeding with a snide indifference and a scathing wit, whereas in the novel she is very petite with soft demure features. It is implied that she is originally from Germany; she speaks with a marked German accent. Also in the film, her true appearance is considerably more monstrous. She has a bald, blistered scalp, a long pointed nose and elongated claws. She is also a hunchback. She has a very short temper and strikes terror into the hearts of her minions. During the climax of the film, after the hero (named 'Luke') has been turned into a mouse and poured a bottle of her magic formula into the soup that the witches are having for their celebratory banquet, the witches begin to transform into mice, spreading chaos throughout the dining room. The Grand High Witch turns into a hideously deformed, snarling mouse and is insulted and condemned by Luke and his grandmother as her evil is coming to an end. As in the novel, The Grand High Witch is finally destroyed when the hotel manager slices her in two with a meat cleaver.

In the film, it is strongly hinted that the Grand High Witch knew the hero's grandmother - called 'Helga' in the film - years ago (although in the beginning of the film, Helga claims that in her youth she searched the globe for the Grand High Witch, but never found her). The grandmother is missing a pinky-finger from one of her hands and becomes very tense when this injury is mentioned. No explanation is given, but when the Grand High Witch encounters Helga, she refers to her as "an old adversary". In the final confrontation, as the Grand High Witch vows that "next time" things will be different, Helga replies, "No, not next time. This time, it's your turn!"

The Grand High Witch employs a secretary in the film, a witch named Miss Irvine. Yet Miss Irvine reveals, after having had enough of the Grand High Witch's appalling mistreatment of her, she "didn't want to be one of them anyway". Perhaps because of this attitude, Miss Irvine does not fear the Grand High Witch as much as the other witches do, if she fears her at all. She is openly sardonic and rebellious to her employer's face. It is subtly hinted that at bottom, she is good, and may try and help the children who become victims of the witches, as she restores Luke and his friend Bruno to their human form at the end of the film.

After restoring Luke to his human form, Miss Irvine gleefully shows him her hands, which have changed from clawed to human as a result of her renouncing evil.