which Samantha would manifest her
magic," Saks recalls, "and Elizabeth
developed the famous `witch twitch'
of the nose.
"And she became pregnant before
the first season on ABC, so we had
to use close-up shots and stand-ins
to hide her pregnancy — especially
since the first show featured
Samantha's honeymoon, in which
she reveals to Darrin that she's a
witch."
Regardless of the quantity of writ-
ing Saks contributed to Bewitched
— "which wasn't much after the
first show," he admits — his name
appeared on the credits of every
episode, and now in the movie cred-
its as well.
Saks let five other writers pen the
remaining 254 episodes of the TV
series. He did write some screen-
plays, including a Cary Grant come-
dy, plus a book, Funny Business: The
Craft of Comedy Writing (Writers
Digest, hardcover; Lone Eagle
Publishing, paperback).

The Film Version

Last year, Saks finally sold his
Bewitched rights to the Sony Corp.,
which owns Columbia Pictures,
makers of the Bewitched movie.
He rates the film's story as "OK"
but praises Columbia for flying him
to New York for the premiere and
"treating me like royalty — first
class all the way."
The movie, produced by Douglas
Wick, Lucy Fisher and Penny
Marshall, is a romantic comedy with
sort of a convoluted plot.
Farrell, who shows off some of his
zany Saturday Night Live TV talents,

plays a smart-aleck actor making a
new movie, derived from the
Bewitched series, who is seeking a
new starlet to be Samantha. The
person selected (Kidman) just hap-
pens to really be a witch. Black-and-
white film clips of the old TV show
are interspersed. MacLaine and
Caine have delightful supporting
roles as Samantha's parents.
Kidman looks better than ever in
the Samantha role and bears a
strong resemblance to the late
Elizabeth Montgomery. One of her
friends is played by musical star
Kristen Chenoweth, who has
"witch" credentials of her own. She
originated the role of the good
witch Glinda in the Broadway hit

Wicked.

Still Writing

Saks, a widower with two adopted
children, is proud of the fact that
his granddaughter has "reverted
back to her Jewish roots and is very
observant; she benches licht, fasts on
Yom Kippur, does everything to
maintain the Jewish traditions," he
says.
Saks spends a lot of time writing
essays, newspaper articles and short
stories. "But they never get pub-
lished," he laughs. "I mainly write
for my own gratification and amuse-
ment." ❑

Bewitched rated PG-13, is playing
in area theaters. In connection
with the movie, Columbia-TriStar
has released the DVD Bewitched:
The Complete First Season ($39.98).

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Elizabeth Montgomery starred
in the original television series.

Nicole Kidman stars in the film version
of "Bewitched"

248.351.5174

6/30

2005

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