The original play:
- Creator Backlash: Arthur Miller himself felt the initial production was too stylized and cold.
- Denied Parody: The play is commonly interpreted as an anvilicious commentary on a contemporary legal scare. In this case, it was McCarthyism, though Arthur Miller denied it at the time. Part of the confusion also may come from a German play Wahn oder der Teufel in Boston (Delusion, or The Devil in Boston), which was written as a direct allegory, using the Salem Witch Trials six years previously.
- Reality Subtext: It's been suggested that Abigail being given an Age Lift so she and John Proctor could have an affair parallels Arthur Miller's own adulterous relationship with Marilyn Monroe - although Marilyn herself was also married and significantly older than Abigail's 17.
- Write What You Know: Though based on historical events, Arthur Miller altered some events to more strongly parallel his own experience during the McCarthy era. In particular, Abigail Williams was only 12. Miller made her older so that she could have had a sexual relationship with John Proctor. This paralleled Miller's own adulterous relationship with Marilyn Monroe.
- Working Title: Those Familiar Spirits.
The 1996 adaptation:
- Acclaimed Flop: Made just a pitiful $7 million at the box office, but was well-received and got two Oscar nominations.
- Box Office Bomb: Budget: $25,000,000. Box office: $7,340,103.
- Completely Different Title:
- Argentina and Mexico: The Witches of Salem
- Brazil and Portugal: The Salem Witches
- Bulgaria: Witch Hunting
- France: Witch Hunt
- Italy: The Seduction of Evil
- Taiwan: Age of Passion
- Turkey: Witch Cauldron
- Dawson Casting: Abigail is seventeen in the original play. Winona Ryder was twenty-five.
- Fake American: Anglo-Irish Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor. Although he affects a mid-Atlantic accent to reflect that the American dialect would not technically exist yet.
- Method Acting: As expected with Daniel Day-Lewis. He didn't bathe or shower during production in order to stay in character. He also built the house he lived in as John Proctor.
- Playing Against Type: While she was no stranger to playing Innocence Lost characters such as Bram Stoker's Dracula, Heathers and The Age of Innocence, Winona Ryder ultimately played heroic or sympathetic roles - so it is very different to see her playing someone as evil as Abigail. She herself called it one of her most challenging roles.
- Real Life Writes the Hairstyle: Winona Ryder had short hair at that point, so she is wearing a wig in this film.
- Romance on the Set: Daniel Day-Lewis met Rebecca Miller on the set, and they eventually married.
- Self-Adaptation: Arthur Miller adapted his own play.
- What Could Have Been:
- Kenneth Branagh was originally slated to direct.
- Kirsten Dunst auditioned for Abigail and impressed everyone. She was brought back for several call backs and a screen test, but was ultimately deemed too young for the role. Drew Barrymore and Sarah Michelle Gellar also auditioned, while Jennifer Love Hewitt and Kate Winslet were considered.
- Melanie Lynskey claimed she auditioned for a part and got as far as having a reading with Daniel Day Lewis, but wasn't cast. Which part is unknown, but she said it wasn't for Abigail.
- Emma Thompson was originally slated to play Elizabeth Proctor.
