'Here's one the censor will want to cut', Marylebone Mercury, 12 December 1969

Marylebone Mercury, Friday 12 December 1969, page 44, in the West London Film Guide. The paper's 'Private View' columnist saw Malcolm Leigh's Legend of the Witches at a special preview, before it had gone to the Board of Film Censors, and met Alex and Maxine Sanders afterwards. The 87-minute documentary used the Sanders' coven, and the writer calls it honest and sympathetic, 'with not a hint of sensationalism', while predicting the censor will cut its full frontal nudity. Alex is described as small and wiry with a Manchester accent, Maxine as tall and beautiful, an ex-Catholic who says witchcraft draws many Catholics. The couple live in Notting Hill Gate, near a shop displaying King of the Witches, and keep a country cottage 90 miles away. Printed with two stills from the film. How to cite: 'Here's one the censor will want to cut', Marylebone Mercury, 12 December 1969, p. 44. Alexandrian Witchcraft Timeline & Archive.

West London Film Guide [1st photo] ABOVE: The coven dances round the fire as part of the initiation ceremony MM54 Here’s one the censor will want to cut PRIVATE VIEW WHAT MIGHT be called the “stars” of a new film live, I discover, in Notting Hill Gate. Nothing surprising in that, you think. Except that the film is Legend of the Witches and the stars are the King of the Witches and the High Priestess, Mr. and Mrs. Alex Sanders. I'm not at liberty to disclose their exact address, but it isn’t much more than a book’s-throw from a shop which now displays Alex’s biography, King of the Witches. Yes, they assured me, they have a country cottage 90 miles away. I saw Legend of the Witches at a special preview last week and met Alex and his lovely wife Maxine afterwards. The film, an 87-minute long documentary which used the Sanders’ coven, was made by a new, young film director, Malcolm Leigh. It’s very honest, sympathetically made, with not a hint of sensationalism. I fear that such honesty, which includes full frontal nude shots of witches - men and women - during initiation and other ceremonies, will be somewhat lost if or when the censor gets at it. When I saw it, it had not been presented to the Board of Film Censors. INTENSITY I found Alex and Maxine gentle and softly-spoken. Alex is a small, wiry man emanating a quiet personality through an intensity that a Manchester accent almost belies. Maxine is tall beautiful and speaks naturally about her witchcraft. To say that they do not conform to the stereotype of a witch would be banal and quite laughable. Having met other witches, I can only see a common fervour that all religions demand, yet a much more restrained and deliberately non-proselytising fervour; though Maxine is an ex-Catholic and told me that witchcraft does attract many Catholics because of the mystery and the ritual. Alex himself is a hereditary witch, having been initiated at the age of seven by his grandmother - without even the knowledge of his parents. Where the film does succeed is in not shirking the sexual side of witchcraft. The eroticism is accepted: in fact the last sequence, showing the ceremony of “scrying”, is a blatantly erotic scene with whirling discs, flashing lights and sitar music creating a very modern freak-out environment. Witchcraft, certainly, is adaptable. What’s going to happen to Legend of the Witches I don’t know. I can’t see it getting a certificate as it stands, and cut it won’t have much impact. It’s a pity, because it doesn’t try to be anything but a reasonably gripping, truthful attempt to get to the heart of witchcraft. After so much nauseating Sunday sensationalism, it’s truly refreshing to see a group of witches look so very human, sincere and unselfconsciously doing their thing. There are some very poetic moments, and some quite lyrical photography to match the evocative narration. One fears, however, that its fate will be to end up as a supporting feature to a sex movie, bowdlerised and sad. BELOW: The fire has an almost hypnotic effect, creating trance states. MM55 [2nd photo]