I Married a Witch

I Married a Witch is a 1942 American romantic comedy fantasy film, directed by René Clair, and starring Veronica Lake as a witch whose plan for revenge goes comically awry, with Fredric March as her foil. The film also features Robert Benchley, Susan Hayward and Cecil Kellaway. The screenplay by Robert Pirosh and Marc Connelly and uncredited other writers, including Dalton Trumbo, is based on the 1941 novel The Passionate Witch by Thorne Smith, who died before he could finish it; it was completed by Norman H. Matson.

Plot
Two witches in colonial Salem, the witch Jennifer and her father the warlock Daniel, are burned at the stake after being denounced by Puritan Jonathan Wooley. Their ashes are buried beneath a tree to imprison their evil spirits. In revenge, Jennifer curses Wooley and his male descendants, dooming them always to marry the wrong woman.

Centuries pass. Generation after generation, Wooley men marry cruel, shrewish women. Finally, in 1942, lightning splits the tree, freeing the spirits of Jennifer and Daniel. They discover Wallace Wooley, living nearby and running for governor, on the eve of marrying the spoiled Estelle Masterson, daughter of newspaper publisher J.B. Masterson, who just so happens to be Wooley's chief political backer.

Initially, Jennifer and Daniel manifest as white vertical smoky "trails," occasionally hiding in empty, or sometimes not-so-empty, bottles, some of which are of alcohol. Jennifer persuades Daniel to conjure a human body for her with which to torment Wallace. Daniel needs fire to perform this spell, and so he burns down the Pilgrim Hotel. This serves a dual purpose, as Jennifer uses the emergency to trap Wallace into rescuing her from the burning building.

Jennifer tries hard to seduce Wallace without magic. Even though he is attracted to her, he refuses to call off his marriage. Jennifer concocts a love potion, but the scheme goes awry when a painting falls on her, knocking her out. Wallace revives her by giving her the very drink she had intended for him.

Daniel conjures himself a body, then he and Jennifer crash the wedding, though they are at cross purposes. Daniel hates all Wooleys and tries to prevent his daughter from helping one of them. His attempts at interference land him in jail, too drunk to remember the spell to turn Wallace into a frog. Meanwhile, bride-to-be Estelle finds the couple embracing and the wedding is called off. Outraged, Estelle's father J.B. promises to denounce Wallace Wooley in all his newspapers. Wallace finally admits he loves Jennifer, and they elope.

Jennifer then casts a spell on all the voters and ballots using witchcraft to fix the election - even Wallace's opponent ends up voting for Wallace, and the vote is unanimous. The election's outcome convinces Wallace his new wife is indeed a witch. Daniel warns his daughter that she must be punished for revealing her true nature to a mortal, and takes away her magical powers.

In a panic, Jennifer interrupts Wallace's victory speech, imploring him to help her escape. Unfortunately, the taxi they get in to get away is driven by Daniel. He takes the taxi airborne only to crash it into the original tree from the beginning of the story. At the stroke of midnight, Wallace is left with Jennifer's lifeless body, while two plumes of smoke watch. Before they return to the tree, Jennifer asks to watch Wallace's torment. While Daniel gloats, Jennifer reclaims her body, explaining to Wallace, "Love is stronger than witchcraft." She quickly puts the cork into the bottle of liquor her father is hiding in, keeping him drunk and powerless.

Years later, Wallace and Jennifer have children. The housekeeper enters to complain about their youngest daughter, who enters pretending to ride a broom, to which Jennifer comments "We're going to have trouble with that one."

Cast

 * Fredric March as Jonathan Wooley, Nathaniel Wooley, Samuel Wooley, and principally Wallace Wooley
 * Veronica Lake as Jennifer Wooley
 * Cecil Kellaway as Daniel
 * Susan Hayward as Estelle Masterson
 * Robert Benchley as Dr. Dudley White, Wooley's friend
 * Elizabeth Patterson as Margaret, Wooley's housekeeper
 * Eily Malyon as Tabitha Wooley
 * Robert Warwick as J.B. Masterson
 * Mary Field as Nancy Wooley
 * Nora Cecil as Harriet Wooley
 * Ann Carter as Jennifer Wooley
 * Aldrich Bowker as Justice of the Peace
 * Wade Boteler as Policeman (uncredited)
 * Robert Homans as Fire Chief (uncredited)

Cast notes:
 * Preston Sturges served as producer on this film, until he left due to artistic differences with the director, and some regular members of his unofficial "stock company" of character actors appear in it, including Al Bridge, Chester Conklin, Florence Gill, Bess Flowers, Robert Greig, Esther Howard, Charles R. Moore, and Emory Parnell.

Production
The novel upon which the film is based was mainly written by Thorne Smith, who died in 1934. His papers included an unfinished novel entitled The Passionate Witch. Then three-quarters complete, its resolution was written by his friend Norman Matson and was published in July 1941. The book became a best seller.

I Married a Witch was produced by Paramount Pictures, and had the working title of He Married a Witch. Director René Clair was looking for a new project after his first American film, The Flame of New Orleans (1941). His agent sent him a copy of The Passionate Witch. Clair took it to Preston Sturges, then in favor at Paramount, who convinced Clair and the studio that it would be a good vehicle for Veronica Lake, with Sturges as producer. Paramount bought the film rights in October 1941. Dalton Trumbo was signed to write the script.

Robert Pirosh was called in to work on the script with Trumbo. Trumbo left the project after clashing with Sturges. Sturges himself left the film before it was completed due to artistic differences with director René Clair, and did not want to receive a screen credit. Clair, who also contributed to the dialogue, apparently worked closely with writer Robert Pirosh.

Joel McCrea was originally announced to play the male lead in December 1941. However, by February in 1942, he withdrew from the project; he later said this was because he did not want to work with Veronica Lake again, after not getting along with her on Sullivan's Travels. McCrea's refusal to make the film caused production to be postponed. This enabled Lake to appear in The Glass Key (1942).

March and Lake also had problems, beginning with March's pre-production comment that Lake was "a brainless little blonde sexpot, void of any acting ability", to which Lake retaliated by calling March a "pompous poseur". Things did not get much better during filming. Lake was prone to playing practical jokes on March, like hiding a 40-pound weight under her dress for a scene in which March had to carry her, or pushing her foot repeatedly into his groin during the filming of a from-the-waist-up shot. Patricia Morison was considered for the role of Estelle, and Walter Abel for Dudley. Margaret Hayes was considered for the film as well, and was screentested.

Release
The film was one of a number of films sold by Paramount to United Artists in September of 1942, when UA did not have enough films to meet its commitments and Paramount had a surplus. It was released by UA on October 30 that year.

At the time of the film's release, a film critic from The Chicago Tribune wrote, "I Married a Witch is bizarre but beguiling. Under Rene Clair's delicately preposterous direction it unreels a story of modern witchcraft, the like of which has not been seen on any screen." The reviewer also called Veronica Lake's performance "delightfully outrageous and very funny."

Diabolique agreed, eight decades later. "This is wickedly funny, an absolute delight – due greatly to Lake who was never more alluring, strutting around in men’s pajamas, casting spells, chasing after March and causing devilry. This was her only fantasy movie and it beggars belief that Paramount never tried her again in that genre – she had a vaguely ‘otherworld’ appearance (that hair, that voice) perfect for it."

The movie was released on VHS by Warner Home Video in the U.S. on July 18, 1990. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection in the U.S. on October 8, 2013.

Awards and honors
I Married a Witch was nominated for a 1943 Academy Award for "Best Music (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)" for composer Roy Webb.