I Married a Witch (1942) - film review

In a New England state of the 1690s, a landowner named Wooley condemns a young woman and her father to be burnt for witchcraft.  Their remains are buried beneath an oak tree to put an end to their sorcery.  At the last moment, the witch, Jennifer, casts a spell on Wooley: he and each of his male descendants will marry the wrong woman.  The spell takes effect, and over the next 250 years, the Wooley descendants fail in matrimony.   The latest in the line is Wallace Wooley, who is running for the office of governor in state elections, and who is about to marry Estelle Masterson, the daughter of a newspaper magnate.  During a storm, the oak tree imprisoning Jennifer and her father is burnt down and their evil spirits are set free. Jennifer decides to ruin Wooley’s marriage plans by creating a body for herself and getting him to fall in love with her.  The scheme does not go according to plan...

During his self-imposed exile from his native France during World War II, René Clair found a new lease of life in Hollywood.  Although not all of the films he made during this period can be described as cinematic triumphs, a few have some merit, and one in particular proved to be enormously successful and is widely regarded as a classic.  This film is I Married a Witch, a cosy mix of comedy and fantasy which was so good that it inspired a popular television situation comedy, "Bewitched".

The special effects and quality of the script writing are impressive for a film of this period, but it is the pairing of Veronica Lake with Fredric March which makes the film so special.  Lake is both visually stunning (it is not hard to see why she is often referred to as the pre-WWII Marilyn Monroe) and a very capable actress, and she manages to rise above the film noir roles for which she was best known at the time.  Her character, Jennifer, is as malevolent as she is bewitching, a perfect complement to March’s no-nonsense Wally Wolley.  There is also an impressive appearance from Susan Hayward who plays the strong-headed bruised bride Estelle Masterson, the first in a series of second roles that soon led her to stardom.

Although the comedy is a little strained in places, the quality of the acting and Clair’s playful direction keeps the film moving at a fair pace.  Most of the pleasure of the film lies in its unpredictability, which stems from an original plot and Lake’s exuberant performance.

© James Travers 2001

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