I Married a Witch (1942)

You won't be disappointed!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Those of you familiar with the films "Topper" or "Topper Takes a Trip" will recognize a commonality with the present film of ghosts or deceased ghost-like witches interacting positively or negatively with the living, readily transforming from the invisible to the visible, as well as the reverse. All these films are based upon books written by Thorne Smith: "The Passionate Witch" being the relevant book for the present film. Actually, this novel was finished by Norman Matson after Smith's early death, and not published until 1941, shortly before this film was made. Frederick March plays a series of men with the surname Wooley, beginning during the Salem witch trials, and ending with the contemporary Wooley descendant. Johnathan Wooley is a Puritan who denounced Jennifer(Veronica Lake) and her father Daniel(Cecil Kelloway) as witches and sorcerers, and had them burned at the stake. We don't get to see what they looked like before they were burned. However, Wooley said that Jennifer was uncommonly beautiful. Before being burned, Jennifer put a curse on Wolley and all his male descendants that they would marry a woman who would make them unhappy.(Daniel quips that all men marry a wrong woman, which I would disagree with). Apparently, this was true of all the Wolley descendants until the present Wallace Wooley, who is about to marry a headstrong, demanding, young woman for political reasons, although she is also beautiful. She is Estelle Masterson(Susan Hayward), daughter of an influential and wealthy man who is Wooley's most important backer in his imminent run for governor. After being burnt, the ashes of Jennifer and Daniel were buried in the soil and a tree seedling placed above, with the hope that it would thrive and help keep them entangled among it's roots.(Why were their souls assumed to reside in their bodily ashes??). This worked until one day in 1941, when lightning struck tree, splitting it so that their spirits could escape. Their souls were designated by 2 plumes of smoke. At a formal dance, they hid in 2 bottles of spirits, apparently having a taste for alcohol. They think they have found a Wooley descendant in the man present who is running for governor. They decide to try to make Wooley unhappy by convincing him to marry Jennifer: a witch. They will have to work very fast, as Wooley is scheduled to marry Estelle the next day.Skipping ahead in my summary, Jennifer finally convinces Wooley that she loves him and he loves her more than the volatile Estelle. She convinces him to marry her that night, as they are motoring out in the country and come across a bed and breakfast run by a justice of the peace(as luck would have it!). In their bedroom, Jennifer reveals that she is a witch, which Wolley doesn't believe at first. Meanwhile, a drunk Daniel has figured out how to exit his jail cell. His spirit finds Jennifer and says he will take away her sorceress powers , because her heart is too full of human love and kindness to continue being a witch(Why couldn't she be a 'white witch'??). Daniel, Wooley and Jennifer drive to the oak they were imprisoned in, and crash land ,after an aerial drive. Strangely, none is hurt. However, Daniel calls Jennifer's spirit to abandon her body, saying that Wooley's punishment will be the imminent loss of Jennifer, who is no longer a witch. Before Daniel can nudge her back into the tree, her spirit reenters her body and brings it back to life, she saying that "Love is stronger than witchcraft" Daniel is trapped inside a bottle of spirits, and kept on a shelf for the future. Meanwhile, Jennifer and Wooley live a happy life, with several children. To me, this film is more interesting than "Topper". Partly, this is because of the additional interesting factor of witchcraft, along with ghosts that can change back and forth between the visible and invisible. Partly, it's because of the looks and film personality of Veronica Lake. Surely, her long blond hair, sexily arranged mostly over one side of her head is a significant part of her appeal. But, also her manner of speaking and coquettish personality are important. On the other hand, Frederic March, as Wooley, was poorly cast. He came across as too straight-laced, which even a Veronica would have difficulty loosening up. The girls were left to mostly carry the film. Also, March was 45 and looked early middle-aged. Veronica, at 20, seemed too young for him . Actually, I thought Susan(Estelle) had more potential as a politician's partner, but maybe that was just because she was older. It would have been nice if Bing Crosby or Bob Hope, also at Paramount, could have taken the role of Wooley. Cecil Kellaway was good, as Daniel.

Put this on looking for a cute, fun 40's flick, and eh? It's got some cute touches here and there, but the movie itself is weirdly scattershot, bringing up plot devices and abandoning them almost immediately for no apparent reason. At one point the witch dad uses his magic to frame the main guy for murder, which his friend immediately witnesses, then within 5 minutes the entire thing is fully resolved with no impact on the movie whatsoever.Stuff will just happen. The witch will cast a spell and it'll backfire, but then she'll be perfectly fine a scene later. The witch dad will get drunk from staying inside of a bottle, and then be like permanently drunk for two straight days until he's not. Good guys turn into bad guys then are immediately turned back to good guys.I think the other thing that bugged me was how much of this movie is devoted to the main guy resisting the premise of the movie, refusing the believe witches are a thing over and over while the witch throws herself at him to be rebutted again and again, in mirror scenes stacked next to each other. Ugh. Just get on with it!Yeah, not one of my favorites.

I happened to watch two films close together in which I learned that the lead actors did not get along while filming, "I Married a Witch" and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Both could be used as examples of what happens when movies with otherwise decent ingredients are hampered by a lack of chemistry between their actors.Of the two, "I Married a Witch" fares much better. It's a cute but pretty forgettable little comedy about a modern-day descendant (Fredric March) of a family patriarch who was cursed by a witch way back when and condemned to a legacy of bad marriages. March is scheduled to marry rich girl Susan Hayward but doesn't really want to. Luckily for him, a slinky little witch played by Veronica Lake reappears after an absence of a couple of hundred years to make mischief, notably by making March fall in love with her instead. Unluckily for him, the witch's father (Cecil Kellaway) also comes along and gets up to much meaner hijinks (like setting skyscrapers on fire), which include interfering when his daughter starts to develop feelings of her own for the man she's bewitched.Much is likable about the film, but little sparkles. Lake wasn't a great actress, but she could be quite winning and fetching under the right direction. Here she's allowed to be too languid, and what I think was supposed to pass for alluring comes off instead as a bit lifeless. March is good -- he was one of those rare actors who seemed as at home in comedies as dramas -- but the movie around him doesn't allow him much room to build a memorable performance. There isn't really anything egregiously wrong with "I Married a Witch," but there isn't anything to make me whole-heartedly recommend it either.Roy Webb received an Oscar nomination for Best Dramatic or Comedy Score back in the days when the average year found 15 to 20 titles nominated for that particular award.Grade: B

We are shown various bits of history of the Wooley family through the ages. A twenty year old Veronica Lake is "Jennifer", who had put a curse on the Wooley family for all time. March is Wallace Wooley, the latest member of the family, who stops to save someone from a burning building. He meets "Jennifer"... the ghost. Some fun co-stars helping out - the low key Robert Benchley, Susan Hayward (will go on to win an Oscar 15 years later), and Jennifer's father ( Cecil Kellaway, from Postman...) There is a scene where Jennifer gets out of Wooley's bed as the housekeeper walks in, and the housekeeper is shocked - pretty rough stuff for 1942. All Wallace says is "I'll explain later." The pace of this is a little off; the basic story is good, but the acting and rapport between the actors is quite stilted. A couple demerits for that. Directed by Rene Clair, who, according to wikipedia, had worked in France, England, and then Hollywood. Story by Thorne Smith, who had also written the hugely successful "Topper". He seemed to be adept at working ghosts who speak with the living into his stories. In this one, everyone can see the ghost as she goes around causing trouble.