I Married a Witch
Directed by René Clair
Written by Robert Pirosh and Marc Connelly from a story by Thorne Smith
1942/USA
René Clair Productions/Cinema Guild Productions/Paramount Pictures
First viewing/Hulu Plus
[box] J.B. Masterson: Will you try to be a little more pleasant, at least until after the wedding?[/box]
Veronica Lake is more animated than usual in this Hollywood fantasy-romance from French emigree René Clair.
In the 17th Century, Puritan Jonathan Wooley (played by Fredric March in all his incarnations) denounces a girl and her father as a witch and sorcerer. Before being burned at the stake, the daughter Jennifer curses Jonathan and his descendants to suffer from bad marriages. The bodies are buried under an oak tree where the roots hold their spirits fast for 270 years. The curse is effective though and we see succeeding generations of Wooleys plagued by marriages to shrews.
Finally, the spirits escape and are incarnated into the bodies of Cecil Kellaway and Veronica Lake. The father, Daniel, is a thoroughly malevolent character who delights on setting buildings on fire etc. Jennifer is still fixated on getting revenge on the latest iteration of Wooley, Wallace. She begins the attack at a pre-wedding party for Wallace, now running for governor, and his horrible fiance Estelle (Susan Hayward).
After thoroughly mucking up the celebration, Dad suggests that Jennifer torture Wallace by making him fall in love with her. She concocts a portion for the purpose but accidently winds up drinking it herself. The rest of the story consists of her comical attempts to “help” Wallace and Dad’s efforts to foil her plans. With Robert Benchley as Wallace’s friend.
I enjoyed this one for what it was after having looked forward to seeing it for years. My reaction may have been tempered by my expectations. Not bad, though and Kellaway is absolutely delightful.
Legend has it that Lake was so mean to March on set that he took to referring to the film as “I Married a Bitch.” None of this discord appears on the screen. Producer Preston Sturges had wanted to reprise Lake’s pairing with Joel McCrea in this film but McCrea refused to work with her again. Poor Veronica, what a career she might have had if modern psych meds had been available!
Roy Webb was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
Joe Dante on I Married a Witch – Trailers from Hell
Poor, poor Veronica. Love the poster!
It was a shame really. I loved her in So Proudly We Hail, which I am looking forward to getting to for 1943.
As I recall, she was excellent in “So Proudly We Hail.” Was she eventually diagnosed? I don’t know anything about her personal life.
If we can believe a Wikipedia cite to an article about Edith Head, Lake’s mother said she was diagnosed as a schizophrenic. Mulitple sources refer to her as an alcoholic. She ended up tending bar in New York and died at age 50 of hepatitis and kidney disease, again per Wikipedia. There’s a biography on her I would be interested in reading sometime.
I recalled the problem with alcohol and the cause of her death. Sounds like the problems were deep and early.
I just revisted I MARRIED A WITCH, found it a bit forced, but am glad I watched it. Spending time with Fredrich March is always a pleasure. And Susan Hayward was pretty good as the bitchy, frustrated bride to be!
I was disappointed in I MARRIED A WITCH, which I was really looking forward to at the time.
I agree the film doesn’t reach its potential, especially given the amount of talent involved.