Film review: I Married a Witch (1942)

 

Every six months or so, Criterion has a flash sale where all their movies are 50% off.  This is heralded for weeks by excited posts on the subreddit /r/criterion, and followed by endless posts of photos of people's "hauls."  Well, I'm as much as a sucker for the principle "spend to save" as anyone, and my haul this time (half of which became presents for Jami's birthday, which was yesterday) included this film, which I managed not to watch the entire time we had the Criterion Channel, despite considering it several times (Preston Sturges worked on it!). So now we own it.  The main reason I came around to being intrigued is that it was the most successful of René "A Nous La Liberté" Clair's American films.  And it has his fingerprints on it, in its notably French attitude (occasionally shocking in a 1940s Hollywood film) and visual inventiveness (including some quite impressive (again, for the times) special effects).  I have to say that it hasn't vaulted to the top of my favorite Screwball comedies (and probably we don't need to own it) but its positives certainly outweigh any negatives.

Its main claim to fame is probably its female star, Veronica Lake.  The only other film I know her for is Sullivan's Travels (which came out the previous year) so maybe she was brought on board by Sturges, but I must say I don't see her appeal.  We are clearly meant to understand that she is drop dead gorgeous and... she just isn't.  She's got a surprisingly low and sultry voice given how tiny she is, but has very angular features, and her trademark hair (crimped, falling across her face) does nothing for me.  

On top of this she's not exactly a great actress.  As I understand, she's a sort of proto-Marilyn Monroe, both in her poverty-stricken backstory, apparently difficulty on set, and sad ending.

The film starts with Fredric March (in an absurd blond wig) playing his main character's Puritan ancestor, Jonathan Wooley, who is attending a witch (and wizard) burning that he has occasioned by identifying the witch.  

(This is a festive occasion for the townsfolk, with a vendor circulating with little cones of "popped maize".)  His mother notices that he has a distracted look and he reveals that the witch appeared to him the night before (as an indescribably beautiful woman) and cursed him to be unlucky in love, a curse that will afflict her descendants in perpetuity, something that is immediately confirmed by the appearance of his intended, the nagging Purity Sykes.  The witch and her father the wizard are burned and their ashes buried beneath an oak sapling which traps their souls in its roots (apparently).  Then there's a montage of various generations of Wooleys having miserable marriages until we reach the present day, where our Wooley, Wally, is running for Governor and about to marry the daughter of his millionaire media mogul sponsor J.B. Masterson, Estelle (Susan Hayward, deliciously awful), the wedding planned on the eve of the election as a stunt.  

As Jonathan gives a speech the lights flicker as a huge storm rocks the building, a huge storm with lightning that strikes the tree and releases the witch and wizard.  At first they take the form of plumes of smoke and immediately they go in search of a Wooley to take revenge on.  They hide in bottles outside on the patio of the post-speech party and the witch, whose name is Jennifer, becomes intrigued by Jonathan, as her father (Daniel) chortles at the obvious torment in Jonathan's romantic life.  Jennifer suggests that it would be even better if she were to make him fall in love with her, and persuades her father (who is actually much older than her 200+ years and more powerful) to give her a body.  This apparently requires flame, which is provided by setting a large hotel (The Pilgrim Hotel, a name that sets Daniel against it) on fire.  Wooley and the Mastersons (and his doctor friend Dudley (Robert Benchley, who is a very familiar face, because of The Reluctant Dragon, I now realize)) have to go past it on the way home, and he is strangely drawn to it, and, alone amongst the bystanders, hears a woman's voice calling from inside.  He rushes in and we meet Jennifer in the Veronica-Lake-flesh (supposedly naked, although you can't see for all the smoke, and he quickly gives her his coat).  After some mild danger (floors collapsing) they escape and he and Dudley take her to the hospital where Dudley finds nothing wrong with her but offers to keep her overnight.  However, when Dudley returns home and is chasing his cat who has got in, he finds her waiting for him.  He ushers her outside and puts her in a cab, giving the cab driver (who is a trusted acquaintance) money to give her once he's taken her somewhere (anywhere) else, as well as advice to get a coat of her own, because she replaced his coat with one she found in the hotel, and is still clad in nothing but that (and a pair of kicky boots).  However, the coat gets thrown out of the window and a couple of blocks later the cab driver finds nothing but the boots in the back of the cab.  Meanwhile Jonathan finds Jennifer in his bed in his pajamas, 

and, still resisting her charms, explains to her that beauty is not sufficient for love, love has to grow over months and years.  And then we watch as the clock moves steadily through the hours of the night until we find him as dawn breaks clearly besotted and cooing as he strokes her hair.  Of course, today is the day of his marriage, and that snaps him to attention as his soon-to-be-in-laws arrive.  As he leaves with them, Jennifer realizes she may need magic to seal the deal.  Her father advises her to use a "philter", which is a love potion (apparently).  However, her plans go awry when a painting fall on her head and he gives the "water" that she had just given to him to drink to her instead, and being dazed, she drinks it and falls for him.  Various shenanigans ensue, Jennifer and Daniel (now embodied as the excellent Cecil Kellaway) 

crash the wedding, and Daniel, realizing Jennifer now actually loves Wally is at loggerheads with both.  His plan is to get Wally arrested for his murder, and contrives to be shot (and declared dead by Dudley) by Wally's pistol.  However, this doesn't stick, but he again takes refuge in a liquor bottle and is too drunk to cause further trouble, and meanwhile Wally kisses Jennifer just as Estelle storms upstairs to see what's keeping Wally.  The wedding is off!  J.B. vows to ruin Wally's chances as governor!  Jennifer and Wally elope!  Jennifer uses her magic to cause literally everybody (even his rival candidate) to vote for him!  This convinces Wally that she really is a witch!  But then Daniel, who had been stuck in the drunk tank, too inebriated to do magic, escapes and posing as the cab driver flies the cab to the tree, threatening to trap (the now power-less, thanks to Daniel) Jennifer with him in the roots again.  Her essence departs her body and it falls lifeless to the ground.  Wally and Dudley carry it to his house, and Jennifer, apparently now back to her witchy self asks her father if they (again in wisp form) can watch Wally suffer over the dead body through the window.  Daniel, never averse to watching a Wooley in torment, agrees...

A breezy little number.  The blu ray is yours for, say, twenty bucks?