- Actors: Fredric March, Veronica Lake, Robert Benchley, Susan Hayward, Cecil Kellaway
- Directors: René Clair
- Writers: René Clair, André Rigaud, Dalton Trumbo, Marc Connelly, Norman Matson
- Format: NTSC, Import
- Number of tapes: 1
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Warner Home Video
- VHS Release Date: Jan 27 1993
- Run Time: 77 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- ASIN: 6301706498
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
This fun and stylish Rene Clair comedy gave two big Hollywood names--Fredric March and Veronica Lake--a chance to break away from their stereotypically serious roles (as intense leading man and film noir vamp, respectively) and exercise their funny bones. The sultry Lake stars as a Salem witch burned at the stake who returns to haunt the descendants of the Puritans who let her smolder, namely aspiring politician March. Lake concocts a love potion for her victim that will get him to fall in love with her, rather than his snooty fiancée (Susan Hayward in one of her early roles). Things get a wee bit complicated when said potion works its spell on Lake instead and she falls head over broomstick for March. Blissfully hilarious and romantic, this Witch is blessed with great chemistry between March and Lake (who never looked lovelier), dryly funny one-liners, and a scene-stealing performance by Cecil Kellaway as Lake's perennially drunk warlock dad. Robert Benchley of Algonquin Round Table fame also pops up in a supporting role. Rumored but never actually confirmed to be the basis for the hit TV series Bewitched. --Mark Englehart
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Bewitching Comedy With Sexy Witch Veronica Lake,
By Simon Davis (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: I Married a Witch (VHS Tape)
It's rare nowadays when you can say that you have seen a totally delightful comedy in the cinemas. That rare marriage of charming scenerio, ideally cast players, and romantic setting seems to be sadly a thing of the past which is why I always find "I Married a Witch", such enjoyable viewing. Here we have two very famous performers in dramatic veteran Fredric March, and Film Noir siren Veronica Lake playing against their usual "type" and having a field day cutting loose with this romantic screwball tale that combines sexy humour with elements of the supernatural. Based on the unfinished novel by "Topper", author Thorne Smith, "I Married a Witch", gave us a whole new image of what witches were like minus the warts and crooked nose and in much the same vein as the later legendary series "Bewitched", showed us witches who were playful and extremely sexy. Veronica Lake had I feel her most appealing role here and proved herself adept at frothy comedy and capable of far more than just looking slinky hiding behind her famous peek a boo hairstyle. Her chemistry with Fredric March is magical here (no pun intended!), and goes a long way towards making "I Married a Witch", the great success it is.Veronica Lake plays a Salem witch who along with her father is burnt at the stake on charges of scorcery. Before her death however she places a curse on the decendants of the man responsible for the burning, one Wallace Wooley. They are all cursed to marry "unhappily", and then we are treated to a series of highly amusing "historical snippets" showing how each generation of the Wooley family falls victim to the curse with wives they would probably much prefer to see burnt at the stake! The action then moves to the present where we see aspiring political candidate for the State Senate Jonathan Wooley (March) fully involved in the run up to not only his wedding to the hot tempered Estelle (Susan Hayward), daughter of media big shot J.B. Masterson (Robert Warwick), but also the upcoming election financed largely by his overpowering future father in law who is calling the shots in the upcoming election. During a storm both Jennifer (Veronica Lake), and her no good father Daniel (Cecil Kellaway) are freed from their imprisonment inside the tree that grew on the spot where they were burnt. Jennifer sets out to make life a complete misery for Jonathan during this important time in his life. She tries to create a scandal after Jonathan supposedly "rescues" her from a burning building by being "caught", in compromising positions in his bedroom right under the nose of both Estelle and disapproving housekeeper Margaret (Elizabeth Patterson). She tries to sabotage Jonathan's wedding day and in an hilarious scene causes a huge wind to come in and literally destroy the whole event. When she pretends to "die by gunshot", in an adjoining room causing an even bigger scandal which will set Jonathan up on a murder charge Jennifer however gets more than she bargained for. Earlier she had concocted a potion that will make Jonathan fall in love with her, Jonathan now accidently uses it to revive Jennifer and she finds herself madly in love with him! Fed up with Estelle's rages and her greedy father planning his every move Jonathan begins to realise that the disorder and excitement that Jennifer has brought into his ordered existence right down to flying through the air in a car, has revitalised him and love blossoms. When Jennifer's menacing and perpetually drunk father sees the change in her and threatens to take the families revenge out on Jonathan himself he takes Jennifer's powers away from him and ends up back in the bottle that will be his home for all eternity. We then see a flash forward to when Jonathan and Jennifer are a comfortably married middle aged couple and the witch streak is still there when their daughter begins feeling "right at home",playing with a broomstick. This slapstick piece of Americana was ably handled by none other than French director Rene Clair who really produced his best work during the 1930's before leaving Europe in the wake of Nazi aggression. Here however he seems totally at home with his rapid fire direction and rarely has a director got a more lively and delightfully kittenish performance out of Veronica Lake than Rene Clair does here. Fredric March and Lake combine extremely well here despite the very public clashes they had on the set during filming. Indeed March has rarely been more pleasing on screen where he is normally associated with such diverse dramatic roles as in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", "A Star is Born", and "The Best Years of Our Lives". He brings a frustratingly frantic skill to his acting that makes Lake's cool and deliciously wicked playing of this sexy witch seem even more amusing. Cecil Kellaway almost succeeds in stealing every scene he is in as the permanently drunk father of Lake and Susan Hayward, an actress I greatly admire has a quite difficult character to play here that nevertheless indicated what she was capable of delivering in later better roles. For 1942 the magical special effects are first rate where we have scenes of Jennifer and her father's disembodied presences in the form of smoke going inside bottles etc. First rate all the way for this time. Often passed off as the inspiration for the TV series "Bewitched", we will never know for sure if that was indeed the case. What we do know is that in "I Married a Witch", we are in possession of a delightfully wicked little comedy that crosses many sexual boundaries that might not have been gotten away with elsewhere at this time. For those viewers only used to seeing Veronica Lake as Alan Ladd's costar in numerous glossy Film Noirs do yourself a favour and check out her bewitchingly delightful performance opposite Fredric March in Rene Clair's "I Married a Witch". Grand entertainment.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A comedy fantasy,
By
This review is from: I Married a Witch (VHS Tape)
Cast: Fredric March ... Jonathan Wooley/Nathaniel Wooley/Samuel Wooley/Wallace Wooley Franklyn Farnum ... Country Club Extra/Man at Fire A couple of witches are burned in Salem during the pilgrim days, but they first put a curse on the Wooley family and all of their heirs: they will all marry the wrong women. A curse, indeed! Then Wallace Wooley (Fredric March), in modern times, is running for Governor at the same time that the spirits of the two witches resurface, at the very time that Estelle Masterson (Susan Hayward) and Wally are about to be married. But things go awry when Jennifer, the witch (Veronica Lake) takes a love potion by mistake, and falls for Wally. This is a funny movie, and was the inspiration for the TV series Joseph (Joe) Pierre
5.0 out of 5 stars
Suberbly Great,
By "georgebourne740" (Orange, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: I Married a Witch (VHS Tape)
This movie is one of the best movies I have ever seen. It is hilarous and the character of Veronica Lake is sooooo great. I have seen this movie at least 10 times and it does not loose its wonderful quaint humour and overall movie viewing joy. I would give it 10 stars out of 5 if I could.
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