I married a witch

Prologue. Middle Ages, 1670s. The Inquisitorial Court, chaired by a Puritan priest Jonathan Wooley, sentenced the sorcerer Daniel and his witch daughter Jennifer to be burned at the stake . The burial of their ashes under a tree has been announced in order to imprison their evil souls there. After the execution of the sentence, Wooley in horror admits that the witch Jennifer appeared to him in all her seductive beauty and sent a curse on him and his male descendants that they will all be unhappy in the marriage, and this will continue until one of them ...

Centuries pass by. A variety of scenes flash with the descendants of Wooley, clearly demonstrating the quality-working curse of the witch. 1770, a certain Wooley and a friend are sitting under a tree, he tells her about the ashes of sorcerers buried here, and then makes her an offer. The branches of the tree sway slightly, a pleased female laugh is heard ... 1861, a family scene in the residence of the next Wooley in the presence of a large number of guests ... 1904, Wooley and his new wife find out the relationship along the way in the car ...

Finally, the present, the year 1942. Wallace Wooley's residence (played by the same actor as the previous inquisitor and subsequent descendants, which indicates their kinship and spiritual connection). Wooley runs for governor and intends to marry Estelle, the bitchy and spoiled daughter of her influential patron Masterson (his bride is played by the same actress as the wives of his ancestors). The relationship between the bride and groom develops in full accordance with the spell and does not portend any optimistic forecasts for the future. Vuli gives a pre-election speech to the guests gathered in the house. Outside a thunderstorm, the light goes out periodically.

Another lightning splits the tree, and two haze fly out - Daniel and Jennifer. They fly into the house and hide in empty bottles of alcohol. Moreover, the bottle of Daniel is not completely empty, which soon affects his condition. Jennifer persuades her father to give her a body so that she can torture the hated Wooley. According to the established rules for the implementation of witchcraft to gain body, you must certainly make a fire, and for this they choose the building of a large hotel. At the same time, they kill two birds with one stone: Jennifer regains her body, while Woolie, who was passing by and stuck in a traffic jam, saves her from the fire. Being together with Wooley in a burning building, she behaves very frivolously and with interest tries on outfits, since she needs some clothes. From the hospital, she flies on a broomstick to Wooley’s house. The house is hung with portraits of his ancestors, who fall from the wall from her gaze.

Jennifer tries to seduce Wooley without using her magical abilities, but she does not manage to persuade him to postpone the marriage. Wooley, together with the bride and the future father-in-law, leaves for the broadcasting studio, and Jennifer, with the witch-father, who appeared in the image of fire in the fireplace, brews a love potion in the cauldron that will give Wooley a drink. Daniel also wants to find a body, Jennifer persuades him not to burn this house, and he flies away; Wooley returns and reports that the radio broadcast did not take place - the program was canceled due to an unexpected fire in the studio.

Wooley is trying to drive Jennifer out, and she is trying to give him a drink of prepared potion. But the plans of the sorcerers are crumbling: at the crucial moment, she unsuccessfully looked up - and a portrait of one of the ancestors of Wooley fell upon her. Wooley, trying to bring her to her senses, gives her a drink intended for him.

Wooley leaves for the wedding. Daniel appears in a new bodily appearance. Jennifer in horror admits that she drank the potion, and asks for help to find her beloved. Daniel is furious, he hates all Wooley, and the spell acts on their family until one of Wooley marries a witch. Sorcerers arrive at the church and upset the marriage procedure, a very strong draft is established. However, Daniel has his own plans - he is trying to stage his own murder, so that subsequently Wooley would be burnt in an electric chair, as the ancestor of Wooley burned Daniel at the stake. The lying pistol shoots by itself, the spirit of Daniel flies out of the shot body and immediately dives into a nearby bottle. However, a fiasco happens to him: after having drunk, he gets drunk back into the abandoned body through a bullet hole. Daniel unsuccessfully tries to turn Wooley into a frog and, stumbling, a window falls out. He is trying to turn the policemen who appeared next to him into rats, which makes them furious and take away Daniel, incapable of witchcraft. Meanwhile, Estelle, having lost her patience, goes upstairs, discovers the groom in the arms of Jennifer, the wedding is finally upset, her furious dad promises to compromise Wooley's candidacy in all his newspapers.

Wooley admits that he loves Jennifer, and they leave the city by car, especially since he has nothing more to catch here. On the way in the fog, she offers to stop and spend the night - it is not clear where. But the fog clears, a hotel is found, the hospitable hostess says that she has a free room, but only one. At the same time, it turns out that her husband is a judge who immediately registers the marriage of Wooley and Jennifer.

Jennifer admits that she is a witch, but Wooley is little worried. Then she promises to arrange for him an election victory, to which he is very skeptical.

The next day, elections, there is general hysteria in the city - and Wooley is chosen unanimously. Even his rival voted for him.

Sober Daniel escapes from prison, deprives his daughter of witchcraft abilities and promises at exactly midnight to imprison her back under the same tree. Jennifer in a panic runs to Wooley, interrupts his victorious speech and begs to be taken away. They try to escape, but the driver of the taxi is Daniel, who picks up the car in the air and flies on it just to this tree. Exactly at midnight, Jennifer's soul flies off, leaving Wooley in her arms a lifeless body. Wooley carries the body to the house. Jennifer invites her father to fly to see Wooley’s suffering, which delights her father, who noted that now his daughter has become a real witch. Daniel's spirit dives into one of the standing bottles, and Jennifer's spirit dives into her body. Daniel sings his favorite song with the words - “I'm happy today, and tomorrow I'll be sober again,” to which resurrected Jennifer exclaims: “Well, no!” - and closes the bottle with a stopper.

Epilogue. Action in their house in a few years. They have an idyll reigning in the family of several children. The governess complains that the youngest daughter is again riding a broomstick. Jennifer in horror - afraid of hereditary relapses. At the same time, an evil giggle is heard - and a bottle with Daniel standing in a niche behind seven locks is shown.

• Fredrick March - Jonathan Wooley, Wallace Wooley, as well as intermediate descendants - Nathaniel and Samuel
• Veronica Lake - Jennifer
• Cecil Kellaway - Daniel
• Susan Hayward - Estelle Masterson, as well as the wives of previous Wooley
• Robert Benchley - Dr. Dudley White, buddy Wooley
• Elizabeth Patterson - Margarita, Wooley's Servant
• Robert Warwick - Masterson, father Estelle

The film “I Married a Witch” was created at the Paramount Pictures film studio . The original name, under which the shooting was, was "He married a witch . " The director of the film, Rene Claire, was looking for a new project after his first American film, the New Orleans Light , and his agent offered him the novel “A Witch in Love” . Claire showed him to Preston Sturges , who proposed Veronica Lake for the lead role.

Several authors took part in the script, including Dalton Trumbo , who left the job due to disagreements with Sturges. Sturges, in turn, left due to artistic disagreements with Rene Claire, and did not want to be mentioned among those working on the script. Claire, also involved in the script, worked closely with Robert Pirosh.

Joel McCree was initially assigned to a major male role, but rejected the offer due to a reluctance to work with Veronica Lake, with whom they did not get along on the set of Sullivan's Travels . March and Lake also had problems because of his statement before the shootings to her like a brainless sexy blonde, incapable of acting , to which Lake in response called him a dude . During the filming, the situation did not improve, since Lake and Marche played pranks such as attaching an 18-pound weight to himself under the dress in front of the stage, when he had to carry it on his hands, or inflicting numerous kicks to him in the groin when he, in accordance with the script, held her in the air at the waist. ^[one]

Patricia Morison was considered for the role of Estelle, and Walter Abel for the role of Dudley. Margaret Hayes’s candidacy was also considered, with which screenings were conducted. ^[one]

Filming of the movie “I Married a Witch” began on April 15, 1952 ^[2] and was one of the films sold by Paramount to United Artists in September due to an excess of work in the first of them and a shortage in the second. ^[one]

The film was released on videotape on July 18, 1990. ^[3]

The film "I Married a Witch" was nominated for an Oscar for "best musical accompaniment in dramas and comedies" (composer Roy Webb). ^[four]

• My wife charmed me
• Funny ghost

• “I Married a Witch” on the Internet Movie Database
• I married a witch on allmovie