Oh boy, the sexism is strong with this one. This inspiration for the TV show Bewitched hardly has as strong or charming a lead... and yet I occasionally found myself bewitched anyway. Thus is the power of I Married a Witch.
The movie begins in the 1600s in presumably New England, where a witch named Jennifer (Veronica Lake) and her father have both been accused and burned as witches. Quite a dark start for what is essentially a romantic comedy!
In this movie, witches are more mischief makers than truly evil. Their "crimes" are described as turning livestock different colors and making sheep dance. While they pay lip service to liking human misery, the witches seemed more like merry pranksters than truly scary or diabolical.
Anyway, before she is burned, Jennifer puts a curse on the man who accused her, as well as all of his descendants. While the curse is at first described as being "unlucky in love," Jennifer later says that the descendants of Wallace Wooley (the man who accused her) are cursed to always "marry the wrong woman." Thus begins the strange trend in this film of women simultaneously being powerless and blamed in this film.
Through a series of strange explanations, Jennifer and her father return to check on the Wooleys and their curse as puffs of smoke. They marvel at the strangeness of the 1940s (Jennifer giggles about how close the couples are dancing, "not like the Puritans they descended from!") and Jennifer decides to use magic to create a new body so that she can take part in the curse herself and force the newest Wooley, Jonathan, to fall in love with her.
What follows it essentially a 1940's version of the born sexy yesterday trope. As Pop Culture Detective describes, the "born sexy yesterday" trope often results in a female character "who has the mind of a naive, yet highly skilled, child, but in the body of a mature, sexualized woman." This is the case with Jennifer, who, once resurrected, does not understand how anything works in the 1940s, from courtship to match-books. She's wide-eyed, ditsy, and forward, getting distracted by her reflection in the mirror and coming on to Jonathan as he tries to save her from a fire.
But like many "born sexy yesterday" situations, what should appear as annoying, child-like behavior soon wears down the male protagonist until he is (creepily) in love with her. After trying to set boundaries (namely because John Wooley has a fiancee, played Susan Hayward), Jonathan seems only bemused by the woman who may have damaged some braincells in a fire, only lightly trying to stop her from professing her love to him and insisting that he also fall in love with her. He pushes her away a few times, but after she shows up seemingly "magically" at his home and again declares that they should be in love, he mansplains various thinkers' views on love to her until the sun comes up.
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She just listens to his seemingly six (or more) hour rant on love and Plato and Shakespeare, all the while looking at him adoringly, and that's it: he's attracted to her.
He still resists Jennifer for a time, but it becomes clear very quickly that he'll end up with her and not his fiancee, who is depicted as wealthy, powerful, and demanding. Essentially: a shrew with opinions. Not like our witch, who (while supposedly there to ruin Wooley's life) is not only sweetly flirty and expectationless, but also gives only praise and adoration to Wooley (as opposed to the criticism from his fiancee). This only increases when Jennifer tries to make a love potion for Jonathan,but hijinks ensue when she accidentally drinks it instead, and her fake adoration turns into real (magically induced) adoration.
The main frustration I have with this film is that the witch is never fully in control; even when she does succeed, the movie makes it seem as if silly mistakes and chance do a lot of the work. That goes for her magic powers too: all she does with it is slam a couple doors, light a fire, and participate in some mild mind control for the most part. No powerful temptress or goddess is this one, though she can reverse-slide up a banister using magic...
The not-so-light sexism continues after Jonathan and Jennifer do finally get together. Overcome by her secret, she keeps trying to tell him that she's a witch, but he keeps kissing her and stopping her talking. The whole thing feels very creepy, almost especially because it's clearly played for laughs
However, I found myself... fairly compelled? I was engaged in their relationship and what was happening. I was almost moved near the end by Victoria Lake's dramatic, teary-eyed declaration: "Love is stronger than witchcraft!" That was until I reminded myself that their relationship was still creepy, potion-induced, and that their "true love" was them only knowing each other for about two whole days.
Ultimately, Jennifer is not going to end up on many "most badass witches" lists, but I'm grateful that it inspired a (much better) series, and ultimately it was a somewhat fun if problematic romp into classic Hollywood.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 bites
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