As Halloween looms, spooky movie marathons loom with it. There is no shame in the bead of sweat forming on your brow. We’ve all been there. As your friends argue between their favorite slashers, you’ll rack your brain for any alternative that won’t result in you suddenly remembering that you have a doctor’s appointment at 10 p.m. Have no fear, reader: A fellow coward is here to give you the perfect alternative that will have your friends in awe of your impeccable taste. Or, at the very least, distract them from the way your teeth chattered as you heard their movie suggestions.
The 1942 Halloween rom-com classic “I Married a Witch” follows Wallace Wooley (Fredric March, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”), a favored candidate for governor, as he’s about to wed the daughter of a very powerful donor. In what should be a moment of celebration, he appears less than thrilled about his future when we meet him dragging his feet at one of his political fundraisers. He glumly remarks that his heart isn’t in the race when he’s guaranteed to win and he doesn’t love his betrothed. This brings great joy to Jennifer (Veronica Lake, “The Blue Dahlia”) and her father Daniel (Cecil Kellaway, “The Postman Always Rings Twice”) — Jennifer is the very witch who cursed his ancestor many years ago when he accused her family of being witches. As revenge, she cursed his descendants — Wallace included — to marry the wrong woman. Jennifer and Daniel both return after a bolt of lightning strikes the tree that imprisoned them, happy to see the success of their vengeance in person.
If you think you know where the plot goes after this introduction, you would be sorely mistaken. With a runtime of only 77 minutes, audiences don’t expect the sheer number of surprises this film throws at you. It feels like trick-or-treating in a fun house where some doors give you candy and some doors just punch you in the face. At some points, the jokes feel like getting a sweet treat, while at other points watching two talking clouds of smoke on screen disorients you as if you just got punched in the face. Did that really just happen? You can’t believe you got punched in the face, but you’re not exactly unwilling to go to the next door to see if it’s candy. The reward of getting candy and the shock of getting punched in the face gives an elation like running through a haunted house (but without actually going to the haunted house, so don’t worry).
While the premise of the movie should be enough to draw audiences in, the real magic here is the electric performance delivered by Veronica Lake. She’s well known as a Hollywood star, but her comedic talent is often undersold. Starting the movie with a relatively unlikeable character akin to Julia Roberts (“Erin Brockovich”) in “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” Lake’s charisma convinces audiences to be on her side. As she feigns shock at her own twisted actions or appears out of nowhere with a smirk, we can’t help but laugh even when some of the old one-liners don’t make as much sense to the modern audience. Her performance adds characterization and growth to a woman who was only meant to be seen in relation to the male lead. With Lake’s performance, Jennifer steals the show and the audience’s affection.
If your friends still aren’t sold, the secret weapon here is the film’s shoddy effects and brilliant costume design of a 1940s Hollywood studio flick. There is not a single dress worn in this movie that does not prompt a pause to admire the detailing. Even in black and white, it’s clear these dresses belong in a museum. This contrasts with the special effects the film offers. For a longer portion of the film than you’d expect, Jennifer and Daniel appear as nothing more than white smoke. As they show smoke riding brooms against a stereotypical old Hollywood background, you begin to wonder why they don’t do effects like this in movies anymore. In 2024, realism is out and smoke riding brooms is in. The movie also has an affinity for reversing footage to make things appear to be magic. If you drank every time this effect is used, you’d never know how the movie ends because Jennifer loves nothing more than to slide up a staircase.
If your friends have failed to recognize your genius at this point, hope is lost. Drop them and watch this timeless Halloween classic with the imaginary doctor you made up to leave this social gathering. If they didn’t believe that excuse, you can always just turn into white smoke and ride out on a broomstick. Or slide up a stair railing. However you manage to get out of there, know that “I Married a Witch” is ready to make you laugh this Halloween season — and save you from the embarrassment of asking your friends for a clean pair of pants after sitting through half of “The Conjuring.”
Daily Arts Writer Gaby Cummings can be reached at gabyc@umich.edu.
The post Frights, camera, action: Need a break from the slashers? Give ‘I Married a Witch’ a go appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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