My wife the witch

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Movie
German title My wife the witch
Original title I married a witch
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1942
length 77 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director René Clair
script Robert Pirosh
Marc Connelly
production Preston Sturges
music Roy Webb
camera Ted Tetzlaff
cut Eda Warren
occupation

My wife, the witch (Original title: I Married a Witch ) is an American comedy film by the French director René Clair from 1942, based on the novel The Passionate Witch by Thorne Smith . The premiere in Germany took place on June 3, 1949.

action

Daniel and his daughter Jennifer are convicted and executed at the Salem witch trials , their ashes are buried under a tree so that their devilish spirits are captured. However, Jennifer has cursed the informer, the Puritan Jonathan Wooley. His male offspring will always marry the wrong women.

The decades go by. The men of the Wooley family suffer from quarrelsome wives. A lightning strike destroys the tree, so that the ghosts of Daniel and Jennifer are free again. They discover that Wallace Wooley is running for governor. He also wants to marry Estelle Masterson, whose father supports Wooley's political ambitions financially. Daniel and Jennifer manifest as foggy ghosts and hide in empty alcohol bottles. Jennifer persuades her father to give her a human body so that she can torment Wallace even better. But Daniel needs fire for the spell, so he burns down a hotel. Jennifer gets a body and is saved from the sea of ​​flames by Wallace.

Wallace is attracted to Jennifer, but he doesn't want to jeopardize his wedding. Jennifer brews a love potion for Wallace to seduce him. But while she is brewing the potion, she is struck down by a falling image. Wallace brings her back to consciousness by giving her the brew to drink.

Daniel also creates a body. Daniel hates all Wooleys and wants to prevent Jennifer from helping a Wooley. Unfortunately, staying in a not-completely-empty bottle left Daniel drunk, unable to turn Wallace into a frog. Estelle, on the other hand, finds Wallace and Jennifer in a deep embrace and then calls off the wedding. Your angry father wants to expose Wallace in his papers. Wallace is sure of his love for Jennifer, and they both run away.

The two marry, Jennifer tries to save her husband's political career with her witchcraft. She creates small clouds of white smoke that influence the minds of voters to vote for Wallace. Wallace wins with a landslide election victory. But Wallace is suspicious.

Meanwhile Daniel tries to deprive his daughter of the magical powers. He intends to lock you or your spirit in a tree again. Scared Jennifer interrupts her husband's victory speech and begs him to help her escape. Both of them stop a taxi that is unfortunately driven by their father. Daniel drives his daughter and Wallace back to the tree.

It is midnight and Wallace is watched by two clouds of smoke. Before returning to the tree, Jennifer wants to see Wallace's anguish. While Daniel looks at Wallace with glee, Jennifer slips back into the body. She manages to lock Daniel in a liquor bottle, in which he becomes drunk and thus powerless.

Years later - Jennifer and Wallace have children - the housekeeper Margaret explains to the parents that she has seen the youngest daughter ride a broom. When her husband asks if there is any need to worry, Jennifer cannot answer. The film ends with worried looks from the parents.

background

  • The film served as the basis for the TV series In Love with a Witch , but should not be confused with the Italian comedy of the same title from 1981 by Franco Castellano and Giuseppe Moccia ( Mia moglie è una strega ).
  • Frederic March doesn't just play Wallace Wooley. He also represents all the other male descendants of the accursed Jonathan (himself of course).
  • Robert Benchley, the grandfather of the writer Peter Benchley ( Jaws ), was not only an actor but also a sought-after theater critic.
  • Tension arose between Lake and March during filming.
  • The script collaboration by Dalton Trumbo , who was on the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, is not mentioned in the credits . Using pseudonyms, Trumbo won two Oscars in 1954 and 1957.
  • Producer Sturges, who also made a name for himself as a director and screenwriter (won an Oscar for best screenplay in 1941), was able to attract well-known employees: the actors March (Oscar 1932, 1947; Golden Globe 1952) and Susan Hayward (Oscar 1959; Golden Globe 1953, 1959); Screenwriter Robert Pirosh (Oscar 1952); Art Director Hans Dreier , a native German (Oscar in 1946 and twice in 1951); his colleague Ernst Fegté (Oscar 1946), who was also born in Germany; the uncredited set decorator Sam Comer (Oscar in 1946, twice in 1951, 1956); Sound engineer Harry D. Mills, also unmentioned in the credits (honorary Oscar 1939); Special effects designer Gordon Jennings (Oscar 1942, 1943, honorary Oscar 1939, special Oscar 1945, 1952); Costume designer Edith Head (Oscar 1950, twice 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1961, 1974)

Reviews

“Witty, poetic René Clair comedy; a funny and artistic witch's fairy tale. "

- Lexicon of international film

"Under the direction of the French master director René Clair, the femme fatale Veronica Lake has a wonderfully quirky sense of humor."

- Cinema

Awards

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jeff Stafford: I Married a Witch in the TCM Movie Database (in English)
  2. ↑ My wife, the witch. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ↑ Cinema : Film review Meine Frau, die Hexe , accessed on October 20, 2012

literature

  • Thomas Klingenmaier: My wife, the witch . In: Film Genres. Fantasy and fairy tale film. Edited by Andreas Friedrich. Stuttgart: Reclam 2003, pp. 32–35 [with references]. ISBN 978-3-15-018403-5 , e-book ISBN 978-3-15-960122-9 .

Web links