I
MARRIED A WITCH SYNOPSIS
"Jennifer" (Veronica Lake) and her father
"Daniel" (Cecil Kellaway) owe their centuries of imprisonment in the
roots of an oak tree to the Wooley family, and they determine to take their
revenge on the latest Wooley, a dour candidate for governor of Massachusetts.
Jennifer is a Vargas calendar girl come to life, a dreamy concoction of curves
and peek-a-boo hair, and she and her father energetically plot "Wallace
Wooley’s" (Fredric March) downfall with fire and sex. Wallace’s campaign
for office unravels as quickly as his engagement to a chilly, banned-in-Boston
debutante ("Estelle Masterson," played by Susan Hayward). In the
process, Clair uses the genre conventions of fantasy to toss a few curveballs
past Hollywood's watchdogs of morality, the Hays Office. Perhaps Hollywood’s
censors were too punchy from encounters with Clair’s colleague at Paramount,
Preston Sturges, to notice the sleek, sexy innuendoes of I MARRIED A WITCH;
indeed, the film had originally been planned for Sturges. Regardless, the film
bears Clair’s worldliness and warm-hearted gift for the surreal into the very
core of American hypocrisy. ****************
No clues there then. However if the IGBI Veronica was a
witch it would explain a lot. But this is not Salem in the 17th
century. There are some differences in stature too. The real Veronica Lake was
a petite 5’ 2” whilst my Veronica must be heading towards 6’. I enjoyed playing
opposite her though, and the rehearsals were a hoot, Veronica had a cutting wit
and corpsed frequently. Afterwards Georgia and her twin sister Texas, with not
a mole difference between them, took me to a dive club for cocktails and a bite
to eat. There was a small stage with a trio playing Martian techno, not to my
taste, and I was glad when they finished their set. We had a table near the
stage and Georgia and Texas got up and sang a Capella the theme from Bewitched
the TV version of the film. I
couldn’t resist playing the same theme in the style of Count Basie. When we had
finished the audience stood and applauded, and from then on we never had an
empty glass and the Martian Techno Trio joined in to create a fusion that
sometimes grated but mostly swung like crazy.
Afterwards back at my place the bed was just big enough for
three.
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