BELLOWS FALLS — The Bellows Falls Moose Lodge presents a 1942 classic romantic comedy for its first “Dinner & A Movie” evening on Friday, Oct. 21, according to a news release.
“I Married a Witch” stars film giants Frederic March, Veronica Lake, and Susan Hayward under the direction of Rene Clair, a notable silent film director who successfully transitioned to sound. Clair was one of France's most heralded directors and made over 30 films in France, England and the U.S.
Lake plays Jennifer Kellaway, a witch in Salem, Massachusetts, burned at the stake during the 1600s along with her father by Puritan Jonathan Wooley, played by Frederic March, who buries their ashes beneath a tree to trap their evil spirits. Lake puts a curse on all the male Wooley descendants so that they are doomed to marry the wrong woman for generations to come.
But in 1942, the tree is struck by lightning, thus freeing the father and daughter's spirits. Jennifer discovers that Wooley happens to live nearby and is not only running for governor but about to marry the spoiled Estelle Masterson, played by Susan Hayward.
Love potions and apparitions aren't enough to stop the wedding plans, and ultimately Jennifer finds herself in a very awkward position where all her magic spells must be called into play to save her future and Wooley's political career.
The film is based on the novel by Thorne Smith, “The Passionate Witch,” whose untimely death caused the book to be completed by Norman H. Matson.