New Englander Wallace Wooley (Fredric March) has no idea of the trouble set to rain down on him. Centuries earlier, his Puritan ancestor Jonathan (also played by March) was responsible for the ritual burning of two witches, Jennifer (Veronica Lake) and her father, Daniel (Cecil Kellaway). Before succumbing at the stake, Jennifer curses the Wooley family, declaring that none of Jonathan’s descendants will ever find true love, and afterward she and Daniel are buried beneath an oak tree, which binds their spirits. By the time 1942 rolls around, the curse has been at work for over two hundred years, and it is set to repeat itself once more with the marriage of Wallace to the unpleasant Estelle Masterson (Susan Hayward). A storm destroys the oak tree in which they are imprisoned, and Jennifer and Daniel’s spirits escape, determined to wreak even more havoc on the Wooley family. Daniel creates an alluring new body for Jennifer by burning down the local hotel, and Jennifer entices Wallace into “rescuing” her from the flames, intent on seducing him and ruining the wedding and the upcoming election. But her plans are dashed when she accidentally ingests a love potion intended for Wallace, and the witch finds herself hopelessly in love with the object of her loathing. Directed by Rene Clair, I Married a Witch (1942) is a charming, if slight, romantic comedy, namely due to the performances of stars March and Lake. Watching them share a decidedly potent chemistry onscreen, one would hardly guess that the actors had a thoroughly antagonistic relationship behind the scenes. March had little respect for Lake as an actress; Lake found March to be overly pompous, and played several pranks on him during filming that raised his ire. March reportedly grew so frustrated with the experience of working with Lake that he exasperatedly referred to the film I Married a Bitch when his costar wasn't around. Though the film has a whimsical lightheartedness to it, there are some heavier themes at work here which add an interesting flavor to the proceedings. I Married a Witch offers some mild commentary on “modern” politics, which according to this film have not changed overmuch in the past seventy years. It’s easy to see the influence of the movie's original producer, Preston Sturges, in certain parts; there is a satirical bite to the way Witch addresses the electorate, demonstrated most effectively in the “brainwashing” scene, in which Jennifer sends clouds of magical smoke floating throughout the state in order to impact the results of the election. It’s a sly statement on the “herd” mentality of voters, indicating how easy it can be to influence the masses (even, the film suggests, without the benefits of magic). And Wallace’s interactions with Estelle’s father, power broker J.B. Masterson (Robert Warwick), are reminiscent of McGinty’s association with The Boss in Sturges’ masterful political comedy The Great McGinty (1940), though without the undercurrents of blatant corruption. Still, despite such indications of darker themes--ones that are, admittedly, only hinted at and never fully developed in the film—I Married a Witch is ultimately a rather playful romantic romp. March and Lake are fantastic (with March working particularly hard, opening the film playing multiple generations of unhappily-wed Wooley men), and are aided by a stellar supporting cast, led by an appealingly comic Kellaway and the always hilarious Robert Benchley (as Wooley's best friend). It's little wonder the material was revisited two decades later on the small screen, reportedly influencing screenwriter Sol Saks's creation of the popular 1960s television series Bewitched. The new Criterion Collection release of I Married a Witch--out now on Blu-ray and DVD, just in time for Halloween--boasts a new 2K digital restoration, and the result is that this long-out-of-print film looks better than ever. The special features on this new edition include a 1950s audio interview with the director, Clair, as well as the original trailer for the film (compare the scratchy trailer to the newly-restored print of the actual film, and you'll see just how fantastic Criterion's restoration truly is). As with many Criterion releases, this one also includes a booklet with an entertaining essay on the film by Canadian screenwriter/director Guy Maddin, as well as the transcript for an interview with Clair that was originally published by the journal Film Quarterly in 1970. This definitive edition of the film is one you'll definitely want to add to your personal movie library. Brandie Ashe no longer eats cold cereal while wearing footy pajamas…but does maintain a love for all things animated. She is one of four passionate classic film authors at True Classics.