I (Almost) Married a Witch ...

... the hellcat in question being not Veronica Lake but Susan Hayward, Frederic March’s snippy wife-to-be before the marriage is derailed by the starring you-know-peek-a-boo.

I Married a Witch (1942) is widely considered one of Lake’s—well, “triumphs” would be a bit much. The fact is, it’s easy to see why La Hayward went on to win an Oscar while La Lake went off the rails. Veronica’s drippy delivery—she never met a vowel she couldn’t flatten—doesn’t suit the (17th-century) character she’s playing. The legendary allure meanwhile isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

“I’m a WETCH!”

As with Yvonne DeCarlo, another celebrated “looker,” the camera angle was everything for Lake. She could be wowie wow wow, or she could be yikes! (Compare Ava Gardner, whose sides were famously all good.)

Many people credit I Married a Witch with inspiring the Bewitched TV series. They haven’t seen Bell, Book and Candle.

I Married a Witch on IMDb.



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