I Married A Witch - Production

Production

I Married a Witch was produced by Paramount Pictures, and had the working title of He Married a Witch. Director René Clair was looking for a new project after his first American film, The Flame of New Orleans and his agent sent him a copy of The Passionate Witch. Clair took it to Preston Sturges, then in favor at Paramount, who convinced Clair and the studio that it would be a good vehicle for Veronica Lake, with Sturges as producer.

A number of writers contributed to the script, including Dalton Trumbo who left the project after clashing with Sturges. Sturges himself left the film before it was completed due to artistic differences with director Rene Clair, and did not want to receive a screen credit. Clair, who also contributed to the dialogue, apparently worked closely with writer Robert Pirosh.

Joel McCrea was originally slated to play the male lead, but declined because he did not want to work with Veronica Lake again, after not getting along with her on Sullivan's Travels. March and Lake also had problems, beginning with March's pre-production comment that Lake was "a brainless little blonde sexpot, void of any acting ability", to which Lake retaliated by calling March a "pompous poseur". Things did not get much better during filming, as Lake was prone to playing practical jokes on March, like hiding a 40-pound weight under her dress for a scene in which March had to carry her, or pushing her foot repeatedly into his groin during the filming of a from-the-waist-up shot.

Patricia Morison was considered for the role of Estelle, and Walter Abel for Dudley. Margaret Hayes was considered for the film as well, and was screentested.

I Married a Witch was in production from 15 April through 27 May 1942, and was one of a number of films sold by Paramount to United Artists in September, when UA did not have enough and Paramount had a surplus. The film was released by UA on 30 October that year.

The movie was released on video in the U.S. on July 18, 1990.