This film is one from René Clair's American period. In 1690, in New England, the witch Jennifer (Veronica Lake) and her father Daniel (Cecil Kellaway) are about to be burned at the stake, but before that they throw a curse on judge Johnathan Wooley (Frederic March) and his descendants. A tree is placed where they are buried to imprison their spirits.
Several hundred years later lightning strikes the tree and they are freed, in the form of smoke. They find Wallace Wooley (also Frederic March), the latest in line, in the middle of an election campaign in which he's candidate. He's engaged to Estelle (Susan Hayward) and Jennifer wants to prevent the marriage so she takes on human form and contrives to burn a building and get Wallace to save her from it.
As her atttempts to seduce him fail, she concocts a love potion for him but by mistake drinks it herself, falls madly in love with Wallace and no longer wants the curse to takes its course. But her father has other ideas, and turns against his daughter.
The TV programme Bewitched was largely inspired by this film.
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