The Enchanted Cottage 1945

     This film is based on a play by Arthur Wing Pinero and first made into a film in 1924.  Oliver Bradford and his fiancé come to see a cottage located on the seaside in New England.  They would like to rent the cottage for three month for their honeymoon.  Oliver is an Army Air Force pilot and he is called up for WWII before they can get married.  He’s sent back home after he is wounded in the war.  He comes to stay at the cottage alone.  He can’t face anyone, including his family and his former fiancé.  Mrs. Abigail Minnett owns the cottage and she’s hired Laura Pennington to help her as a maid.  They take care of Oliver and they begin to forget about how he looks and his wounds.  Major John Hillgrove is a neighbor and he doesn’t know or mind Oliver’s appearance because the Major is blind.

     Oliver and Laura fall in love and Mrs. Minnett explains to them that the magic of the cottage is that they both seem beautiful to each other.  They believe it’s because happiness was instilled into the cottage by honeymooning couples previously renting the cottage. 4* (I really liked this movie) 

 

91 min, Drama directed by John Cromwell with Dorothy McGuire, Robert Young, Herbert Marshall, Mildred Natwick, Spring Byington, Hillary Brooke, Richard Gaines, Alec Englander, Robert Clarke, Eden Nicholas.

Note:  Imdb 7.6 out of 10, 83% critic 82% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 306 reviews, TCM Leonard Maltin 2.5* out of 4*, users 4.7* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Herbert Marshall in the role of Major Hillgrove lost a leg in WWI.  May McAvory appeared in the original film from 1924.  She attended this premiere.  She wanted to visit the set during filming but she was fearful people would think she was making a bid for publicity?  There was a 60 minute radio adaptation of this movie aired on September 3, 1945 with Young and McGuire reprising their film roles.