The Enchanted Cottage [1945 / 2006] [Warner Archive Collection] [DVD] [USA Release]
While Others Whispered “Scandal” . . . Their Hearts Found The Miracle Of Love!
After a crash disfigures his face and maims his body, pilot Oliver Bradford [Robert Young] hides from family and friends in a seaside cottage. There Oliver Bradford befriends homely, gentle Laura Pennington [Dorothy McGuire]. The two marry for companionship – until some rare magic within the cottage transforms them into ardent and beautiful lovers. Director John Cromwell's delicate, achingly romantic film is based on Sir Arthur Wing Pinero's play, written in a post-World War I era of broken men returning to families who could not recognize them. When history sadly repeated itself, World War II film audiences likewise embraced a story of the transcendent power of love. The film so moved Robert Young that he named his own California home “The Enchanted Cottage.”
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1946 Academy Awards®: Nominated: Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture for Roy Webb.
FILM FACT No.2: The film ‘The Enchanted Cottage’ is an adaptation of a 1923 play by Arthur Wing Pinero. There was also a silent movie of ‘The Enchanted Cottage’ made in 1924. Robert Young loved the film so much that he named his own California home “The Enchanted Cottage.” The film makers achieved Laura Pennington’s “homeliness” using make-up, ill-fitting clothes, and a drab hairstyle. They also used lighting to great effect. In the scenes where Laura Pennington is supposed to be ugly, she is lit from below; in the scenes where she is supposed to be beautiful, Laura Pennington is lit from above, which is much more flattering.
Cast: Dorothy McGuire, Robert Young, Herbert Marshall, Mildred Natwick, Spring Byington, Hillary Brooke, Richard Gaines, Alec Englander, Robert Clarke, Eden Nicholas, Wally Albright (uncredited), Virginia Belmont (uncredited), Patti Brill (uncredited), Rusty Farrell (uncredited), Martha Holliday (uncredited), Carl Kent (uncredited), Nancy Marlow (uncredited), Sherman Sanders (uncredited), Walter Soderling (uncredited), Larry Wheat (uncredited), Josephine Whittell (uncredited) and Mary Worth (uncredited)
Director: John Cromwell
Producers: Harriet Parsons and Jack J. Gross
Screenplay: DeWitt Bodeen, Herman J. Mankiewicz and Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (play),
Composer: Roy Webb
Costume Designer: Edward Stevenson (gowns)
Cinematography: Ted Tetzlaff, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 480i (Black and White)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: None
Running Time: 92 minutes
DVD: NTSC
Number of discs: 1
Studio: RKO Radio Picture / Warner Archive Collection
Andrew’s DVD Review: ‘The Enchanted Cottage’ [1945] tells the love story of Oliver Bradford [Robert Young] and Laura. However, Oliver Bradford is actually engaged to another woman, Beatrice, when he first meets Laura Pennington [Dorothy McGuire]. The engaged couple have just rented a cottage for their honeymoon, and Laura Pennington arrives there looking for a job as a maid. We hear that the cottage is “enchanted” and makes its inhabitants fall in love. Previous inhabitants have carved their names on the window, but when Oliver Bradford tries to carve “Oliver and Beatrice” on the window with his ring, but sadly the ring breaks.
A few days later, war breaks out, Oliver Bradford receives orders, and the wedding is postponed. Laura Pennington stays at the cottage during the war. At a local dance one evening, she is humiliated when none of the visiting soldiers want to dance with Laura Pennington because she is so “homely.”
Eventually, Oliver Bradford returns to the cottage, and we discover he has received disfiguring facial injuries. When Beatrice Alexander [Hillary Brooke] first lays eyes on him, she recoils in horror. Even though she tries to apologise, and begs forgiveness, Oliver Bradford breaks off the engagement. Oliver Bradford decides he wants to live as a recluse in the cottage.
Gradually though, he comes to terms with his condition. He makes friends with neighbour Major John Hillgrove [Herbert Marshall], a blind composer, and he develops a friendship with Laura Pennington. Before long, they are married. At first it is a marriage of convenience, but after a while they genuinely fall in love, and they put it down to the magic of the enchanted cottage.
One day, Major John Hillgrove receives a note from them asking them to visit, as “something extraordinary” has happened. Oliver Bradford and Laura Pennington explain to him that somehow the cottage has changed them – Oliver Bradford’s scars have gone, and Laura Pennington is now beautiful. Despite not being able to see them, J Major John Hillgrove suspects the truth – which no transformation has really taken place, and they just look beautiful to each other because they are in love. However, he plays along with them. When the couple try to convince Oliver Bradford’s mother though, she tells them the truth. Oliver Bradford and Laura Pennington are upset at the realization they have been deceiving themselves, but they recover, and at the end of the movie, appear to be happy, and still in love.
Like the magic in the story, this movie is only for believers, but there are many cynics who have a special affection for what can only be called its enchantment. As Antoine de Saint-Exupery penned in The Little Prince, “It is only with the heart that once can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Many children will not have the patience for this story, but others will find it one of their most favourite film and it is my all-time favourite film.
There are many grander, more glamorous romances to choose from, but when I think of a romantic classic movie I very often think of ‘The Enchanted Cottage,’ in which two lonely people learn that beauty truly does lie in the eyes of the beholder. Directed by John Cromwell and adapted from the 1922 stage play by Arthur Wing Pinero, the 1945 film version stars Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young as the lovers learning to see one another with new eyes, with memorable supporting performances from Herbert Marshall, Mildred Natwick, and Spring Byington. It’s not a perfect story, but it’s a story about getting past imperfections to love the spirit within, and the spirit of ‘The Enchanted Cottage’ is lovely, yearning, and kind, just like the heart of its heroine.
Final Personal Note: ‘The Enchanted Cottage’ is a lovely movie. When I first watched it though, I did have one minor complaint…well, quite a major complaint actually…well, in fact, it was a complaint about the concept the whole movie is based upon. To the negative critics I would say that homely Laura Pennington and disfigured Oliver Bradford are not desperately unattractive! Upon reflection though, I think the movie is not really about whether or not Laura and Oliver are ugly, it is about the fact that when they are out in public they feel ugly. When they are in each other’s company though, they feel better about themselves, and they act with more confidence, and feel better about themselves and each other. I guess most of us have felt like outsiders at some point in our lives, and perhaps that is the reason so many people find this movie still resonates today. One thing I can tell you, that by the time you get to the end of the film you will have a 10 Kleenex tissue experience.
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DVD Image Quality – RKO Radio Picture and Warner Archive Collection presents us the film ‘The Enchanted Cottage’ in Black-and-White with a 1.37:1 aspect ratio. It is a very standard release and has throughout the film some speckles and light marks. It is fairly soft image and the elements look to be in need of a good quality restoration. It is worse with the night scenes and sometime you get lines appear. Overall despite my comments, it is, indeed, still very watchable and the film's inner beauty shines throughout the beautiful romantic film with magical qualities.
DVD Audio Quality – RKO Radio Picture and Warner Archive Collection brings us the film ‘The Enchanted Cottage’ with a very standard 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio that can sometimes be on the quiet side. Although when there is any wind about or the crashing of the waves this does stand out, shame it was not given an audio upgrade for such a magical film.
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Finally, ‘The Enchanted Cottage’ is a forgotten gem that is not easy to find on DVD and is rarely shown on Television. It is worth tracking down though. It is the sort of movie that could easily become your new favourite. It tells the story of a scarred World War II veteran and a “homely” maid, who shares a cottage, and fall in love. It seems beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or is, as they believe, the cottage enchanted? It is a sweet and charming movie. Pay no attention to the poster on the left, it is not about scandal or passion, it is about love. You would have to be pretty jaded not to feel your heart strings, at least, “tickled,” if not fully tugged, by this wonderful love-fantasy. It borders on a total masterpiece with some great camerawork and solid Hebert Marshall as the blind sage. Dorothy McGuire consistently wins me over – this is a keeper and deserves a whole lot better. But I hope in the near future they will finally give us a Blu-ray release from Warner Archive Collection for this ultimate classic film. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
