The Enchanted Cottage Movie (1945)
Robert Young and Dorothy McGuire Star in Classic Fantasy
Nov 28, 2008
The1945 film is based on a popular 1923 play by the now-obscure British actor, playwright and director Arthur Wing Pinero. It had previously been filmed as a silent feature in 1924.
Robert Young and Dorothy McGuire Reunited
Two of the movies’ most under-appreciated performers, Robert Young and Dorothy McGuire, re-teamed for the film – after enjoying a hit two years earlier in Claudia. (Young may be best remembered today for TV's Marcus Welby, M.D. and Father Knows Best.)
But their casting here is a mixed blessing. While their performances effectively carry the film’s romantic message, their physical appearances undercut the simple premise.
A Simple Story Well Told
An atmospheric New England cottage has a reputation as a haven for honeymooners. Laura Pennington (McGuire) is a lonely, homely, painfully self-conscious outsider hired as a housekeeper at the cottage just as a soon-to-be-wed couple arranges to lease the home as their honeymoon retreat.
But Army Air Corps flier Oliver Bradford (Young) and his fiancée Beatrice (Hillary Brooke), never get the chance for a honeymoon. He’s sent overseas early – before the wedding can take place.
Oliver returns a year later – disfigured in the war and bitter over his broken engagement. The angry, alienated veteran decides to lease the cottage for himself – and slowly, the disfigured pilot and the homely maid begin to see each other in different lights.
Unlikely Hollywood Love Story
The unlikely couple’s love grows, and eventually, we learn that something strange has happened. Either their own perceptions of each other have changed, or there’s something inherently magical, indeed enchanted, about the cottage.
The leads’ strong performances overcome the casting problem, which is a simple one: McGuire’s natural, patrician good looks can’t really be neutralized -- even after she’s made to appear dowdy with stringy, unkempt hair and an apparent lack of makeup. Young’s disfigurement – including a sagging mouth and eye, and a “dead” arm – are almost as unconvincing.
In short, you never believe his disfigurement is jaw-droppingly awful, and “homely” Laura Pennington actually appears no worse than a plain Jane.
Regardless, this is a touching soufflé of a film, with solid performances by the two leads and a moving one by supporting player Mildred Dunnock.
Mildred Dunnock: Scene Stealer
As the cottage’s owner, the ostensibly brittle defeatist Miss Minnett, Dunnock nonetheless recognizes and encourages the growing bond between her employee and the bitter war veteran.
Dunnock steals key scenes. In one, her luminous eyes and knowing smile reveal an inner yearning her character has hidden away since she lost her own fiancé to World War I so many years before.
Herbert Marshall as Blind Pianist
In a major supporting role, the usually stiff Herbert Marshall plays a blind concert pianist who recognizes the love between Oliver and Laura and serves as a Cupid of sorts. His understated performance serves the film well.
Rather than special effects, The Enchanted Cottage relies on simple point-of-view camera angles and editing to achieve the dual fantasy that Young and McGuire’s characters inhabit.
The film is not universally loved. For example, film critic Pauline Kael felt the "…updating of the Pinero play was given the full solemnly sensitive treatment by the director, John Cromwell, which only seems to add to the painful ickiness of the material. The pathos and sloshy uplift can make one squirm with embarrassment mixed with anger." (“5001 Nights at the Movies: A Guide From A to Z,” Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1982)
That’s a bit harsh, but not out of character for Kael. And it's true that this is a sentimental “message” film, one that aims for subtlety and doesn’t always achieve it. But its virtues far outweigh its shortcomings, and as a Hollywood romance with a twist, The Enchanted Cottage is as big-hearted and magical as the title suggests.
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