Robert Young and Dorothy McGuire meet in "The Enchanted Cottage," a 1945 film based on a play and originally filmed as a silent in 1924. Herbert Marshall, Mildred Natwick and Spring Byington also are in the cast.
The story is told in flashback by Major Hillgrove (Marshall), a blind composer who has written a musical piece in honor of a married couple, Oliver and Laura and is debuting it for his guests. When he learns that they will be late, he tells their story.
McGuire plays Laura, a hopelessly plain, lonely young girl who goes to work in the cottage for a severe woman, Mrs. Minnett (Natwick) whose life stopped in 1917, the day her husband was killed in the war. The cottage has long been a haven for young marrieds, and they have all written their names on one of the windows. Oliver (Young) arrives with his pretty fiancée to put a deposit on the cottage for their honeymoon - but Mrs. Minnett predicts that they won't be back. Oliver goes off to fight in World War II and does return to the cottage alone, to hide the injuries to his face that he suffered in battle. He and Laura befriend one another; she falls in love with him. Eventually they marry, mostly for convenience on his side in order to keep his pushy family from moving in with him or trying to get him to leave the cottage.
One day, they realize that they have become beautiful, flawless people and excitedly tell the Major about it. When he learns that Oliver's family is going to visit, he is afraid that Laura and Oliver will learn the truth.
This is such a wonderful story of two people who are made beautiful to each other in the enchanted cottage because of their love for one another. Robert Young was such a huge television star that it's hard to remember that he started in film in the 1930s. He never achieved superstardom, but he played some good roles. Oliver is perhaps his best part and his best performance. He plays the full range of the character, from his confident handsomeness to his angry bitterness to self-acceptance and does an excellent job. He and Dorothy McGuire costarred in several films and worked very well together. She is heartbreaking in Laura's loneliness and self-loathing but also captures her wistfulness.
A very emotional film that touches on the insecurity, the feeling of being different and apart that many people, if not most, experience. The dark, overstuffed cottage, the isolation of it and many scenes done at night all lend a special, almost eerie atmosphere to the film. But as Oliver and Laura arrive outside of the Major's house, one can tell that they have stepped into the light at last.
A great movie. Not to be missed.
The story is told in flashback by Major Hillgrove (Marshall), a blind composer who has written a musical piece in honor of a married couple, Oliver and Laura and is debuting it for his guests. When he learns that they will be late, he tells their story.
McGuire plays Laura, a hopelessly plain, lonely young girl who goes to work in the cottage for a severe woman, Mrs. Minnett (Natwick) whose life stopped in 1917, the day her husband was killed in the war. The cottage has long been a haven for young marrieds, and they have all written their names on one of the windows. Oliver (Young) arrives with his pretty fiancée to put a deposit on the cottage for their honeymoon - but Mrs. Minnett predicts that they won't be back. Oliver goes off to fight in World War II and does return to the cottage alone, to hide the injuries to his face that he suffered in battle. He and Laura befriend one another; she falls in love with him. Eventually they marry, mostly for convenience on his side in order to keep his pushy family from moving in with him or trying to get him to leave the cottage.
One day, they realize that they have become beautiful, flawless people and excitedly tell the Major about it. When he learns that Oliver's family is going to visit, he is afraid that Laura and Oliver will learn the truth.
This is such a wonderful story of two people who are made beautiful to each other in the enchanted cottage because of their love for one another. Robert Young was such a huge television star that it's hard to remember that he started in film in the 1930s. He never achieved superstardom, but he played some good roles. Oliver is perhaps his best part and his best performance. He plays the full range of the character, from his confident handsomeness to his angry bitterness to self-acceptance and does an excellent job. He and Dorothy McGuire costarred in several films and worked very well together. She is heartbreaking in Laura's loneliness and self-loathing but also captures her wistfulness.
A very emotional film that touches on the insecurity, the feeling of being different and apart that many people, if not most, experience. The dark, overstuffed cottage, the isolation of it and many scenes done at night all lend a special, almost eerie atmosphere to the film. But as Oliver and Laura arrive outside of the Major's house, one can tell that they have stepped into the light at last.
A great movie. Not to be missed.