Shy homely maid Laura Pennington starts working at the magical cottage which hosted many honeymooners in the past. Oliver Bradford and beautiful Beatrice Alexander arrive to plan for their honeymoon. He's a pilot headed for the war. The couple is beyond confident about their eventual nuptials but cottage owner Mrs. Abigail Minnett is strangely hesitant. Oliver tries to mark the window as the earlier couples but he fails for an unknown reason. Oliver is disfigured during the war and withdraws to the cottage. Beatrice tries and fails to convince him to return to her. The reclusive Oliver falls for Laura and befriends blind neighbor Major John Hillgrove who is telling the story at the beginning of the movie.
I love the central premise of the cottage. It's poetic, beautiful, and utterly charming. I would probably cut out Beatrice. She's a no-win-situation character. If she's too superficial, it rubs off on Oliver in a bad way. In this case, she pulls back a little and isn't a complete B. That makes it harder to villainize her and shift the ship to Laura. It would be better to just make him a single guy. The cottage could be a recovery place for the war wounded and Laura could be the nurse. That would be a better use of the premise. Instead of a blind neighbor, it could be a soldier blinded in the war. Overall, I really love the poetry of the premise. While the story is functional, I would rework it to emphasize its romantic melodrama.
I love the central premise of the cottage. It's poetic, beautiful, and utterly charming. I would probably cut out Beatrice. She's a no-win-situation character. If she's too superficial, it rubs off on Oliver in a bad way. In this case, she pulls back a little and isn't a complete B. That makes it harder to villainize her and shift the ship to Laura. It would be better to just make him a single guy. The cottage could be a recovery place for the war wounded and Laura could be the nurse. That would be a better use of the premise. Instead of a blind neighbor, it could be a soldier blinded in the war. Overall, I really love the poetry of the premise. While the story is functional, I would rework it to emphasize its romantic melodrama.