![]() ![]() Indeed, the relationship between the once-handsome but now-scarred Oliver and the homely, unwanted maid Laura is reminiscent of the Jane-Rochester relationship. She certainly could play the plain, ordinary girl well, with emotional depth and understanding. All the time throughout watching the film I was thinking of her as a perfect actress for 'Jane Eyre'. McGuire is never anything but convincing as the downtrodden yet kind Laura she impressed me a lot more here than in her Oscar-nominated work for 'Gentlemen's Agreement'. But the spell of the enchanted cottage starts to work on them on their wedding night, as they realise the true love and affection they harbour for each other, a love that goes past face value and transports them into another realm. They eventually decide to marry out of convenience. The kind-hearted, yet plain, Laura helps him in his loneliness, as she too knows what it feels like to be judged on looks alone. Crippled, bitter and lonely, he takes the cottage as a single man. He is disfigured and scarred as a result, and upon arriving home, his fiancé expresses disgust (although we never see it) at his changed appearance. However, Oliver was called to war a day before their wedding. Oliver Bradford originally wanted the cottage as a honeymoon location for him and his soon-to-be bride. She takes on a job at a pretty cottage owned by a dour old widow. Laura is a homely maid who looks as if she is going to spend her days as a spinster. It seems a hokey concept on paper, but this film really works. Laura Pennington (McGuire) and Oliver Bradford (Young) learn to do so while cast under the magic spell of the 'enchanted cottage' they are inhabiting. This is a film about seeing with your heart, not your eyes. It boasts touching performances from it's two leads, Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young, and a fine supporting turn by the always good Herbet Marshall. This is a lovely, almost-forgotten little RKO weepie from the 40's. ![]() But as Oliver and Laura arrive outside of the Major's house, one can tell that they have stepped into the light at last. The dark, overstuffed cottage, the isolation of it and many scenes done at night all lend a special, almost eerie atmosphere to the film. A very emotional film that touches on the insecurity, the feeling of being different and apart that many people, if not most, experience. She is heartbreaking in Laura's loneliness and self-loathing but also captures her wistfulness. He and Dorothy McGuire costarred in several films and worked very well together. He plays the full range of the character, from his confident handsomeness to his angry bitterness to self-acceptance and does an excellent job. Oliver is perhaps his best part and his best performance. He never achieved superstardom, but he played some good roles. Robert Young was such a huge television star that it's hard to remember that he started in film in the 1930s. 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. When he learns that Oliver's family is going to visit, he is afraid that Laura and Oliver will learn the truth. One day, they realize that they have become beautiful, flawless people and excitedly tell the Major about it. 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. ![]() He and Laura befriend one another she falls in love with him. 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. Minnett predicts that they won't be back. Oliver (Young) arrives with his pretty fiancée to put a deposit on the cottage for their honeymoon - but Mrs. The cottage has long been a haven for young marrieds, and they have all written their names on one of the windows. Minnett (Natwick) whose life stopped in 1917, the day her husband was killed in the war. McGuire plays Laura, a hopelessly plain, lonely young girl who goes to work in the cottage for a severe woman, Mrs. ![]() When he learns that they will be late, he tells their story. 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. Herbert Marshall, Mildred Natwick and Spring Byington also are in the cast. 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. ![]()
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