The Enchanted Cottage (1945 film)
Encyclopedia
The Enchanted Cottage is a 1945
romantic film fantasy
starring Robert Young
, Dorothy McGuire
, and Mildred Natwick
. It was based on a play by Arthur Wing Pinero
. The Enchanted Cottage was previously adapted for the silent screen in 1924
, with Richard Barthelmess
and May McAvoy
as the newlyweds.
) is disfigured by war wounds, he hides from his family (Spring Byington
) and fiancée (Hillary Brooke
), renting a cottage from Mrs. Minnett (Mildred Natwick
). Laura Pennington (Dorothy McGuire
) is a shy, homely maid who tidies up the place. Oliver and Laura gradually fall in love and discover that their feelings for each other have mysteriously transformed them. He appears handsome to her, and she seems beautiful to him. This is only perceived by the two lovers (and the audience), not by others. Laura comes to believe that the cottage is "enchanted" because it was once often rented to honeymoon couples.
.
When the film was taken away from her by RKO management to be given to producer writer Dudley Nichols
, Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper
wrote a strongly-worded newspaper editorial. Hopper set aside her longtime feud with her archrival Harriet's mother Louella Parsons
, and criticised RKO for taking properties away from a female producer to give to a male. The outcry from the column led RKO to change its plan and give the property back to Harriet Parsons.
Parsons wrote an outline of the updated story about a disfigured rather than disabled World War II veteran. She then engaged DeWitt Bodeen
for the screenplay, and the two became lifelong friends. Parsons also selected John Cromwell
as director. David O. Selznick
lent RKO Dorothy McGuire
for the film, and MGM lent Robert Young
, who reteamed with McGuire after her debut in Claudia. Parsons also contributed to the screenplay along with Herman J. Mankiewicz
, who was hired by Cromwell to touch up Bodeen's screenplay.
Composer Roy Webb
wrote a piano concerto for the film that a blinded World War I
veteran (Herbert Marshall
) uses as a tone poem to describe the story of the two protagonists to a gathering of people. Webb was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score in 1945 and performed the concerto at the Hollywood Bowl
in the same year. Marshall, who had lost a leg in World War I, played his blind role with the help of special contact lenses.
Rather than having her character having noticeable physical disabilities, Dorothy McGuire insisted her character show her plainness by no makeup, ill-fitting clothes, and a drab hairstyle. When McGuire was filmed looking appealing to Robert Young her character had similar costumes that were well tailored.
with Robert Young and Dorothy McGuire reprising their film roles, and on the December 11, 1946 broadcast of Academy Award Theater
, starring Peter Lawford
and Joan Lorring
.
1945 in film
The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
romantic film fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
starring Robert Young
Robert Young (actor)
Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
, Dorothy McGuire
Dorothy McGuire
Dorothy Hackett McGuire was an American actress.-Career:Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she began her acting career on the stage at the Omaha Community Playhouse...
, and Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick was an American stage and film actress.- Early life :A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born to Joseph and Mildred Marion Dawes Natwick. She graduated from the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore...
. It was based on a play by Arthur Wing Pinero
Arthur Wing Pinero
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero was an English actor and later an important dramatist and stage director.-Biography:...
. The Enchanted Cottage was previously adapted for the silent screen in 1924
The Enchanted Cottage (1924 film)
The Enchanted Cottage is a silent drama film based upon a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and directed by John S. Robertson.The film was produced by Richard Barthelmess, through his company Inspiration, and released through Associated First National...
, with Richard Barthelmess
Richard Barthelmess
Richard Semler "Dick" Barthelmess was an Oscar-nominated silent film star.-Early life:Barthelmess was educated at Hudson River Military Academy at Nyack and Trinity College at Hartford, Connecticut...
and May McAvoy
May McAvoy
May McAvoy was an American actress, who worked mainly during the silent film era. She starred in Hollywood's revolutionary part talking film, The Jazz Singer.-Career:...
as the newlyweds.
Plot summary
When pilot Oliver Bradford (Robert YoungRobert Young (actor)
Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
) is disfigured by war wounds, he hides from his family (Spring Byington
Spring Byington
Spring Byington was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a key MGM contract player appearing in films from the 1930s through the 1960s.-Early life:Byington was born Spring Dell Byington in Colorado Springs,...
) and fiancée (Hillary Brooke
Hillary Brooke
Hillary Brooke was an American film actress best known for her work in Abbott and Costello and Sherlock Holmes films...
), renting a cottage from Mrs. Minnett (Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick was an American stage and film actress.- Early life :A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born to Joseph and Mildred Marion Dawes Natwick. She graduated from the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore...
). Laura Pennington (Dorothy McGuire
Dorothy McGuire
Dorothy Hackett McGuire was an American actress.-Career:Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she began her acting career on the stage at the Omaha Community Playhouse...
) is a shy, homely maid who tidies up the place. Oliver and Laura gradually fall in love and discover that their feelings for each other have mysteriously transformed them. He appears handsome to her, and she seems beautiful to him. This is only perceived by the two lovers (and the audience), not by others. Laura comes to believe that the cottage is "enchanted" because it was once often rented to honeymoon couples.
Cast
- Dorothy McGuireDorothy McGuireDorothy Hackett McGuire was an American actress.-Career:Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she began her acting career on the stage at the Omaha Community Playhouse...
as Laura Pennington - Robert YoungRobert Young (actor)Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
as Oliver Bradford - Herbert MarshallHerbert MarshallHerbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
as Major John Hillgrove - Mildred NatwickMildred NatwickMildred Natwick was an American stage and film actress.- Early life :A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born to Joseph and Mildred Marion Dawes Natwick. She graduated from the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore...
as Mrs. Abigail Minnett - Spring ByingtonSpring ByingtonSpring Byington was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a key MGM contract player appearing in films from the 1930s through the 1960s.-Early life:Byington was born Spring Dell Byington in Colorado Springs,...
as Violet Price - Hillary BrookeHillary BrookeHillary Brooke was an American film actress best known for her work in Abbott and Costello and Sherlock Holmes films...
as Beatrice Alexander - Richard Gaines as Frederick 'Freddy' Price
- Alec Englander as Danny 'Taxi' Stanton
- Robert ClarkeRobert ClarkeRobert Irby Clarke was an American actor best known for his cult classic science fiction films of the 1950s.-Early life:...
as Marine Corporal - Eden Nicholas as Soldier
Production
Arthur Wing Pinero's 1923 play was soon filmed in 1924 as a timely story involving physical and emotional disabilities following the First World War. RKO Producer Harriet Parsons acquired the rights for her studio for an updated World War II version set in New EnglandNew England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
.
When the film was taken away from her by RKO management to be given to producer writer Dudley Nichols
Dudley Nichols
Dudley Nichols was an American screenwriter who first came to prominence after winning and refusing the screenwriting Oscar for The Informer in 1936....
, Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper was an American actress and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns.-Early life:...
wrote a strongly-worded newspaper editorial. Hopper set aside her longtime feud with her archrival Harriet's mother Louella Parsons
Louella Parsons
Louella Parsons was the first American news-writer movie columnist in the United States. She was a gossip columnist who, for many years, was an influential arbiter of Hollywood mores, often feared and hated by the individuals, mostly actors, whose careers she could negatively impact via her...
, and criticised RKO for taking properties away from a female producer to give to a male. The outcry from the column led RKO to change its plan and give the property back to Harriet Parsons.
Parsons wrote an outline of the updated story about a disfigured rather than disabled World War II veteran. She then engaged DeWitt Bodeen
DeWitt Bodeen
DeWitt Bodeen was a film screenwriter who today is probably best remembered for writing Cat People .-Life:...
for the screenplay, and the two became lifelong friends. Parsons also selected John Cromwell
John Cromwell (director)
Elwood Dager Cromwell , known as John Cromwell, was an American film actor, director and producer.-Biography:...
as director. David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
lent RKO Dorothy McGuire
Dorothy McGuire
Dorothy Hackett McGuire was an American actress.-Career:Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she began her acting career on the stage at the Omaha Community Playhouse...
for the film, and MGM lent Robert Young
Robert Young (actor)
Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
, who reteamed with McGuire after her debut in Claudia. Parsons also contributed to the screenplay along with Herman J. Mankiewicz
Herman J. Mankiewicz
Herman Jacob Mankiewicz was an American screenwriter, who, with Orson Welles, wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane . Earlier, he was the Berlin correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the drama critic for The New York Times and The New Yorker. Alexander Woollcott, said that Herman Mankiewicz was...
, who was hired by Cromwell to touch up Bodeen's screenplay.
Composer Roy Webb
Roy Webb
Roy Webb was a film music composer.Webb has hundreds of composing credits to his name, mainly with RKO Pictures, and while most of the movies he scored were fairly light in content, he is today best known for his dark horror and film noir scores...
wrote a piano concerto for the film that a blinded World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
veteran (Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
) uses as a tone poem to describe the story of the two protagonists to a gathering of people. Webb was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score in 1945 and performed the concerto at the Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
in the same year. Marshall, who had lost a leg in World War I, played his blind role with the help of special contact lenses.
Rather than having her character having noticeable physical disabilities, Dorothy McGuire insisted her character show her plainness by no makeup, ill-fitting clothes, and a drab hairstyle. When McGuire was filmed looking appealing to Robert Young her character had similar costumes that were well tailored.
Adaptations to Other Media
The Enchanted Cottage was adapted as a radio play on the September 3, 1945 broadcast of Lux Radio TheaterLux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network ; CBS and NBC . Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences...
with Robert Young and Dorothy McGuire reprising their film roles, and on the December 11, 1946 broadcast of Academy Award Theater
Academy Award Theater
Academy Award was a CBS radio anthology series which presented 30-minute adaptations of plays, novels or films.Rather than adaptations of Oscar-winning films, as the title implied, the series offered "Hollywood's finest, the great picture plays, the great actors and actresses, techniques and...
, starring Peter Lawford
Peter Lawford
Peter Sydney Ernest Aylen , better known as Peter Lawford, was an English-American actor.He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to US President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting...
and Joan Lorring
Joan Lorring
Joan Lorring is a Hong Kong-born American actress.-Early life:Lorring fled with her mother in 1939 following the Japanese invasion...
.