Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

....What a wonderful film......Technically superior..........The slow dissolves from past to present.....done so slowly was refreshing to see especially when compared to the rapid jerky crap that we see today..........and the narrowing of the spot on the key being held by Jayne Meadows....indicating the compression of her character into the key in the door being opened by Evelyn Keyes indicating the opening of the relationship between Keyes and Farley Granger was SPECTACULAR!!!!What a wonderful way to express character and story.Wish we could see techniques like this today.....Gigi Perreau's scene in which she makes her lower chin quiver when brought into her new home at the beginning of the film was very moving........have only seen Hepburn, Brabara Rush and Marisa Haggarty of CSI Special Victims able to do this on the screen....an incredible acting accomplishment.......

This is possibly David Niven's very best performance. It took several scenes before I realized that it was actually a heavily made-up Niven who was portraying the elderly Rollo. Even Niven's voice is different for the elder Rollo - about an octave lower - than for the younger Rollo! He portrays the younger Rollo, with his usual charm, panache and sympathy. Niven's performance is worth the effort to see this movie; I gained much respect for him as an actor.Likewise, Teresa Wright is perfect as Lark. While I regard her more as cute (possibly "pretty"), rather than beautiful, she always radiates a glow. Her eyes are extremely expressive; they sparkle with soulfulness. Little Gigi Pereau, as the young Lark, initially steals our hearts, and it would have been great to see more of her. However, as the older Lark, Teresa Wright, is no less effective in her "larceny" than her young counterpart. We embrace her and root for her through the entire film. She is excellent.The best performance, however, is given by Jayne Meadows as Selena. Selena is a more complex character, and Meadows delivers a nuanced performance. From the moment of her arrival, little Lark arouses feelings of jealousy and insecurity in young Selena (who has also lost her own mother). These feelings mold the character portrayed by Meadows, yet so do the feelings of love and responsibility she feels toward her brothers - especially Rollo. Meadows' Selena never comes across as a mere evil step-sister. Her affection and concern for Rollo (however misdirected) always come across as genuine. Although we do not like Selena, we understand her. She is never one-dimensional.Another commentator has provided great insight into the scene transitions. They are masterful and set the story-telling apart. This film is a technical treat - in any age. The costumes, sets, props - everything is first-rate.BUT, this is not a love story. It is two stories told simultaneously, much like the more recent "French Lieutenant's Woman." Each informs the other. ONE of the stories is a love story, but the other is a story of UNFULFILLED love. Rollo, having missed out on the love of his life, becomes intent on seeing his niece, Grizel, and her Canadian beau, Pax, avoid the same mistake he made. In the end, it seems that he succeeds with them where he failed in his own life.The failure of Lark and Rollo to get together is due more to the common (and annoying) plot device of miscommunication (or more precisely, total lack of communication) between the two sweethearts than to Selena's machinations. That lack of communication between people who are supposedly in love is very frustrating for me to watch. Consequently I found Lark and Rollo's love story more frustrating than romantic - as I do the plethora of films that rely on this overused device. Thus, while the latter love story between Grizel and Pax ends happily, the earlier love story between Lark and Rollo does not. So if you like stories about love's being fulfilled, this movie may not satisfy you: half of it ends unhappily.

58 years before "Monster House" - a film about a neighborhood terrorized by a house - there was "Enchantment" (1948); a film narrated by a house. I'm not kidding; the house provides a brief bookend voice-over commentary; introducing the story and then wrapping things up at the conclusion. Fortunately this house is much better behaved than its 2006 successor because 95% of the film takes place under its roof. The modest set means that second-to-none cinematographer Gregg Toland's expertise is somewhat wasted. There wasn't much for him to apply himself to here other than some interesting lighting and a series of interesting match cut transitions (more about these later). "Enchantment" is a romance, more precisely two romances as the film tells the story of wartime romances in a London family during both the WWI and WWII. Set in 1944, the film opens with retired General Roland (Rollo) Dane (a convincingly aged David Nivin) pining away over his lost opportunity for true love. Upon the death of his sister Selina he moved back into his boyhood home because it contains memories of his lost love Lark (Teresa Wright). Lark was an orphan his family adopted when she was eight. Rollo and Lark fell in love when they grew up but shrewish sister Selina managed to derail the romance. Lark marries someone else and Rollo pursues a career in the Army. They never see each other again. Enter niece Grizel (Evelyn Keyes-Scarlett O'Hara's little sister) who comes to wartime London from America. Grizel is an ambulance driver who moves in with her great uncle Rollo. Grizel begins a romance with a wounded Canadian officer named Pax (Farley Granger), who turns out to be Lark's nephew. Now this may not sound very promising, but "Enchantment" transcends ordinary romantic melodrama by the way in which it tells its tale (and I'm not talking about the talking house). The story is told by cutting back and forth between two parallel romantic story lines taking place in the same house; Rollo and Lark during WWI and Grizel and Pax during WWII. This device works quite well and is worth watching just to see the match cut transitions that move the film back and forth between the two romances. There are ten of these transitions. The camera holds on the door inside Selina's bedroom as the story flashbacks to the same spot 25+ years earlier. Then a place-setting at the dinner table takes the story forward. The transitions continue; using a chandelier, a mantle clock, the fireplace, the sidewalk, and the staircase. But this is more than just a slick editing trick. Each match cut is designed to draw attention to parallels between Grizel and her predecessors in the house. Which is why she is given Selina's old room. The climatic transition does not use the match cut technique, presumably to indicate that the later romance will have a more upbeat outcome than the earlier one. The final match cut involves a set of house "keys"; probably not a deliberate play on a certain actresses' surname but a symbolic reference (i.e. the key to happiness). The sidewalk transition is the best one as Niven actually morphs into Granger at the same exact point on the sidewalk. This was a dolly tracking shot and the row houses in the background had to line up perfectly (remember this was before digital effects). For pretty much everyone who has seen"Enchantment", the most memorable images involve eight-year old Lark and ten-year old Rollo; played by real life brother and sister Peter Miles and Gigi Perreau. Gigi totally hijacks the film at this point leaving viewers wishing she had more scenes. Peter (in appearance and style) may remind you of Freddie Highmore ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Finding Neverland"). In fairness to Selina (nicely played by Jayne Meadows), her resentment of the cute little waif is somewhat understandable. Lark immediately brings out the protective instincts of Selina's father and two brothers. Basically supplanting Selina and stealing her destiny. Niven, Wright, and Keyes are quite good although Keyes never quite sells her shrewish side nor her attraction to Pax. I felt this was mostly due to Granger who was one creepy guy. Hitchcock cast him for his lead in "Rope" for this very quality and while it was an asset in that role it works to everyone's detriment here. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

The 1940s seemed to be the decade of the romantic "women's films" featuring stars like Bette Davis, Merle Oberon, Olivia de Havilland and others. And Samuel Goldwyn had the good taste to hire the best script writers, the best cinematographers, the best musicians, and the best available actors to play in all of his films.None was more romantic than ENCHANTMENT and it has a warm glow about it, despite being a tale of unrequited love whereby an elderly man (DAVID NIVEN in convincing age make-up) recalls his younger days and his sweetheart (TERESA WRIGHT) who leaves him because of a misunderstanding caused by his neurotic sister (JAYNE MEADOWS).When a young woman ambulance driver (EVELYN KEYES), who happens to be his niece, comes to stay in the grand old house during the London blitz of World War II, he advises her not to make the same mistake he did in following his true love. Result: a happy ending for Keyes and her pilot lover FARLEY GRANGER when she goes rushing after him during an air raid.The tale is told in a clever use of flashbacks from one generation to the other, and all of it is photographed in crisp B&W splendor by Gregg Toland with a quietly effective musical score by Hugo Friedhofer. It's a handsomely mounted production, tastefully done without overdoing the sentimentality of the tale. LEO G. CARROLL is excellent as Niven's servant, realistically aged for the part of the tale that takes place in the present.Highly recommended as a quality picture of its kind.It's also a sad reminder of the fact that after leaving Samuel Goldwyn under the contract system, TERESA WRIGHT's screen career floundered and she soon found that she had to work for lesser salaries in films not worthy of her presence. She became a free agent but admitted that it turned out to be a huge mistake.