It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

A blind pianist tells his friends a story of a 'haunted' honeymoon cottage, long left empty until two sweethearts discover it and plan to rent the place following their nuptials; World War II separates them, and when the GI comes home, he's badly scarred. Returning to the cottage alone, the soldier is enchanted by the spinster maid, homely and unloved, who has harbored a crush on the young man for over a year. Dirge-like, wide-eyed romantic drama with overtures to the fantastic that are explored in the most facetious of ways. Screenwriters DeWitt Bodeen and Herman J. Mankiewicz, adapting the play by Arthur Wing Pinero (previously filmed in 1924), may have had a good chuckle behind the scenes after selling this nonsense, though leads Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young do their very best with the sticky material; Mildred Natwick, as the cottage housekeeper, and Herbert Marshall, as the pianist who gives the couple his blessing, do not fare as well. At the midway point, when the story turns rosy, the incidentals have become obvious and interest in these characters wanes. The film is actually rather insulting to spinsters and scarred GIs. I would have preferred hearing more about McGuire's wood carvings. ** from ****

The Enchanted Cottage will appeal to those in their mid 20s and above who share a committed relationship with another person. This is a true romantic movie and is not sugary sweet. The movie is a good one to watch on a rainy day or early evening. Although the story will keep loving hearts filled with entertainment, it does not encourage one to eat popcorn, but sip hot tea or coffee. Robert Young, Herbert Marshall, and Dorothy McGuire provide excellent support for the story. It is truly wonderful when actors/actresses provide performances in which you remember the characters, not the actor/actress. Their role is so convincing that they become the character. That is something that we don't get much of today, but was prevalent in the pre-1965 movies. Watch with a loved one, preferably a spouse or boy/girl-friend. Enjoy the love and the good feelings that this movie brings.

Robert Young, a forgettable film actor, plays rich guy Oliver, a wounded war veteran who returns to the family country cottage to hide his perceived hideous physical deformity from the world. And what's so horrifying about his barely scarred face and limp arm is really not enough to alienate him irrevocably from the society of fellow human beings. Dorothy McGuire, not a particularly interesting actress, is Laura the young servant girl, suffering from crippling shyness and social awkwardness —and a total lack of familiarity with the practice of grooming and use of cosmetic products. She's not ugly but—horrors—just commonly "plain." Hollywood, here in essence is defining female beauty for the American population, circa 1945.Within the walls of this cottage, so village lore has it, the auras of past great loves and romances cast an enchantment over those who dwell there. The spell permeates the two characters, Laura and Oliver, —and "Wha-la!" —they fall in love with each other. They are now both beautiful but only in each other's eyes. To the rest of the world they still present their two repugnant selves. The filmmakers would want you to believe in the "magic" of this relationship. Yet this movie, which illustrates a naïve sensibility about the power of love, is so lacking in charm, so lacking in even minimal credibility that the viewer can't even suspend disbelief sufficiently enough to enjoy it as a fairy tale. This movie's over-arching offense lies in its portrayal of the disabled as individuals segregated from mainstream society, recipients of pity doomed to acceptance only by others like themselves. Such thinking was a cultural norm sixty-eight years ago; today such a mindset is an anachronism in a more enlightened era. This movie is so poorly conceived, its actors so un-engaging that I'm stretching it by rating it as a 1.

It has been quite a few years since seeing this movie, which is a shame since I am such a fan. This movie was appropriately released at the end of WWII, as many military men were returning from war. No doubt the theme of a disfigured veteran was very relative to many of them, and their families.This is a very heartwarming tale. Some will think it very melodramatic and sentimental, but I find it very endearing and sweet. Young's character is very arrogant and rude to begin with, then becomes very bitter after the accident. He plays both extremes quite well. It is interesting to see these characters as they are transformed by the very powerful effects of love.