NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Warner Archive Blu-ray (July 2025): Warner Archive have transferred John Cromwell's The Enchanted Cottage to Blu-ray. We reviewed the 2010 Warner DVD HERE and have compared some captures below. Shot in black-and-white, the film uses soft focus and diffused lighting to evoke the cottage’s magical atmosphere, particularly in scenes where Oliver and Laura see each other’s idealized forms. The 1080P picks up this contrast at a significantly higher level than the SD. John Cromwell’s direction, combined with Ted Tetzlaff’s (Notorious, I Married a Witch, My Man Godfrey) cinematography, creates a visual style that balances realism with a dreamlike quality, enhancing the film’s fantastical premise. The cinematography is showcased with exceptional clarity via the HD presentation, highlighting the delicate interplay of soft focus and diffused lighting that creates the dreamlike atmosphere of the enchanted cottage. Fine details, such as the rustic textures of the cottage’s wooden beams, the subtle prosthetics of Oliver’s disfigurement, and the expressive faces of Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young, are rendered sharply, with deep blacks, crisp whites, and a balanced grayscale that enhances the film’s emotional depth. The restoration eliminates age-related artifacts like scratches or speckles, maintaining a natural film grain that preserves the 1940s aesthetic. An incredibly welcome upgrade. 

NOTE: We have added 74 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Warner Archive use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Sound design is minimal but effective, with ambient sounds like birdsong and crackling fires enhancing the cottage’s serene ambiance, while the absence of background noise in tense scenes heightens the focus on dialogue and emotion. Roy Webb’s (I Walked with a Zombie, The Seventh Victim, The Ghost Ship, Bedlam, Crossfire, Clash by Night, I Married a Witch, This Is Cinerama, Easy Living, The Window, Fixed Bayonets, Journey Into Fear) score is a vital component, with its tender, romantic melodies and delicate piano motifs (reflecting John Hillgrove’s role) underscoring the emotional intimacy of the story. The music swells during key romantic moments but remains restrained, avoiding melodrama. Dialogue, delivered by Robert Young, Dorothy McGuire, and Herbert Marshall, is crisp and well-balanced, ensuring every heartfelt exchange is audible, even in quieter scenes. The mono track is free of hiss or distortion, offering a clean and era-appropriate listening experience that complements the film’s intimate tone and supports the visual restoration’s quality. Warner Archive offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray offers supplements. A Lux Radio Theater broadcast (September 3rd, 1945, running shy of an hour) features Robert Young and Dorothy McGuire reprising their roles, offering a condensed audio adaptation that captures the story’s emotional core, complete with period-appropriate radio drama flourishes. The General Electric Theater broadcast (September 24, 1953, 1/2 hour), starring Joan Fontaine, provides a contrasting audio adaptation, showcasing how the story was reinterpreted for a different audience. The original theatrical trailer is also included. A commentary would have seemed worthy of the film's strong appeal.

John Cromwell's The Enchanted Cottage is a deeply moving romantic drama that weaves together elements of fantasy, psychological insight, and post-war sentimentality. Adapted from Arthur Wing Pinero’s 1923 play, the film stars Robert Young (Marcus Welby, M.D., Secret of the Incas, Crossfire, Western Union) as Oliver Bradford, a disfigured World War II veteran, and Dorothy McGuire (Friendly Persuasion, The Spiral Staircase, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) as Laura Pennington, a shy and self-conscious housemaid, whose unlikely romance unfolds in a seemingly enchanted New England cottage. Through its tender performances, evocative visual style, and exploration of themes like inner beauty, self-acceptance, and the transformative power of love, the film offers a poignant reflection on human connection in the shadow of war’s devastation. Culturally, The Enchanted Cottage engages with timeless questions about beauty and worth, making it a precursor to later films exploring similar themes. The Enchanted Cottage continues to captivate viewers with its emotional depth. It blends romance, fantasy, and psychological insight to tell a timeless story of love and self-acceptance. This Blu-ray release, a significant upgrade over the mediocre DVD transfer, is an essential acquisition for fans of classic Hollywood, romantic dramas, and post-war cinema, celebrating the film’s timeless exploration of love, inner beauty, and resilience with exceptional quality and care. Certainly recommended.  

Gary Tooze