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Posted: |
Apr 1, 2003 - 2:28 AM
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By: |
manderley
(Member)
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"The Enchanted Cottage" is a beautiful film for those who believe in the power of love. Adapted from a 1920s stage play by Arthur Wing Pinero, it was made as a silent film in the 1920s. Since the 1945 version, which had an excellent script by DeWitt Bodeen, everyone has been trying to re-make it again, but thankfully, no one has yet, including Cher who had it under option. In the sixties, someone had the idea of casting Dorothy McGuire in the Mildred Natwick role, and Robert Young in the Herbert Marshall role, with new stars playing the roles they had previously played, but McGuire and Young decided against it in the end. They apparently felt that the concept of romantic love changing your outward appearance to perfect beauty for your partner was too far from reality and would not be accepted in the "warts-and-all" sixties. Who knows.
Anyway.....information on this Roy Webb "concerto" has been driving me nuts for two days now.....
In the 70s or 80s, John Steven Lasher put out an LP on his Entr'Acte label containing several filmmusic pieces. One of them was the Roy Webb "Enchanted Cottage" concerto which had been transferred from 4 sides (I think) of 78rpm acetates recorded in the 40s. (I don't recall whether these were soundtrack sessions or some sort of promo re-recording.) In any case, the quality was not great on this selection, but I was thrilled to have it anyway.
Well, I've still got it somewhere on my record shelves, but I can't find it!!
Does anyone recall this and remember the title of the LP or what else was on it. If you do I'll probably be able to quickly put my hands on it and give you details.
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There are a number of Webb scores I enjoy.
SINBAD THE SAILOR is wonderful.
And I love the music for I REMEMBER MAMA, a truly lovely score!
Turner frequently has shown both these films fairly recently.
Well worth it.
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Ohmigosh! You're right.
A quick sort in my collection database and I found I have this on Entr'Acte ERM-6002
The Jungle Book, narrated by Sabu is on Side 1
with The Paradine Case (Rhapsody for Piano & Orchestra), 11 minutes 25 seconds, and Enchanted Cottage (Concerto for Piano & Orchestra), 12 minutes.
John Steven Lasher and John Waxman produced the recording. All selections transferred from acetates.
I had totally forgotten about this recording!
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Exactly, Manderley; as you've discerned, THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE was just the SHALLOW HAL of its day.
(I have an original script from THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE around here somewhere...)
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Memo to Manderley: Sort of a HIGH NOON kind of thing. (Dorothy McGuire & Gary Cooper were both in a movie called FRIENDLY PERSUASION.)
Please don't tell Howard L that I said this---but as much as I respect Dorothy McGuire as an actress, I don't care for her facial appearance. She had one of those bland & brittle super-cheekboned faces. The kind typified by Michelle Pfeiffer. Although, fortunately, Dorothy's face acquired a lot more character when she got older. (But what did she ever do to deserve Robert Young as a romantic interest? Not just in THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE, but also in CLAUDIA & DAVID.)
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TRIVIA: Robert Young's brother, Joe Young, was the romantic lead in 'Our Gang's' SHRIMP FOR A DAY..."
Joe Young is, of course, best remembered for starring opposite Terry Moore and having saved a little girl from the top floor of a burning orphanage...
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(But what did she ever do to deserve Robert Young as a romantic interest? Not just in THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE, but also in CLAUDIA & DAVID.)
Dorothy McGuire's first major credit was the lead in the original touring company of Thornton Wilder's classic play, OUR TOWN. This led to playing the title role in another Broadway play, CLAUDIA, about a sort of naive type of child-like, newly married woman. She then went on to star in the movie version for Fox, which, as I recall, has a mostly unmemorable score by, predictably enough, Alfred Newman. CLAUDIA AND DAVID was the sequel to CLAUDIA, presumably because CLAUDIA was enough of a success to merit one.
I've always liked Ms. McGuire's acting. Whether real or not, she projected a level of serenity in her characters. I thought she was well cast as Mary in George Stevens' GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD. And I'd have loved to see her on Broadway, in the early 80's, as I recall, doing Hannah Jelkes in a stage revival of THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA, the role Deborah Kerr played in the movie. I was in New York at the time, but somehow never got around to going. My loss.
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THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE is one of my very favorite films (I've put up with a splicier-than-usual 16mm print for years). I think Robert Young was a tremendously underrated actor. Sure, sometimes he was cast a bit out of his range but he was one of the best at leaking out his characters' psychoses. Which is not surprising given the tortured individual he was offscreen. As for Webb's score, it's yet another example of the unobtrusive, genuine mood pieces that he created for RKO. It was really a match made in heaven.
TRIVIA: Robert Young's brother Joe Young was the romantic lead in Our Gang's SHRIMP FOR A DAY. He later played character roles in films such as THE FULLER BRUSH MAN.
He also accidentally knocked out Larry Fine in a Three Stooges comedy short (whose title escapes me).
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