Cottage to Let

Cottage to Let (1941)

There are so many characters, so many tinges of British accent, and such a parade of turncoats and double agents it's difficult to quite follow everything here. But stick it out. Or, in the extreme case (which I admit taking) see it twice. It's "quite worth it, I dare say."

A comedy on the surface, and quite funny all through, it's also a serious war movie, shot and released in the thick of World War II. The key theme is actually not the bomb sight design and the attempt by the government to protect its secret from spies. It's about loose lips. And looking for traitors among us.

So, here at this cottage near where a top scientist is working on a secret weapon idea, there is a parade of suspicious characters, and I mean characters, including the redoubtable Alastair Sim. There is a nutty family running the place, a couple of love affairs in the air, a bunch of secret messages sent by various messengers. I count rough twelve characters who matter, and if some are very minor, they are critical in some small way to the outcome. Allegiances are everything.

What makes the movie actually remarkable is that it holds to together so well. And it has a tight economy to the editing, and a fluidity to the filming, that keeps it really going. For some reason the lighting in the first half, and the interior scenes in general, is bright and flat (no Warner Bros. influence here I guess) but then there are some scenes later that are extraordinary in their dramatic atmosphere.

In fact, there are some ideas that prefigure famous later ones, like the auction that is interrupted by spies and good guys by bidding incorrectly, stolen by Hitchcock in "North by Northwest." Or even the ending which is a slim version of the mirror shootout by Welles in "Lady from Shanghai." It's quite an exciting finish (never mind the goofy millstone moment, which you'll see).

Anthony Asquith, the director, went on to make some mainstays of post-war British cinema, and that's yet another reason to appreciate this, as a precursor to his own work. But it also reveals a real intelligence for the movies. Evident and appreciated.

In the big view, it isn't the plot, which is necessarily contrived to give a message to the nation, but the many pieces, and the writing and acting in those pieces, that make the movie really strong. The one version out there (streaming on Netflix) is a weak print (and there is no DVD release, apparently) so the sound and even the richness of the visuals will hamper a good appreciation. Even so, give it a look. Alertly.

Others have discussed the plot and acting in "Cottage to Let" (aka, "Bombsight Stolen"). To tell too much would take away from the enjoyment of this film. Some have said it has a slow start. But without such a background and build-up for so many characters, I think we'd be lost. At least one reviewer doubted the probability of such a scenario. I agree with the majority that this is an excellent war mystery and spy thriller. The cast is superb, with some big names of English theater and filmdom – John Mills, Alastair Sim, Michael Wilding, Leslie Banks, and others. And, it has an excellent supporting cast.

Of course, this is a fiction story, as are so many of war-time. But as to the likelihood of something like it happening or not, one should consider some other factors. This movie was released in England on Sept. 6, 1941. The U.S. was not as yet in the war, even though most of Europe by then had been overrun by Nazi Germany. The official start of World War II was two years earlier. On Sept. 3, 1939, Britain and France had declared war on Germany after it invaded Poland.

The Battle of Britain was waged from July 10 to Oct. 31, 1940, with Germany bombing London, major ports, and other large cities. Even after Britain won this battle for air superiority, Germany continued to bomb London and other cities. As this film noted, Londoners sent their children to country locations to keep them safe from the bombing raids. And, in fact, many British secret operations, including research and war design work were in locales across the country – away from the population and large military bases.

Even after the U.S. entered the war and began sending troops to England in 1942, the Allies continued to disperse many of their war-time operations across the countryside. Many special projects were going on, none of which would be common knowledge to the public or reported in the press at the time. Only after the war did we learn about them. Movies have been made about some even decades later. All are interesting tales. Among the ones I've seen and enjoyed are: "Secret Flight" (aka, "School for Secrets") in 1946; "The Small Back Room" (aka, "Hour of Glory") in 1949; "The Dam Busters" in 1955; and "Enigma" in 2001.

England had its share of German spies. British intelligence agencies broke up some German espionage rings working for the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service. And, Germany had tried to land agents by submarine in Scotland. No one knew or could imagine to what extent German agents or spies may be operating in England. So, this film was timely as well.

I am curious though, about the late date of release of the film in the U.S. – May of 1943, Most of the British-made films during the war were released a year or more later in the U.S. One reviewer said that the Brits preferred American war films to those of the British film studios. I doubt there is any movie attendance or other data that would lend credence to such a statement. I'm sure the British public was drawn to all the war films that were being made at the time, regardless of the country source. No doubt, Englanders wanted to see some of the American movie stars they had come to know. At the same time, British studios were putting out some excellent films. Among them were "One of Our Aircraft is Missing," "Went the Day Well?," "In Which We Serve," "The Way Ahead," "49th Parallel," "Fires Were Started," "Convoy," "Freedom Radio," "The Day Will Dawn," "The Next of Kin," "The Foreman Went to France," "The Bells Go Down," "The Silver Fleet," and "Undercover."

Many of the British post-war films also were excellent. I enjoy these films immensely, because they give us a look at the war from the eyes of British servicemen and public. Just as American films give others a view through Americans' eyes. The quality of the DVD I have with this film is rather poor. I hope a digitally mastered DVD will be produced one day soon.

Two bad-guy Nazi guards with guns return to the entry room of a mill where Banks, Cole and the Scotland Yard detective/butler are being held in the inner room. Check. It's all over for these two Nazi agents. The handwriting is on the mill wall. Militia is outside, surrounding them, shooting through the windows. The baddies' gun ammunition is likely low, as they've been shooting a lot. I didn't notice they brought extra rounds. Check.

Problem solving is no longer necessary for our hostage three. They clearly heard the rescuing ruckus. All they have to do is bide their time and enjoy their rescue. They don't have to bother to fulfill any escape plan.

But no, here comes their superfluous special effect. A large, heavy millstone is lever-ready to come crashing through the door connecting the inner room to the mill entry. Only it's narrower than about a third of a man's body, and quite unlikely to remain upright for more than a foot length of travel if levered and pushed. Makes you wonder how this point was staged in the play format this film was based on.

Now if you were a Nazi/bad guy, would you stand around huddled next to your pal in perfect line with the approaching stone, or would you have good enough reflexes to just hop aside? A second or two of warning is all you'd need to get out of the way, as the stone improbably lumbers along its slow, inexplicably upright gravitational path. The baddies stare at it and get in line for the impact.

Well this film still gets 9 stars from me out of 10, mainly for the entertaining interplay between comedy and intrigue, and for the excellent cast and script, and overall sweetness, despite credulity-bending here and there. Enjoyable movie for a rainy afternoon.

Watching Cottage To Let one can hope that Leslie Banks learns a valuable lesson. That no matter how much privacy he craves in his work during war time other considerations like security prevail. Of course being kidnapped by the Nazis might be a learning experience.

That's what happens here in Cottage To Let, a wartime British film taken from a stage play by actor/writer Frederick Kerr. Banks lives with wife and daughter at a Scottish estate with the usual gang of servants, a young evacuee from the London blitz George Coe and he has his one assistant Michael Wilding for his scientific research which is now directed toward inventing a new 100% accurate bomb sight for the RAF. And from the RAF he has a downed flier from the Battle Of Britain, Flight Lieutenant John Mills.

Other than Banks and Coe, absolutely no one is who they seem to be. Some are spies, some are security, the trick is to figure out which is which and I guarantee you won't be 100% right. Even Coe who says that his hero is Sherlock Holmes "the smartest man whoever lived" doesn't get it right though his suspicions do lead to the unmasking of who is who.

Even though Cottage To Let is dated and fixed in the time of wartime UK it still is quite enjoyable with some really good performances.

An enjoyable piece of British wartime entertainment, probably to be appreciated more now than by audiences at the time, (who would have found it very 'stagey' and lacking in action, I suspect). The plot is nothing in particular and its stage origins are all too apparent in the set locations, which cover the cottage of the title acting as a lodging house, home for evacuated children from London and a military hospital (????) whilst, up at 'the Big House', there is a 'top-secret' research laboratory, (which you know is 'top secret' as one of the (numerous) doors has a sliding panel in it),(but which actually seems to have more people entering and leaving it in the course of the film than the lounge of the 'Dog and Duck'), country gentry residence and garden fête venue. The real strength of the film, though, is its very strong cast. Leslie Banks is quite watchable on as the lead and John Mills is his usual, (for the period), photogenic, brylcreemed RAF fighter pilot hero, (or IS he?), who delivers in the usual sound manner. George Cole makes his first film appearance as one of two Cockney scamps evacuated to the 'cottage', (although the other one disappears from view entirely after the first five minutes!), and one can already see him mentally in a mini-sheepskin coat and with a cigarillo in hand as he begins his apprenticeship for greater glories to come in his career. Alastair Sim is, as usual, extremely good value for money and always watchable. The REAL star, though, I thought, was Jeanne De Casalis as the dotty 'Lady of the Manor', showing marvellous comic timing, interacting with all the rest of the cast flawlessly, (catch her expression when the little girl who has just handed her a bouquet of flowers at the opening of the fête wants it back!), and having me in stitches with her spoonerisms, ("Are you the lad with the manor? I'm sorry, I meant the man with the ladder?"), and, above all, her speech opening the fête; ("In the words of our dear Prime Minister, never was so much owed by so few to so many"). Somehow, one just cannot see film-makers of the time doing the same to speeches of their leader in the Kremlin! I shall certainly watch out for any other films starring this lady.