Cottage to Let (1941)

[TimR]

This is not an outstanding film, but it has been a favorite of mine for years. It is an expertly made wartime mystery-melodrama that moves along nicely and is filled with neat plot twists and character twists as well.

The cast includes Alistair Sim, John Mills, Leslie Banks, Jeanne de Casalis (unknown to me elsewhere), Michael Wilding and George Cole. Anthony Asquith is the director.

It is on rather often on TCM and is the sort of small scale British film that was almost never shown here in the years before cable. It is not that different from US films of the time in some ways - yet the pace, the dialogue, the interaction between the characters and the references are all just different enough to give it a fascination for me.

[Nick Dando]

Jeanne de Casalis, who I've only seen in a few films, seems to be a consummate scene-stealer and is great fun. She does the most wonderful flounces as the Duchess of Portsmouth in Nell Gwyn, a small part as a friend of Charles Laughton in Jamaica Inn, a slightly bewildered Mrs Pilkington in Sailors Three, and a fearsome dowager with a little dog in They Met in the Dark. I would like to see more of her work, but that seems unlikely.

http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0207843/

And Cottage to Let is also one of my favourites. What a cast! A small cameo by Hay Petrie, the lovely Carla Lehmann, the over-dressed Muriel Aked (Miss Fernery) helping out in the kitchen. A sheer joy. "Lousy organisation!"

Nick

[TimR]

Jeanne de Casalis, who I've only seen in a few films, seems to be a consummate scene-stealer and is great fun. She does the most wonderful flounces as the Duchess of Portsmouth in Nell Gwyn, a small part as a friend of Charles Laughton in Jamaica Inn, a slightly bewildered Mrs Pilkington in Sailors Three, and a fearsome dowager with a little dog in They Met in the Dark. I would like to see more of her work, but that seems unlikely.

http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0207843/

And Cottage to Let is also one of my favourites. What a cast! A small cameo by Hay Petrie, the lovely Carla Lehmann, the over-dressed Muriel Aked (Miss Fernery) helping out in the kitchen. A sheer joy. "Lousy organisation!"

Nick

Thanks for the info. It's good to read of another person who likes this one; yes, the cast is excellent down to the small roles. The first time I saw it I realized I recognized people in small roles but didn't know their names - films like this are introductions to British film acting.

"Lousy organisation!"

[dpgmel]

After reading the above comments I decided to rewatch this after many years last night and as Tim says truth be told is not a classic but is very watchable but what a cast and despite the presence of Messrs Sim, Banks, Wilding and Mills the film IMHO does belong to Jeanne de Casilis who displays expert comic timing and is a joy to watch.

[Windyridge]

the film IMHO does belong to Jeanne de Casilis who displays expert comic timing and is a joy to watch.

But so, so scary to me as a child....and still a bit now.

[Rowdon]

I avoided this thread because coincidentally I had started but not finished watching it only a couple of days ago. I've now finished and have to say that it's another delightful surprise. As TimR said, it's full of twists, and if you suspect anybody of anything, you're probably right ... but then it turns out you're wrong ... Hang on, you were right ... no, wrong. Great fun all the way through. The US title "Bombsight Stolen" is just wrong, as it gives the impression of an action espionage film, whereas this is all deliberately small scale, more about how the war effort touched everybody in different ways (or am I taking it all too seriously?). You have to get used to films just abruptly ending suddenly, I suppose, but I felt they could have had an 'aftermath' scene here ... Though that last scene was excellent:

  Spoiler:

the death of the agent was really quite macabre - no "Bang you're dead" stuff. Genuinely unpleasant.

What was also nice were the number of little touches and bits of business that so many of the actors threw in to givce it more naturalness. When a character puts a cigarette into another's mouth while speaking, and sort of interrupts himself to say "Got it?", checking that it's firmly held. Lots of little touches like that. George Cole had a good acting range from tough and cocky to frightened and concerned, all nicely realistic. All the cast were great except (and I feel a bit disloyal saying this) I found Jeanne de Casilis overdone throughout. As if someone had grafted a comedy theatre performance onto a natural realism film; Was this from a play? Perhaps she was asked to reproduce the scatty comedy turn with no changes, and it just didn't work for me. everyone else was so normal that she would have stood out as a halfwit.

But regardless of petty quibbles, an excellent film which is better than you could hope for. And you can hope for a lot from that cast.

In full on youtube, by the way.

Screen shot 2012-05-18 at 11.38.46 PM.png

[Nick Dando]

It was a stage play before it became a film. And it was where George and Alistair first met.

Nick

[TimR]

I avoided this thread because coincidentally I had started but not finished watching it only a couple of days ago. I've now finished and have to say that it's another delightful surprise. As TimR said, it's full of twists, and if you suspect anybody of anything, you're probably right ... but then it turns out you're wrong ... Hang on, you were right ... no, wrong. Great fun all the way through. The US title "Bombsight Stolen" is just wrong, as it gives the impression of an action espionage film, whereas this is all deliberately small scale, more about how the war effort touched everybody in different ways (or am I taking it all too seriously?). You have to get used to films just abruptly ending suddenly, I suppose, but I felt they could have had an 'aftermath' scene here ... Though that last scene was excellent:
....

What was also nice were the number of little touches and bits of business that so many of the actors threw in to givce it more naturalness. When a character puts a cigarette into another's mouth while speaking, and sort of interrupts himself to say "Got it?", checking that it's firmly held. Lots of little touches like that. George Cole had a good acting range from tough and cocky to frightened and concerned, all nicely realistic. All the cast were great except (and I feel a bit disloyal saying this) I found Jeanne de Casilis overdone throughout. As if someone had grafted a comedy theatre performance onto a natural realism film; Was this from a play? Perhaps she was asked to reproduce the scatty comedy turn with no changes, and it just didn't work for me. everyone else was so normal that she would have stood out as a halfwit.

But regardless of petty quibbles, an excellent film which is better than you could hope for. And you can hope for a lot from that cast.

In full on youtube, by the way.

Well done assessment. The quirks and the eccentricities are indeed all through the film - I saw it the first time during one of TCM's British film days, and it happened to be on before some films I looked forward to. I was caught up in it and held by it.

I didn't know about the US title - yes, agreed, it suggests an action film, which doesn't fit. I understand why the title was changed as the phrase was not in common usage here, but the low key ordinariness is what makes it interesting and something else was needed. It is that dry reserve that intrigues me, and the actors maintain it while enjoying their roles.

[Steve Crook]

It was a stage play before it became a film. And it was where George and Alistair first met.

Nick

And George only got the job because he went along to the audition to support a friend who was auditioning - but they picked George instead

Steve

[MartinU]

I understand why the title was changed as the phrase was not in common usage here.

Is there any distinction between "let", "rent" and "lease"? Wikipedia treats them as synonyms - indeed it uses "rent" and "lease" but doesn't mention "let", though a search for "let" redirects to "rent". "To Let" signs are just begging for someone to insert an "I" between the two words - as often happened!

[TimR]

Is there any distinction between "let", "rent" and "lease"? Wikipedia treats them as synonyms - indeed it uses "rent" and "lease" but doesn't mention "let", though a search for "let" redirects to "rent". "To Let" signs are just begging for someone to insert an "I" between the two words - as often happened!

Lease is more formal and always means a written contract with a set date. Rent can be used to mean a more open-ended arrangement, but today that latter option is rapidly disappearing and the words are now interchangeable. Of course that is here - maybe it's different in Britain.

I heard relatives use the term 'to let' as a boy a few times - and they were referring to a summer cottage situation, which I hadn't though of 'til now - so maybe it was in use here, but I'm reasonably certain it was regional. It suits the deceptively relaxed tone of the film exactly.

[Dean Williams]

Jeanne de Casalis is a great comic lady. She had a regular stage, radio, record and film comedy character called Mrs Feather, usually flustered and confused. Her act here was often that of a one-sided telephone conversation to her friend, and we'd only here Jeanne's side.

I've just uploaded a few of her Mrs Feather comedy records to YouTube, the second of which is the best, as it also features the great british comedy film actor Gordon Harker (Inspector Hornleigh). The third is a short vintage BBC radio excerpt;