- Cottage to Let
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Cottage to Let 
Theatrical release posterDirected by Anthony Asquith Produced by Edward Black Written by Geoffrey Kerr (play)
J. O. C. Orton
Anatole de GrunwaldStarring Leslie Banks
Alastair Sim
John Mills
George ColeMusic by Charles Williams Cinematography Jack E. Cox Editing by R.E. Dearing Studio Gainsborough Pictures Distributed by General Film Distributors Release date(s) 6 September 1941 Running time 90 minutes Country United Kingdom Language English Cottage to Let is a 1941 spy film starring Leslie Banks, Alastair Sim and John Mills. Set in World War II Scotland, its plot concerns Nazi spies trying to kidnap an inventor.
Plot
Upper-class Mrs. Barrington (Jeanne De Casalis) takes in two child evacuees from London, including cocky teenager Ronald (George Cole), lodging them in a cottage she owns. However, it has already been let to annoyingly inquisitive Charles Dimble (Alastair Sim). To compound the confusion, Mrs. Barrington had also agreed to allow it to be converted into a military hospital. Spitfire pilot Flight Lieutenant Perry (John Mills) parachutes into the nearby loch and becomes the first patient, tended by Mrs. Barrington's pretty daughter Helen (Carla Lehmann). Mrs. Barrington relocates Ronald to the main house, while Dimble and Perry remain in the cottage.
Ronald makes friends with Mrs. Barrington's husband John (Leslie Banks), a brilliant but eccentric inventor, currently working on a bombsight for the Royal Air Force. However, he insists on working on his own. His assistant, Alan Trently (Michael Wilding), becomes jealous when Helen starts spending too much time with Perry. Eventually though, Helen lets Trently know that she prefers him.
Meanwhile, the government grows concerned about Barrington's security; his last invention, a self-sealing fuel tank, was copied by the Germans within a month of its mass production. Trently comes under suspicion, as he had been educated in Germany.
It turns out that there is cause for concern; German agents kidnap Barrington. Ronald stows away in the car used to take the captive to an isolated water mill. When Perry shows up, Ronald attacks one of the spies to help in the "rescue". Unfortunately, it is all in vain, as Perry is revealed to be the ringleader. Perry intends to take Barrington to Berlin on a seaplane which is due to arrive the next night.
However, Dimble turns out to be a British counterintelligence officer. He manages to infiltrate the ring and learn where Barrington is being held. All but one of the spies are captured and the prisoners are freed. Perry initially escapes, but is eventually tracked down and killed in a shootout with Dimble.
Cast
- Leslie Banks as John Barrington
- Alastair Sim as Charles Dimble
- John Mills as Flight Lieutenant Perry
- Jeanne De Casalis as Mrs. Barrington
- Carla Lehmann as Helen Barrington
- George Cole as Ronald
- Michael Wilding as Alan Trently
- Frank Cellier as Ernest Forest
- Muriel Aked as Miss Fernery
- Wally Patch as Evans
- Muriel George as Mrs. Trimm
- Hay Petrie as Dr. Truscott
- Catherine Lacey as Mrs. Stokes
- Annie Esmond as Lady Wrapping Parcels For The Bazaar (uncredited)
- Peter Gawthorne as Senior RAF Officer (uncredited)
- Arthur Hambling as Scotland Yard Inspector (uncredited)
- Roddy Hughes as German Agent (uncredited)
- Brefni O'Rorke as Scottish Police Inspector (uncredited)
- Charles Rolfe as German Agent (uncredited)
- Ben Williams as Scottish Fisherman (uncredited)
External links
- Cottage to Let at the Internet Movie Database
- Cottage to Let is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- Cottage to Let at AllRovi
- Cottage to Let at the TCM Movie Database
The films of Anthony Asquith 1920s Shooting Stars • Underground • The Runaway Princess • A Cottage on Dartmoor1930s Tell England • The Lucky Number • Dance Pretty Lady • Unfinished Symphony • Moscow Nights • Pygmalion1940s French Without Tears • Freedom Radio • Quiet Wedding • Cottage to Let • Uncensored • We Dive at Dawn • The Demi-Paradise • Fanny by Gaslight • The Way to the Stars • While the Sun Shines • The Winslow Boy1950s The Woman in Question • The Browning Version • The Importance of Being Earnest • The Final Test • The Net • The Young Lovers • Carrington V.C. • On Such a Night • Orders to Kill • The Doctor's Dilemma • Libel1960s Short films Categories:- British films
- English-language films
- 1941 films
- Black-and-white films
- British World War II propaganda films
- Films directed by Anthony Asquith
- Spy films
- World War II films made in wartime
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