COTTAGE TO LET (1941) Leslie Banks, Alastair Sim & Jeanne De Casalis | Thriller, Mystery | B&W

Cottage to Let is a 1941 British spy thriller film directed by Anthony Asquith starring Leslie Banks, Alastair Sim and John Mills.[2] Filmed during the Second World War and set in Scotland during the war, its plot concerns Nazi spies trying to kidnap an inventor

Synopsis

John Barrington a talented but eccentric inventor, is working at his Scottish country home on a new bombsight for the RAF. His scatter-brained wife takes in child evacuees from London to be accommodated in a nearby cottage they own. But since Charles Dimble has been let the cottage by an estate agency, Mrs. Barrington decides they can only take one evacuee, a cocky teenager named Ronald .

Meanwhile, an injured pilot parachutes into a nearby loch. He is rescued and brought to the house. As a result, the cottage becomes part-hospital, with the Barringtons' daughter, Helen, acting as nurse. The pilot identifies himself as Flight Lieutenant Perry, based at a nearby airfield. When he is given a telephone to contact headquarters, however, he makes the call alone, with the phone wire disconnected.

At the War Office, there is discussion of Barrington, with concern that someone is spying on his top secret work. They suspect his assistant, Alan Trently, who was educated in Germany and still corresponds with people in Switzerland. The War Office decides to investigate.

Later, at the Barrington estate, Ronald breaks a house rule by wandering into the laboratory. He overcomes Barrington's initial hostility with his practical know-how and the two become friends. In the meantime, Trently becomes jealous when Helen starts spending time with Perry. However, Helen resists Perry's advances and eventually lets Trently know that she prefers him.

One evening, Barrington is kidnapped by German agents. However, the resourceful Ronald stows away in their car's boot. Both he and the captive Barrington are deposited at an isolated, off-road water mill.

After Ronald sneaks into the mill, he spies Perry arriving in a second car. Ronald is shocked when Perry is revealed to be a German intelligence agent, plotting to fly Barrington to Berlin by seaplane.

It emerges that Dimble is actually a British counter-intelligence officer, sent by the War Office. He infiltrates Perry's spy ring, and learns where Barrington is being held.

All but one of the spies are captured and Ronald and Barrington are freed. Perry initially escapes but is eventually tracked down and killed in a shoot-out with Dimble.

Cast & Crew

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

Director: Anthony Asquith
Writers: J. O. C. Orton, Anatole de Grunwald
Based on: Cottage to Let by Geoffrey Kerr
Producer: Edward Black
Production Company: Gainsborough Pictures
Distributor: General Film Distributors (UK)
Cinematography: Jack E. Cox
Editing: R. E. Dearing
Music: Charles Williams
Release Information
Release Date: 6 September 1941 (UK)
Running Time: 90 minutes
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English