A COTTAGE ON DARTMOOR(1929)Hans Adalbert Schlettow, Uno Henning & Norah Baring|Crime|B&W|Retro Movie

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A Cottage on Dartmoor (a.k.a. Escape from Dartmoor) is a 1929 British part-talkie sound film, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Norah Baring, Uno Henning and Hans Adalbert Schlettow. The cameraman was Stanley Rodwell. In addition to a sequence with audible dialogue or a talking sequence, the film also featured a synchronized musical score with sound effects and English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Klangfilm Tobis sound recording process. A cut down edited silent version was made for theatres that had not yet converted to sound but this version is no longer extant.

It was the last of Asquith's films before fulling converting to all-talking pictures. The film was produced during the transition period from silents to talkies in British cinema, a point which is referenced in the film itself. The film is extant.

Synopsis

Joe works as a barber in a shop in a Devon town, alongside a manicurist called Sally. He becomes infatuated with her and asks her out on a date; however the evening turns out awkwardly and it is clear that Sally does not reciprocate Joe's feelings. Despite Sally's lack of interest and through a misunderstanding involving a floral buttonhole, Joe's infatuation with her develops into obsession. Meanwhile, a regular client at the salon, young gentleman farmer Harry, begins to woo Sally, who is much more receptive to his attentions.

The couple begin seeing each other, and one evening arrange to go to the local cinema. Unknown to them they are stalked by the jealous and overwrought Joe, who sits behind them and is forced to witness their obvious happiness together, eventually rushing out of the cinema in despair.

The following day Harry comes into the shop for his regular shave and manicure, and Joe notices that Sally is wearing an engagement ring. A verbal confrontation between Joe and Harry escalates into a physical struggle, during which Harry is slashed by Joe's cut-throat razor. Sally is convinced that Joe had deliberately tried to kill his rival, and following his arrest and trial Joe is convicted of attempted murder. Vowing revenge on Sally and Harry, he is sentenced to a lengthy term of incarceration at the notorious Dartmoor Prison.

Some years later, Joe succeeds in escaping from the prison, and makes his way across the bleak Dartmoor landscape towards the isolated cottage where Sally and Harry, since married and with a young son, now live. At night he surprises Sally outside her home where she, now feeling remorseful about her role in his imprisonment, takes pity on him and offers him a hiding place. Harry returns, and there follows an awkward but genuine reconciliation between Harry and Joe, climaxing with Harry's decision to assist Joe's escape. However, on the point of escape, Joe abandons the enterprise and initiates a rush to the cottage that he knows will draw attention and lead to his death. The guards posted at the farm shoot him, and he dies in Sally's arms.

Cast & Crew

Norah Baring as Sally
Uno Henning as Joe
Hans Adalbert Schlettow as Harry

Directed by: Anthony Asquith
Written by: Anthony Asquith, Herbert Price
Produced by: Harry Bruce Woolfe
Cinematography: Stanley Rodwell
Distributed by: British Instructional Films
Release Date: October 1929
Running Time: 87 minutes
Country: United Kingdom
Languages: Sound (Part-Talkie), English Intertitles