Enchantment (1948)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Blistering performances.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

....What a wonderful film......Technically superior..........The slow dissolves from past to present.....done so slowly was refreshing to see especially when compared to the rapid jerky crap that we see today..........and the narrowing of the spot on the key being held by Jayne Meadows....indicating the compression of her character into the key in the door being opened by Evelyn Keyes indicating the opening of the relationship between Keyes and Farley Granger was SPECTACULAR!!!!What a wonderful way to express character and story.Wish we could see techniques like this today.....Gigi Perreau's scene in which she makes her lower chin quiver when brought into her new home at the beginning of the film was very moving........have only seen Hepburn, Brabara Rush and Marisa Haggarty of CSI Special Victims able to do this on the screen....an incredible acting accomplishment.......

First a house talks to us. Then we meet an elderly man. A young woman comes to the house, which is, or was, his. (The exact tense of this is never clear.) He tells her a little about his childhood. Back to her. He and the others are no longer children. She is now falling in love with Farley Granger (in an unbecoming mustache.) Back and forth it goes, with short scenes, like theatrical blackouts. And never do we get to care about the people.It is one stereotype after another. Someone comes into a room, for example. A woman is holding a handkerchief to her eyes. "You've been crying, my dear, " he observes.The only character of interest is the evil Selina, played by Jayne Meadows. Even she, though, is two-dimensional. She is Alexis Carrington in period dress.And speaking of dress, somehow this movie makes the lovely Theresa Wright look homely. I wanted to like her character, named Lark. But I didn't believe her.This comes across as an idea that started to go badly and got more and more out of hand. Then, (it seems, though of course this didn't happen) someone dropped the film and it was hastily reassembled into a vaguely coherent whole.Very few A-pictures of its period are such miserable failures as this movie is. And I have no grudge against it. I'd never heard of it till today. There must be a reason that, despite its starry cast and its beautiful cinematography by Gregg Toland, it is relatively little known. I posit that the reason is it's trite and not even believable.I love fugues. But this is about as far from Bach as ever anything could be.

One of the most memorable and beautiful love stories I have ever seen - and I've seen a few! It follows the life and loves of Lark, a girl who loses her parents quite young and is sent to live with a new family. She quickly befriends brothers Pehlum and Rollo while fights to gain the approval of her new sister. As she ages, she and Rollo fall in love... And that's all I shall reveal!Don't be deturred by the fact it's in black and white. The acting is first rate, the story truly unique and captivating. Catch it if you have the chance but be prepared to have some tissues handy; especially at the end! :)

I saw the movie Enchantment in 1948 when I was 11 years old. I was so moved by the story, when I returned home I wrote down the complete story, so I would never forget. I have seen the movie 5 times in the last 50 years and if I owned the movie I would watch it every week.