Enchanted April (1935)

Director:

Harry Beaumont

Writers:

Elizabeth von Arnim (novel)
Kane Campbell (dramatisation)

Release Date:

1 February 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Mrs. Lotty Wilkins is an unhappily wife whom's life husband and romance have departed. In order to possibly...

Plot Keywords:

Nobility | London England | Vacation | Neglected Wife | Housewife

Cast

Ann Harding	...	Mrs. Lotty Wilkins
Frank Morgan	...	Mellersh Wilkins
Katharine Alexander	...	Mrs. Rose Arbuthnot
Reginald Owen	...	Henry Arbuthnot
Jane Baxter	...	Lady Caroline Dester
Ralph Forbes	...	Peppo Briggs
Jessie Ralph	...	Mrs. Phoebe Fisher
Charles Judels	...	Domenico
Rafaela Ottiano	...	Francesca

Runtime:

66 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved (PCA #480)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Preview running times suggest the studio cut the film by at least 12 minutes before its release.

Quotes:

Henry Arbuthnot: [after explosion] I am convinced that a bath in Italy is somewhere between a public function and an eruption of Vesuvius.

Movie Connections:

Version of Enchanted April (1992)

Beguiling Version Of Classic Story

Four unhappy women leave dreary London to spend an ENCHANTED APRIL in a castle on the coast of Italy.

Elizabeth von Arnim's novel comes alive in this charming little film which beautifully demonstrates the virtues of a literate script and ensemble acting. All the elements come together to produce a movie that, although nearly forgotten now, still produces a feeling of appreciation at the story's appropriate resolution.

The actresses each acquit themselves splendidly. Ann Harding is the free-spirited wife longing for 'wisteria & tranquillity' far from foggy London. Katharine Alexander plays the quiet housewife wishing for the elegant responsibility of acting as hostess in the castle. Jane Baxter is the beautiful young noblewoman temporarily escaped from her throng of male admirers. Jessie Ralph steals every scene she's in as an old lady wanting only to be alone with her memories of the past.

The men in the story are also well cast. As Miss Harding's husband, Frank Morgan has a rather complex role as a mousy researcher who has a disturbing personality change when he becomes a successful writer. Reginald Owen, as Miss Alexander's spouse, is marvelously pompous as a man well equipped to bore for England (his hilarious attempt to take an English bath in an Italian bathtub is made even funnier with the assistance of Charles Judels & Rafaela Ottiano as the castle's harried servants). Finally, Ralph Forbes, one of the decade's finest forgotten actors, is joyously eccentric as the ladies' lighthearted landlord.

Movie mavens will recognize an uncredited Ethel Griffies playing the proprietress of the Hampstead Housewives Club.