Cottage to Let

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

The film was shot at the Lime Grove Studios in London, with sets designed by the art director Alex Vetchinsky. The film includes the first appearance of George Cole, superbly confident as a cocky young evacuee.

Plot
John Barrington (Leslie Banks), a talented inventor, currently works at his Scottish country home on a new bombsight for the RAF. His eccentric wife (Jeanne de Casalis) takes in child evacuees from London to be accommodated in a nearby cottage they own. But since Charles Dimble (Alastair Sim) has been let the cottage by a realty agency, Mrs. Barrington decides they can only take one evacuee, a cocky teenager named Ronald (George Cole). Meanwhile, an injured pilot (John Mills) 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 (Carla Lehmann), acting as nurse. The pilot identifies himself as Flight Lieutenant Perry, based at a nearby airfield. When he is given a telephone to call 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 (Michael Wilding), 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, German agents kidnap Barrington from is lab. However, the resourceful Ronald stows away in the car's boot (trunk). 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 Flight Lieutenant Perry is revealed to be a German intelligence agent, plotting to fly Barrington to Berlin by seaplane. It turns out, however, 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

 * 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)