The Enchanted Forest

Filmed in Cinecolor this is a remarkably effective story about a lost child (Billy Severn) raised by an old Hermit and who is taught about life amid nature in the forest. Endearing character actor Harry Davenport (Dr. Meade in Gone With The Wind) is just wonderful as Old John with his dog Bruno at his side and pet crow on his shoulder.There's good support from lovely Brenda Joyce as the kind lady and also from Edmund Lowe. It's available on video folks so you can rent it for the whole family to enjoy.

I only saw it once, when I was around 5 or 6. It was beautiful and I loved it, would like very, very much to see it again. I had seen Bambi and the sense of the forest and wild animals in Bambi was amazing and wonderous, the film full of the beauty of nature and life. And then The Enchanted Forest was beautiful--and quite frightening, too, in what it spoke of life's sadnesses as well--much as Bambi had been. I don't think I ever saw, as a child, any other films that brought forth the raw glorious beauty and power and tenuousness of life to anywhere near the extent that these two movies did. And now one can find Bambi sometimes playing somewhere, or on an old disk, or streamed, but where can one find "The Enchanted Forest'/

An unashamedly old-fashioned story about an old hermit living out in the forest and the young boy he befriends in order to teach him about nature. It's a dated, twee and slow moving effort that I managed to catch on TV, although sadly the print used was absolutely horrible.

Animal lovers will be in their element, as the lead, Old John (played with a natural warmth by Harry Davenport) has a DR DOLITTLE-style affinity with animals, particularly in the two familiars he keeps (a German Sehpherd and a crow). At times the film feels like a westernised version of THE JUNGLE BOOK as the good guys come up against some evil loggers determined to exploit the wilderness for their own gains.

THE ENCHANTED FOREST is no classic, but for those who like this sort of stuff it's an efficient time-filler. And it possesses a kind of warming sentimentality that never quite overdoes it in the same way a Disney film would.

I've always had a soft spot for PRC Pictures. Producers Releasing Corporation was frequently referred to in most books about the Golden Age of Hollywood as "the lowest rung on the Poverty Row ladder". While on the surface that statement is correct, PRC did manage to produce a number of memorable low budget offerings such Edgar G Ulmer's DETOUR, Frank Wisbar's STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP, and Lew Lander's THE ENCHANTED FOREST all on the tiniest budgets and the shortest shooting schedules. Unlike the other two (and most of PRC's output), FOREST was shot in an inexpensive color process known as Cinecolor.

The company existed from 1939-1947 and churned out 179 movies during that time (that's 22 movies a year!) most of them being Westerns, horror films, or crime melodramas. THE ENCHANTED FOREST was something different. It was an allegorical children's fantasy which plays better today than it did in 1945 thanks to its messages of back to nature, forest conservation, and the evils of encroaching development. The success of THE ENCHANTED FOREST ironically helped to lead to the demise of PRC as the company attracted outside investors from England who transformed it into Eagle-Lion Films in 1948.

The movie tells the story of Old John, a hermit living in the California Redwood forests , who communes with Nature and talks to animals and understands what they are saying. He rescues the 2 year old grandson of a timber baron after a train wreck (his mother and grandfather think he died in the accident) and raises him in the forest teaching him to appreciate and respect Nature. Three years later the contractor returns with his daughter who's still grieving and a doctor who wants to build a retreat there. Harry Davenport shines as the hermit while Brenda Joyce as the mother and Edmund Lowe as the doctor give sincere performances.

The movie hearkens back to an era of innocence and it proudly wears its naivete on its sleeve. Despite its obvious low budget the film is quaint and full of charm and manages to overcome the shortcomings of the script and uneven characterizations. Child actor Billy Severn is annoying but the animal performers (an eagle, a mountain lion, a German Shepherd, and especially a trained raven) more than make up for him while veteran director Lew Landers skillfully balances studio shots with actual footage of the Redwood forests of Humboldt County, California while moving the film along. THE ENCHANTED FOREST clocks in at a little over an hour and doesn't wear out its welcome.

This movie is fondly remembered by those who saw it as children but unfortunately for today's audiences the film is in the public domain and the only available print for viewing has a number of issues including muffled sound and faded color. It would be wonderful to see THE ENCHANTED FOREST be given a full restoration the way that fellow PRC offering DETOUR was so that its simple virtues can be fully appreciated. Back in 2000 there was a decent print available from Image Entertainment but that version appears to be long gone. The current DVD-R from MR FAT-W will do until something better comes along.

UPDATE 2024: There is a currently a print available for viewing on You Tube which is the best this movie has ever looked...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

John Litel is a successful logger. He is preparing to cut out another huge swath of old growth, when his daughter, Brenda Joyce, visits him with her newborn son, and promptly loses him in a storm. This upsets her mind, and Litel puts off his plans to take care of her. However, the baby isn't dead. He's rescued and succored by Harry Davenport and his menagerie of animals living in harmony with nature.

Three years later, the baby has grown into seven-year-old Billy Severn, and Litel and Miss Joyce are back in the area, along with psychiatrist Edmund Lowe, planning to build a sanatorium and help Miss Joyce get her marbles back. The people working with them threaten Davenport and company.

There are certainly good intentions here, and the adults often do well with the stilted dialogue, although Davenport has trouble with his conversations with Master Severn, because the younger actor is not very good. Even with others, the rhythms of the performers are odd. In addition, the Cinecolor used on the production has faded in odd ways.

However, this was clearly a case of good intentions triumphing over everything, resulting in a decent assortment of actors on a PRC release, play dates in the major chains, and the highest gross in that studio's history. I don't think it's particularly distinguished, but it is watchable with no major flubs, it's always good to see Davenport, and for PRC, that's as good as it got.