The Enchanted Barn
The Enchanted Barn is a 1919 American silent drama film from Vitagraph Studios. It was directed by David Smith and stars Bessie Love and J. Frank Glendon. The screenplay by Kathryn Reed is based on the novel The Enchanted Barn by Grace Livingston Hill Lutz. Bessie Love helped secure the option to adapt the book.
The story follows Shirley, a young stenographer who takes care of her sick mother and younger brother. To give the family some fresh air, she rents a barn from the Graham family and moves in after fixing it up. Shirley overhears two men planning to swindle the landlord by selling a mine, and she secretly transcribes their words to foil the plan. Graham is grateful, and he and Shirley fall in love, though she later learns he is said to be engaged to another woman.
The two swindlers kidnap Shirley to exact revenge, but she manages to drop a note out of a car window to warn Graham. He and the sheriff track them down, and Graham finds Shirley. It’s revealed that he isn’t really engaged to anyone and that he loves her.
The Enchanted Barn was released on January 27, 1919. It runs about five reels and is a silent film with English intertitles. The film is now considered lost, meaning no copies are known to exist. Critics gave mixed reviews: Bessie Love’s performance was praised, but the plot was criticized as thin. Some theaters showed the film with other Vitagraph shorts, and in some places it played as part of a “Bessie Love Day” program with The Dawn of Understanding.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:30 (CET).