Jane Eyre (1944)
Grade: 83
"Jane Eyre" is a dramatic and entertaining version of the Charlotte Bronte classic. Part mystery, part romance, and part costume drama, the film has strongest appeal to women, but even men should enjoy the performances of leads Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles, as well as the crackling script. (Actor John Houseman, of all people, is given first credit for the screenplay. It was also his only screenwriting credit.)
The story takes place in England, during the 19th century. Jane Eyre (Fontaine) is orphaned at a young age. Raised in a dismal charity school, her only friend is Helen (Elizabeth Taylor, in a very early role). She is bullied by obsessive puritan headmaster Brocklehurst (Henry Daniell, whom you might recognize from "The Great Dictator"). Coming of age, she is employed as a governess at an imposing estate, where she falls in love with her employer, moody Rochester (Welles).
Welles has a booming voice, wild eyes and a commanding attitude. He talks in riddles, and has a mysterious past. There is also an insane woman that he is holding prisoner in one of the castle's towers.
Fontaine appears uncomfortable, and her acting mostly consists of silent suffering, which she does quite well, just as she did in "Rebecca". Her character falls in love very quickly with tempestous Rochester. This is credible, since her self-preservation instincts would sense the opportunity in marrying a wealthy man, and he is the first marriageable man that she has met.
The film's biggest weakness is the ending. I won't give it away, but it comes suddenly and is a bit clumsily crafted. Still, "Jane Eyre" is a very enjoyable soaper, especially Welles' campy performance.
kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews