Jane Eyre (1944)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The first part of Jane Eyre seems to have borrowed more from Charles Dickens. The film seems to have taken its cue from George Cukor's David Copperfield released in 1935. A young orphaned Jane (Peggy Ann Garner) lives with her cruel aunt and has a chance of going to boarding school which see is keen to go to if it means leaving her aunt. The school is really a harsh school for orphans run by Reverend Brocklehurst (Henry Daniell) who labels Jane as a wicked child. A young Elizabeth Taylor plays a friend who shows kindness to Jane. This scenes are sparse as the love shown by various adults whose care the children are under.The older Jane Eyre (Joan Fontaine) now wanted by the malevolent Reverend to stay on at school because she would be cheap. Jane though wants to make her own way in the world not realising how naive she is. She gets a job as governess for a young girl named Adèle in a gloomy mansion owned by Edward Rochester (Orson Welles) who she first meets when she startles his horse. Jane hears strange laughter in the house and saves Rochester when his bed curtains catch fire. Slowly both characters fall in love but Rochester hides a secret from his past.Welles version of Rochester is actually more charming and romantic than I expected. He gives his character just a bit more twinkle even though he still has some bluster. Fontaine is beautiful, maybe too much. However it very much follows the pattern of triumph over adversity which was common with the classic book adaptations of that period. It is nicely photographed in black and white, although it still looks like a film made in Hollywood with ex-pat British actors.

Mr Rochester is the Ur Gothic hero.MIss Eyre the mousy,rabbit - in - the - headlights timid naïve young woman just put on earth for him to ravage.They should never have been allowed within 20 miles of each other yet somehow this unlikely pairing has captured the imagination of readers since the 19thcentury.It is not the least bit believable and Mr Welles and Miss Fontaine have zero chemistry together and a marriage would be disastrous,but she's a sticker and eventually sees off opposition from mad wives and heiresses and gets her man. That's it in a nutshell but the joy is in the dramatic settings,the crashing thunder, burning rooms, the mist that makes one think of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce following the footprints of a gigantic hound and the absolute villainy of the villains. Many of the supporting cast are English exiles and acquit themselves as to the manner born. Silent stars Mr B.Bevan and Miss M.Marsh are welcome extras. Archetypal Hollywood melodrama now 75 years old and of it's type never bettered.

Jane Eyre directed by Robert Stevenson was a great movie in every aspect. It was a great melodramatic movie. Orson Welles was also fantastic in this and was a major influence in the movie. Orson played Mr. Rochester who was a wealthy man and the master of Thornfield. He is a very sympathetic person who has gone through a lot. The cinematography was very good for this time with a lot of camera movement different lighting between dark and bright lighting. It was mostly dark with a Gothic feel to it which made it even better. He used a many shadows too to give it that Gothic, creepy feel. From what I hear, the black and white version is much better than all the remakes they have done. I feel like this is true because having it in black and white can really give it that Gothic feel that Stevenson was hoping for. He did a really great job with it and I really recommend this movie.

I found this movie on Netflix streaming movies. The novel of the same title has been popular for a long time and there have been a number of movie adaptations. I don't read much fiction and have not read this, but it seems that it must follow the book fairly closely because at various points we see part of a page of the novel.Jane Eyre is an orphan in 1820s England and has the misfortune of being taken in by her mean aunt, her deceased father's sister. At about 10 she is sent to an orphanage and school for trouble children. But she has a good spirit, she will not be broken, and she learns well. Enough that she is asked to be a teacher when she was about 20. An interesting small part is Jane's new friend Helen, who gets sick and dies. That part is played by 10-yr-old Elizabeth Taylor, only about a year before she hit it big in National Velvet.The young adult Jane is played by Joan Fontaine. She refuses the teaching job at the oppressive orphanage and goes out on her own, finding a job as a governess for a wealthy widow. He is Orson Welles as Edward Rochester. He is supposed to be maybe 15 years older than she, but in fact the two actors are only two years apart, but Welles always did look older than his chronological age.It is the traditional story, playboy Edward comes and goes, has a very rough exterior, but Jane sees something in him that captivates her heart. She would love to be his bride but it seems doomed when it is revealed he is already married, his wife went crazy and is kept in a barricaded room in his castle-like mansion.The film being 1943 is a throwback to the black and white days when inventive lighting and camera angles heightened the drama and punctuated the suspense. Both Welles and Fontaine are super in their roles. Welles of course is mostly known for his Citizen Kane but this is an opportunity to see him as an actor and he is quite something to watch.