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Jane Eyre

7.2

1,322

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Original title

Jane Eyre

Year

1943

Running time

97 min.

Country

United States

Director

Robert Stevenson

Screenwriter

John Houseman, Aldous Huxley, Robert Stevenson, Henry Koster. Novel: Charlotte Brontë

Cast

Music

Bernard Herrmann

Cinematography

George Barnes (B&W)

Producer

20th Century Fox

Genre

Drama. Romance | 19th Century

Movie Groups

Charlotte Brontë Adaptations

Synopsis

A Love Story Every Woman Would Die a Thousand Deaths to Live! Small plain and poor Jane Eyre comes to Thornfield Hall as governess to the young ward of Edward Rochester. Denied love all her life Jane can't help but be attracted to the intelligent vibrant energetic Mr. Rochester a man twice her age. But just when Mr. Rochester seems to be returning the attention he invites the beautiful and wealthy Blanche Ingram and her party to stay at his estate. Meanwhile the secret of Thornfield Hall could ruin all their chances for happiness.

Made two years after Citizen Kane, this 1943 version of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre sure looks like star Orson Welles muscled his way behind the camera much of the time. (In fact, costar Joan Fontaine--who plays the title character--has maintained that Welles methodically did just that every day on the set.) Not that the film's official director was a hack: Robert Stevenson, who later had a busy career at Disney making numerous live-action hits for the studio, such as Mary Poppins, gets the credit. But there's no mistaking Welles's masterful hand in the film's bold and creative look, and there's no getting away from his enigmatic charisma as Rochester, the widower who takes in Jane as a governess to his daughter. An engrossing, gorgeous film, there's even a small role for Elizabeth Taylor at the beginning as Jane's unlucky, doomed friend at a cruel boarding school. --Tom Keogh (from amazon.com)

Critics' reviews

"A well-constructed piece of studio work, with vivid black-and-white cinematography under matte painting skies that creates a turbulent, oppressive mood."

Jeremiah Kipp: Slant
"The settings are heavy and sombre, and Robert Stevenson has directed in a style that suggests the romantic extravagance of dark Victorian prose"

Bosley Crowther: The New York Times
"The murky, gothic, romance-as-horror-story was an ideal fit for Welles"

Gwen Ihnat: AV Club
"Charlotte Bronte reduced to straight Gothic romance, but surprisingly effective right from the opening shot of a wavering candle being carried down a long, dark corridor."

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