Jane Eyre (1934)
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Movie Reviews of Jane Eyre (1934)
Movie Review: Decent Movie. And By The Way The Director Christy Cabanne Was A Man Not A Woman!
Summary: 4 Stars
I have seen several movie version of the classic novel Jane Eyre and this is my least favorite and is the least faithful to the book but despite the flaws like Jane being played by a tall beautiful blonde when Jane is susposed to be plain in looks and Adele being a klutzy moron who kept doing stupid things I actually liked this movie. No it's definitely not as good as the Timothy Dalton version but it's okay. And by the way, I read the review by the female reviewer saying that Charlotte Bronte would be happy if she knew that a movie of her book was directed by a woman. Well if this movie had been directed by a female then yes maybe it would have pleased Charloote Bronte but I think you saw it said it was directed by Christy Cabanne and assumed it was a woman when in fact the director Christy Cabanne was a man. Yes that's right Christy Cabanne was male! His full name was William Christy Cabanne. Believe it or not but a long time ago Christy was used as a boys name, usually as a nick name for Christopher but sometimes because the mother's maiden last-name was Christy. If you don't believe me do a web search for Christy Cabanne the director and go to web sites like Internet Movie Database and you will find out that what I'm saying is true! Sorry to burst your bubble!Movie Review: Jane Eyre (Monogram, 1934) with Virginia Bruce&Colin Clive
Summary: 4 Stars
Monogram was a B-picture studio, however, they did occaisonally venture into the classics; in 1934 they produced two quite respectable adaptations based on Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone. Jane Eyre was adapted by Adele Comandini, a screenwriter of note, and stars Virginia Bruce as Jane. Monogram surrounded Miss Bruce with a wonderful English cast: Colin Clive as Mr. Rochester, and plucked from the British colony, Ethel Griffies, Beryl Mercer, Jameson Thomas, John Rogers, Lionel Belmore and David Torrence. Miss Bruce is a superb Jane and does her own singing and her beautiful long blonde hair is on full display as she prepares for night. She understands her part and the conditions of 19th century English life. Colin Clive is far better as Rochester than Orson Welles in the later version, albeit this version lacks the atmosphere of the Welles-Fontaine film.Movie Review: Interesting as Historical Curio
Summary: 3 Stars
This 1934 version is produced by Monogram Pictures, one of the studios in so-called `Poverty Row,' slang used in Hollywood to refer to the smaller film companies specializing in low-budget action adventure films. Some of these studies made a low-budget version of classic literature and such titles as `Oliver Twist' or `The Moonstone' were produced by Monogram (both available on Alpha Video DVD). These films run only about 60 minutes and you just cannot find the same artistic value as MGM's `David Copperfield' or `A Tale of Two Cities.'
So you cannot and should not expect much here. The film runs only 62 minutes and how can you tell the story of a Victorian classic novel within 62 minutes? But the film does try and like the same company's `The Moonstone' (in which characters use electricity), some drastic changes are done to the plot and settings of Charlotte Bronte novel. The film's story often goes so fast, skipping some of the key elements of the book's first half. Jane's horrible experience at the boarding school is reduced to less than ten minutes, and what she experiences there is not so terrible.
The film spends more time on Jane's romance with Edward Rochester and the mysteries surrounding the mansion, but results are far from satisfactory. Two main leads Virginia Bruce and Colin Clive certainly make an attractive couple, but not in the way Charlotte Bronte had envisioned. Colin Clive, who is best remembered as Doctor Frankenstein yelling `It's alive!' shows more restrained acting as intelligent gentleman, but his handsome and mild-mannered Rochester does not have the tragic shadow that every reader of the book would remember. Equally ineffective is the subplot about the mansion's attic, which lacks suspense or surprise.
After all this `Jane Eyre' would be interesting only as a curio or a historical proof showing the difficulty of film adaptation of classic literature.
Movie Review: An oddity and an artifact
Summary: 3 Stars
The company that releases this DVD claims it's the first version of Jane Eyre on film. This makes it especially interesting...but Jane Eyre fans may be disappointed at how far the film strays from the novel.A short film, it doesn't do a bad job of condensing, it simply takes 1930s sensibilities and forces them onto the story. The Jane in this film is not only pretty (and mentioned by many characters as being "beautiful"), but she is rather silly, and sometimes mean...Things that the Jane of the novel never was. Rochester is far from being sardonic and tortured; he's actually...well...awfully sweet.
(PLOT SPOILERS IN THIS PARAGRAPH!) In addition, several important plot points have been changed, probably due to censors of the time. For example, Adele is not the child of Rochester's mistress; she's his legitimate niece. And Rochester doesn't try to marry Jane even though he's already married; he is seeking (and receives) an annulment before the ceremony. Many favorite characters are also missing, including Helen.
Nonetheless, this film is an interesting piece of history. It was directed by a woman (something Charlotte Bronte would approve of), and has the sensibilities of it's time. The quality of the film is very much in keeping with it's era, and it's condition is quite good considering it's age.
Movie Review: A period piece of a period piece
Summary: 3 Stars
This is certainly one of the strangest adaptions of Charlotte Bronte's classic. It was probably made as a second feature, since it is only an hour long, and reflects what would appeal to a 1930's audience. The part of Adele, Rochester's ward, is greatly enhanced, while other important characters, (Helen, Jane's classmate at Lowood School and the Rivers family, are left out entirely). Colin Clive, (Henry Frankenstein of the movie, "Frankenstein") is miscast as a romantic and very, very nice Mr. Rochester. And one of the most melodramatic scenes in literature, ( the revelation during the wedding of Jane and Rochester that Rochester is already married to a mad woman confined to an attic) is omitted, probably because of a 1930's version of family values. For Jane Eyre buffs, this movie is an interesting period piece, but the Timothy Dalton/Zelah Clarke version of this is better.
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