Portrait of Jennie
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Movie Reviews of Portrait of Jennie
Movie Review: a stunning classic
Summary: 5 Stars
selznick stopped trying to storm the gates of film success with this lyrical and thought-provoking film starring jennifer jones and joseph cotten.
as a screen presence, jones possessed two qualities, one of which was a dewy girlishness that stood her well in this role. no other actress could have portrayed jennie appleton with the light touch she had. cotten is equally well suited to the role of troubled and struggling artist eben adams. together, they are an equally passionate and loving screen team.
they are so well supported by david wayne, albert sharpe, lillian gish and host of hollywood's finest character actors such as felix bressart, cecil kellaway and anne francis in the tiniest of roles as well.
two particular performances that stand out in the supporting cast are ethel barrymore as the art dealer miss spinney and maude simmons as clara morgan, a woman that befriended jennie as a child. buth women are lovingly photographed and directed to sensitive and feeling performances by william dieterle. it is almost like a homage to the consideration given to mature film actors by d.w. griffith.
in fact, the film's beauty is a throwback to the silent film. there are many shots that are matted to give the effect of looking at a painting. it is all part of the subtlety with which the material is treated. when this result is enhanced with the adaptation of debussy's music by dmitri tiomkin, timeless costuming by the gifted lucinda ballard and a well thought (though probably quite tinkered with) screenplay by paul osborn, you have an enduring classic tale of romance!
'portrati of jennie' would serve as leitmotif in the 1970s for one of the best made for tv films called 'message to my daughter' starring martin sheen, bonnie bedelia and kitty winn, giving it yet another life. just like jennie appleton.
Movie Review: One Of My All-Time Favorite Classics
Summary: 5 Stars
"Portrait Of Jennie" continues to be my all-time favorite romance story, partly because it features time travel, which I usually find fascinating, and two of my most-liked classic actors: Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten.
Mainly, this is a haunting story that stays with you....at least, it has stayed with me since I first saw it.
Once you get past the stupid beginning narration, the film is pure charm and who better to exhibit that than Jones? Few women ever looked more wholesome, sounded sweeter and looked more beautiful than this actress, who really projected innocence as she showed in her Academy Award winning debut in "The Song Of Bernadette" earlier in the decade.
Cotten is a good match for her in this film. An underrated star, he had a great voice and magnetism of his own.
However, the more I watch this film the more I am fascinated with Ethel Barrymore, who plays the kindly, spinster art museum owner. She has an extremely knowledgeable countenance and delivery of speech. Cecil Kellaway plays her art museum partner and rounds out this very likable cast.. The are no "bad guys" in this film......just good people.
The mystical time-space quality in this romance, something akin to 1980''s "Somewhere In Time," fascinates throughout and special effects are pretty darn good, too, considering when it was made.
For me, as with others, this movie was a haunting one: a film that moves me each time I see it. I have viewed perhaps 10,000 films in my 60 years and this one still ranks in the Top Ten.
Thanks to it being available on DVD - and at a cheap price - more and more people are discovering this gem. This is one of those classic movies that would still appeal to younger people today.....at least, I hope I would.
Movie Review: A Haunting, Timeless Romance.
Summary: 5 Stars
This film is a magical gem. Despite the heavy-handed opening titles which were in vogue in the 40s, this story is one of a timeless love, and artistic inspiration. Set in New York in the 1940s, Joseph Cotton is a struggling painter who finds artistic inspiration in a chance encounter with an engaging little girl. But the girl becomes a mystery, as everything she talks about is from a past generation, and she asks him to wait for her to grow up.
Their chance meetings increase, and the threads of the mystery start piecing together, as each time they meet, she is significantly older. She in this world, but not of this world, and the entire film is as enchanting to the viewer as Jennie (Jennifer Jones) is to Eben (Cotton). Ethyl Barrimore, another actress who always had an "other world" quality becomes Eben's mentor in the art world, and his mother-figure confidant. Through her caring eyes we see both how his friends love him and fear for how the world would think he is insane.
Beautifully shot in ways that are still astounding, to make the film look like a painter's canvas, and also to make Jennie look somehow far away, even when she is in Eben's arms, the film is mainly in black and white, but as we reach the stormy climax, color comes into the frame, until the final shot in full color is the full realization of the promise of the film. Rarely has any film so successfully had the filming itself be as magical as the story. This is the ultimate romantic fantasy, a story and film that love can not only transcend time, it is beyond time. Beautiful in every respect.
Movie Review: "The Wind Blows, The Sea Flows, Nobody Knows" ~ Summoning The Muse, Or Conjuring A Spirit?
Summary: 5 Stars
`Portrait of Jennie' released in '48 is a romantic, mesmerizing, highly evocative tale examining the ill-defined boundaries between time and space, love and obsession, insight and illusion.
Storyline: Eben Adams (Joseph Cotton) is a struggling artist who can't seem to make a living at his chosen craft. When a sympathetic art dealer (Ethel Barrymore) kindly agrees to purchase a few of his paintings she encourages him to look deeper into himself for a source of inspiration. Eben discovers that inspiration in the image of Jennie (Jennifer Jones) a beautiful young girl he meets in the park. It is the first of a series of encounters with this enchanting maiden and with each new encounter she appears to have aged appreciably from the previous visit, quickly advancing from girlish teenager to confident young woman. The love struck Eben re-discovers his passion for his art and begins to paint a portrait of Jennie. As the completion of the painting draws ever closer he cannot help but wonder who or what is this hauntingly attractive sprite that now occupies his every waking thought? Is she real or imaginary, living or dead? Poor Eben decides he must discover the truth for himself no matter what the cost.
The cinematography is exquiste and the haunting melodies of Claude Debussy, arranged and conducted by Dimitri Tiomkin, make for a truly enjoyable viewing and listening experience.
Highly Recommended!
Movie Review: Portrait of Jennie
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this in my early twenties in the mid 90's and though i see myself or saw myself in the macho male role, I was not only mesmurised by the flim but in tears at the end, and in other parts of the flim. I recenlty bought this flim on vhs from ebay, i belive that it like most classics these becoming rare to find. What moved me was the story completely, the idea is that you will find the one person whom will love you for all eternity and no barrier of time or death will stop this, again the preocupation with life and death lies at the back of the flim, though ultimlty its a tale of eduring and eternal love which we all look for..The ending was dramtic at cape cod done with great gusto and i like that the shots around new york are made to look like a canvas. Also for a flop at box office its still won at the oscars, though now its reconised as a classic of its kind....I would hope that eben adams would find jennie all through his life and the flim echos this stentiment...in all the flim is a wonderful and romantic love story with a supernaturel flavor which with a haunting score by debussy echo's through me every time a watch the flim. I will try to find this on dvd but its very difficult to find..