Jane Eyre

Plot synopsis:
The movie begins in Gateshead Hall, where a ten-year-old orphan named Jane Eyre is living with her mother's brother's family. The brother, surnamed Reed, dies shortly after adopting Jane. His wife, Mrs. Sarah Reed, and their three children (John, Eliza and Georgiana) neglect and abuse Jane, for they resent Mr. Reed's preference for the little orphan in their midst. In addition, they dislike Jane's plain looks and quiet yet passionate character. Thus, the novel begins with young John Reed bullying Jane, who retaliates with unwonted violence. Jane is blamed for the ensuing fight, and Mrs. Reed has two of the servants drag her off and lock her up in the red-room, the unused chamber where Mr. Reed had died. Still locked in that night, Jane sees a light and panics, thinking that her uncle's ghost has come. Her scream rouses the house, but Mrs. Reed just locks up Jane for longer. Then Jane has a fit and passes out. A doctor, Mr. Lloyd, comes to Gateshead Hall and suggests that Jane go to school.Mr. Brocklehurst is a cold, cruel, self-righteous, and highly hypocritical clergyman who runs a charity school called Lowood. He accepts Jane as a pupil in his school. Jane is infuriated, however, when Mrs. Reed tells him, falsely, that Jane is a liar. After Brocklehurst departs, Jane bluntly tells Mrs. Reed how she hates the Reed family. Mrs. Reed, so shocked that she is scarcely capable of responding, leaves the drawing room in haste.Jane finds life at Lowood to be grim. Miss Maria Temple, the youthful superintendent, is just and kind, but another teacher, Miss Scatcherd, is sour and abusive. Mr. Brocklehurst, visiting the school for an inspection, has Jane placed on a tall stool before the entire assemblage. He then tells them that "...this girl, this child, the native of a Christian land, worse than many a little heathen who says its prayers to Brahma and kneels before Juggernautthis girl isa liar!"Later that day, Miss Temple allows Jane to speak in her own defence. After Jane does so, Miss Temple writes to Mr. Lloyd. His reply agrees with Jane's, and she is cleared of Mr. Brocklehurst's accusation.Mr. Brocklehurst embezzles the school's funds to support his family's luxurious lifestyle while hypocritically preaching to others a doctrine of privation and poverty. As a result, Lowood's eighty pupils must make do with cold rooms, poor meals, and thin garments whilst his family lives in comfort. The majority become sick from a typhus epidemic that strikes the school.Jane is impressed with one pupil, Helen Burns, who accepts Miss Scatcherd's cruelty and the school's deficiencies with passive dignity, practising the Christian teaching of turning the other cheek. Jane admires and loves the gentle Helen and they become best friends, but Jane cannot bring herself to emulate her friend's behaviour. While the typhus epidemic is raging, Helen dies of consumption in Jane's arms.Many die in the typhus epidemic, and Mr. Brocklehurst's neglect and dishonesty are laid bare. Several rich and kindly people donate to put up a new school building in a more healthful location. New rules are made, and improvements in diet and clothing are introduced. Though Mr. Brocklehurst can not be overlooked, due to his wealth and family connections, new people are brought in to share his duties of treasurer and inspector, and conditions improve dramatically at Lowood.The narrative resumes eight years later. Jane has been a teacher at Lowood for two years, but she thirsts for a better and brighter future. She advertises for a governess and is hired by Mrs. Alice Fairfax, housekeeper of the Gothic manor of Thornfield, to teach a rather spoiled but amiable little French girl named Adèle Varens. A few months after her arrival at Thornfield, Jane goes for a walk and aids a horseman who takes a fall.He is rude to her and calls her a 'witch' but she helps him back on the horse. On her return to Thornfield, Jane discovers that the horseman is her employer, Mr. Edward Rochester, a moody, charismatic gentleman nearly twenty years older than Jane. Adèle is his ward.Rochester seems quite taken with Jane. He repeatedly summons her to his presence and talks with her. Adèle, he says, is the illegitimate daughter of a French opera singer, Celine, who was his mistress for a time, though he doubts Adèle is his daughter. That same night, Jane hears eerie laughter coming from the hallway, and upon opening the door she sees smoke coming from Rochester's chamber. Rushing into his room, she finds his bed curtains ablaze and douses them with water, saving Rochester's life. Rochester says a matronly servant named Grace Poole is responsible, yet does not fire her, and Grace Poole shows no signs of remorse or guilt. Jane is amazed and perplexed. But by this time, Rochester and Jane are in love with each other, though they do not show it.Soon after the fire incident, Mr. Rochester departs Thornfield, reportedly to the Continent. He returns expectedly with a party of high-class ladies and gentlemen, including Miss Blanche Ingram, a beautiful but shallow socialite whom he seems to be courting. The party is interrupted when a strange old gypsy woman arrives and insists on telling everyone's fortunes. When Jane's turn comes, the gypsy tells her a great deal about her life and feelings, much to Jane's surprise. Then the gypsy reveals "herself" to be Rochester in disguise.That night, after a piercing scream wakes everyone in the house, Mr. Rochester comes to Jane for help in attending to a wounded guest, a certain Mr. Richard Mason, a queer Englishman from the West Indies. Mr. Mason has been stabbed and bitten in the arm, and a surgeon comes and secretly whisks the wounded man away. Again, Rochester hints that Grace Poole is responsible.Jane receives word that Mrs. Reed, upon hearing of her son John's apparent suicide after leading a life of dissipation and debt, has suffered a near-fatal stroke and is asking for her. So Jane returns to Gateshead, where she encounters her cousins Eliza and Georgiana Reed. Eliza has become a self-righteous puritan. Georgiana, much admired for her beauty in London a season or two ago, has become plump and vapid, always moaning about her love affair with Lord Edwin Vere. Eliza, out of envy, had prevented their marriage. The two sisters despise each other and are barely on speaking terms.Although she rejects Jane's efforts at reconciliation, Mrs. Reed gives Jane a letter that she had previously withheld out of spite. The letter is from Jane's father's brother, John Eyre, notifying her of his intent to leave her his fortune upon his death. Mrs. Reed dies in the night, and no one mourns her. Eliza enters a convent in France, and Georgiana travels to London, eventually marrying a wealthy but worn-out society man.After Jane returns to Thornfield, she and Rochester gradually reveal their love for each other.Though Jane accepts Rochester's proposal of marriage, she is plagued by doubts about it. She feels she is Rochester's inferior and continues to address him as "master" even after they are engaged. Her forebodings deepen when a strange, savage-looking woman sneaks into her room one night and rips her wedding veil in two. Yet again, Rochester attributes the incident to Grace Poole.The wedding goes ahead nevertheless. But during the ceremony in the church, the mysterious Mr. Mason and a lawyer step forth and declare that Rochester cannot marry Jane because his own wife is still alive. Rochester bitterly admits this fact, explaining that his wife is a violent madwoman whom he keeps imprisoned in the attic, where Grace Poole looks after her. But Grace Poole imbibes gin immoderately, occasionally giving the madwoman an opportunity to escape. It is Rochester's mad wife who is responsible for the strange events at Thornfield. Rochester nearly committed bigamy, and kept this fact from Jane. The wedding is cancelled, and Jane is heartbroken.Back at the manorhouse, Rochester explains further. Under pressure from his father to make an advantageous marriage, and lured by Bertha's vast inheritance and personal beauty, Rochester had as a young man married Bertha. When Bertha became openly insane, Rochester locked her up in Thornfield and departed for a life of sensuality in Europe.Rochester then asks Jane to accompany him to the south of France, where they will live as husband and wife, even though they cannot be married. But Jane refuses to give up her self-respect by becoming a rich man's mistress, even though she loves him still.But she does not trust herself to refuse a second time. In the dead of night, Jane slips out of Thornfield and takes a coach far away to the north of England. When her money gives out, she sleeps outdoors on the moor and reluctantly begs for food. One night, freezing and starving, she comes to Moor House (or Marsh End) and begs for help. St. John Rivers, the young clergyman who lives in the house, admits her.Jane, who gives the false surname of Elliott, quickly recovers under the care of St. John and his two kind sisters, Diana and Mary. St. John arranges for Jane to teach a charity school for girls in the village of Morton. At the school, Jane observes the interactions of St. John, a cold and stern man but a truly devout Christian, and Rosamond Oliver, a beautiful but silly young heiress. Jane comes to believe that the two are in love, and boldly says so to St John. St. John confesses his love but says that Rosamond would make a most unsuitable wife for a missionary, which he intends to become.One snowy night, St. John unexpectedly arrives at Jane's cottage. Suspecting Jane's true identity, he relates Jane's experiences at Thornfield and says that her uncle, John Eyre, has died and left Jane his fortune of 20,000 pounds. After confessing her true identity, Jane arranges to share her inheritance with the Riverses, who turn out to be her cousins.Not long afterwards, St. John decides to travel to India and devote his life to missionary work. He asks Jane to accompany him as his wife. Jane consents to go to India but adamantly refuses to marry him because they are not in love. St. John is not cruel or hypocritical like Mr. Brocklehurst, but he does not respect other people's feelings when they conflict with his own. He continues to pressure Jane to marry him, and his forceful personality almost causes her to capitulate. But at that moment she hears what she thinks is Rochester's voice calling her name, and this gives her the strength to reject St. John completely.The next day, Jane takes a coach to Thornfield. But only blackened ruins lie where the manorhouse once stood. An innkeeper tells Jane that Rochester's mad wife set the fire and then committed suicide by jumping from the roof. Rochester rescued the servants from the burning mansion but lost a hand and his eyesight in the process. He now lives in an isolated manor house called Ferndean. Going to Ferndean, Jane reunites with Rochester. At first, he fears that she will refuse to marry a blind cripple, but Jane accepts him without hesitation.Speaking from the vantage point of ten years, Jane describes their married life as blissful.I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely blestblest beyond what language can express; because I am my husbands life as fully as he is mine. No woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am: ever more absolutely bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh. I know no weariness of my Edwards society: he knows none of mine, any more than we each do of the pulsation of the heart that beats in our separate bosoms; consequently, we are ever together. To be together is for us to be at once as free as in solitude, as gay as in company. We talk, I believe, all day long: to talk to each other is but a more animated and an audible thinking. All my confidence is bestowed on him, all his confidence is devoted to me; we are precisely suited in characterperfect concord is the result.Meanwhile, St. John has gone to India as a missionary and dies there. However, some claim St. John does not die in the scope of the book. Jane writes, "I know that a stranger's hand will write to me next, to say that the good and faithful servant has been called at length into the joy of his Lord. While his death may be implied, it is never clearly stated.Rochester eventually recovers sight in one eye, and can see their first-born son when the baby is born.

Tags: insanity, gothic, melodrama

Review:
Charlotte Bronte's grim novel is well suited to the excellent B/W, cinematography: a memorable scene early in the film has young Jane being punished by being forced to stand on a stool that is nearly in the center of a fan of shadows cast by the stair railing, It is almost reminiscent of expressionist German films of the Weimar years.The film manages to entertain as well as inform.
The original novel is a complex story and character study, and it would be quite a job to squeeze everything into a film of under two hours - all things considered, this version does a pretty good job despite eliminating some significant parts of the book.There are a lot of fine actors in the cast, and Orson Welles is ideal for the role of Rochester.
Joan Fontaine is good too as (the adult) Jane, although the character in this version is somewhat less interesting than in the novel, so she has less to work with than Welles does.
There are some fine performances in the early part of the movie, and some excellent casting, including Agnes Moorehead as Jane's mean-spirited aunt, the icy Henry Daniell as Brocklehurst, and a young Elizabeth Taylor as Jane's school friend Helen.
The movie leaves quite a bit of the story out, but dutifully makes up for it with a strong actors and incredible cinematography.Joan Fontaine portrays the shy, demure Jane Eyre.
Possibly this is wise, as it concentrates the narrative to Jane's hiring by Edward Rochester, her growing love for her "Byronic" employer, and her discovering of the shattering secret that derails their marriage.When the film was made Joan Fontaine was at the height of her career as a movie star.
Of particular note are two child actors: Peggy Ann Garner, as the young Jane, who has a brief but dazzling turn to open the picture, and who was better known shortly thereafter for her lead in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; and the never-yet-equaled Margaret O'Brien, the oscar-winner who played 'Tootie' in 'Meet Me in St. Louis' as Rochester's ward and Jane's charge.
Oh, and nearly incidentally, one of Elizabeth Taylor's first performances, as Jane's doomed friend Helen.One can only speculate how the history of film would've been different had Welles somehow started a trend in Hollywood story-telling like that of this rendition of 'Jane Eyre'.
Music is scored by Bernard Herrmann and George Barnes is the cinematographer.After a harsh and eye opening childhood, orphan Jane Eyre gains employment at Thornfield Hall as governess to the young ward of Edward Rochester.
A Difference in class and life outlook, Jane and Rochester are by definition polar opposites, but a bond exists, a bond that surely can't conquer the mysteries of Rochester the man, and the secret of his estate?Stevenson's version of the often filmed Jane Eyre has been pored over numerous times before, the constant question that arises is that of just how much input and work did Orson Welles have in its production?
From the shards of shadows that accompany young Jane as she stands on the punishment stool at Lowood Institution, put there by the despotic Henry Brocklehurst (a menacing Henry Daniell), to each chiaroscuro lit composition of Rochester in and around the oppressive like family home, film has visual moodiness in abundance.
She gives the child version of Jane a sorrowful edge that sets the tone of the film, her early scenes with an uncredited Elizabeth Taylor (beautiful and effectively correct in vocals) are a lesson in child acting.
From the superb acting to the literate screenplay, haunting musical score and outstanding production values, this version of JANE EYRE is justly considered one of the finest films ever produced in Hollywood.
Orson Welles is superb as Rochester and Joan Fontaine in the title role gives one of the best performances of her career.
By the time Joan Fontaine had finished reading out Brönte's opening paragraph, with the sentences themselves before me, I was in no mood to watch the movie - I wanted to go away and read the book.Yet when it's not reminding us that it's at heart a version of something else, it's a very good film, falling not too far short of David Lean's "Oliver Twist" - which it resembles.
I found Joan Fontaine's performance as Jane Eyre as one of the more satisfying of her career,in that she was less histrionic than usual.I thought of her as not-to-the manor-born,but could,and did,achieve the position of governess in that social register of Edward Rochester by being quiet,smiling,and,in the words of Spencer Tracy,"don't bump into the furniture." Of course,Jane learned harshly,in her youth,the hard,cold facts of life.Mr.Rochester was enough to scare the wits out of any delicate woman like Jane.But,she was quiet,smiling,and didn't bump into the furniture,and,thereby,won his respect--and love.She could play the piano--and speak French,too.That helped to cement their relationship.Miss Fontaine's performance was gentle and in perfect pitch.Orson Welles' performance was an interesting study of character development,from over-bearing--even rude,to controlled kindness and deep concern for Jane's welfare.A fine film,good to watch..
Orson Welles hauls out his "Citizen Kane" corsets to become Mr. Rochester to Joan Fontaine's Jane Eyre in "Jane Eyre," a lavish 1944 adaptation of the book by Charlotte Bronte.Jane is a poor orphan shuttled from one horrible situation to another -first the home of her cruel aunt (Agnes Moorhead), then to an orphanage run by Henry Brocklehurst.
When they offer her a teaching position there for pennies, she leaves to become the governess for little Adele (Margaret O'Brien) at Thornfield, the home of the mysterious, tormented Edward Rochester.O'Brien was one of the most adorable child actors in films, and one of the best performers.
There is, however, the matter of Grace Poole.The film is atmospheric - in fact, it may be a tad on the overdone side, but the wind blowing on the moors, the storms, the lightning, the mausoleum-like, cold house all fit the darkness of Mr. Rochester's soul to perfection.Truly there was no one in cinema history quite like Orson Welles - brilliant, eccentric, a profligate spender, and ultimately self-destructive, on the outs with Hollywood and unable to finish any of his later projects.
Maybe it was Charlotte Brontë's sad story, which was made twice as unaccredited adaptations for Mexican soap operas verging on horror tales; maybe it was the cruel way poor Jane (Peggy Ann Garner) and her friend Helen (Elizabeth Taylor) were treated in an orphanage, or perhaps because of Joan Fontaine, who often played the most unfortunate leading ladies (just consider her parts in "Rebecca", "Letters from an Unknown Woman", and "Suspicion")...
Directed by Robert Stevenson, who went on to direct "Darby O'Gill and the Little People", "The Absent Minded Professor", "Mary Poppins", and "The Love Bug" for Disney, it has been said that Orson Welles (who played Edward Rochester) had a strong influence on the stunning visual aspect of the film.
In the book we are able to see into the brilliant mind, whereas with a film adaptation, and by the way it is played by Joan Fontaine, we only ever see the waif-like exterior.
Though Jane Eyre was blessed with incredible performances by Welles and Fontaine, the movie completely disgraced the novel.
As described by Jane Eyre in the very beginning, the romance takes place in "a harsh time of change in England, when money and position seemed all that mattered; charity was a cold and disagreeable word; and religion too often wore a mask of bigotry and cruelty." The performances are wonderful, and the roles of Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester seem to be tailored for the sweet Joan Fontaine and the powerful Orson Welles.
Jane Eyre (Joan Fontaine) survives a rough childhood at the worst orphanage ever and gets a job as a governess to the daughter of Edward Rochester (Orson Welles).
Even though he is not credited as the director (that was Robert Stevenson who later made "Mary Poppins"), Welles' distinctive filmmaking style is prevalent everywhere.From the gloomy ambiance that seems to whisper "Rosebud" to the heavy use of shadow, the distorted camera angles, the moody black-and-white cinematography from George Barnes who lensed "Rebecca", and the evocative score by Bernard Herrmann - this feels like an uncredited Orson Welles production.
Adapted by an impressive group of writers - John Houseman, Aldous Huxley, Henry Koster and Stevenson - the story follows Jane from her desolate childhood as an orphan raised by an insensitive aunt, Mrs. Reed, through her lonely years at the Lowood Institution, a charitable school where she was a headstrong pupil whom the school offers to hire as a teacher when she comes of age since she would be a cheap hire.
Orson Welles plays Edward Rochester, the moody and mysterious employer of governess Jane Eyre in this earlier adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's Gothic novel that takes place in the first half of the 19th Century.
97 minutes long Orson Welles/Joan Fontaine version skips some novel's plot lines but the film works nicely thanks to skillfully adapted screenplay by John Houseman and Aldous Huxley.
Joan Fontaine was too attractive and too meek for strong-willed and fiercely intelligent Jane but there was undeniable chemistry between her and Welles.This 20th Century Fox production also stars 7 years old Margaret O'Brien, charming as little Adele Varance and 12-years-old uncredited Elizabeth Taylor, already strikingly beautiful, who'd break your heart as Jane's first and unforgettable friend Helen Burns in the dismal Lowood school.Of four films based on "Jane Eyre" that I've seen, Welles/Fontaine film is the shortest and the only B/W.
Orson Wells is a superb Rochester and Joan Fontaine plays Jane the way she was meant to be played: sweet, gentle but strong and intelligent.
OK, well, put it this way....I love the book Jane Eyre, it's in my top five of all time..I love Orson Welles too.I think with a better script and director he could of been a great Rochester, BUT...Here's the thing, and please don't think I'm a hypocrite here, because I do think men can do almost anything a woman can and women can do most anything a woman can, IF they put their minds to it.Problem is, this version was written and directed and put together by a bunch of very manly men who truly did not extend themselves to capture what exactly it was the female author was trying to say.So you have here a "boys version" of what they think the book should of been about, and what they thought would sell to people, women in particular.It's just....
Why would a female of the 1940's want to see a story about a young woman standing by her convictions or standing on her own in a time when women were never allowed to do that....Sorry I'm being sarcastic here, but it seems almost like the makers of the film were practically patting their audience on the head and telling them to not worry their pretty little heads about anything complicated.Jane's learning, work, suffering and soul searching are pretty much turned into ho-hum melodrama, the type I'm sure the makers of this film thought would appeal to a "modern woman" of the 1940's.If you can't see what I'm saying, think about it this way.
She is the star of this movie for the first 20 minutes as a young "Jane Eyre." Sadly, it's the story of her hard life as a kid under wicked people, and then she's out of the picture as Joan Fontaine plays her as an adult.One of the wicked people tormenting young Eyre (Garner) is the head of the school and, of course, is portrayed as a man of the Bible, a Christian man.
No wonder film critics liked this movie.As the adult Eyre, Fontaine's character still has a hard life until the very end.
Thanks also to the casting of Joan Fontaine at a marvelous early career period, and strong atmospheric production values, this version of Bronte's brooding tale is one of the best.Not that I for a moment think people ever talked and behaved like these "gothic" characters do.
Jane Eyre (1943) *** (out of 4)Good telling of the classic novel has the orphaned Jane Eyre (Joan Fontaine) finally escaping from a brutal school where she accepts a governess job for the mysterious Edward Rochester (Orson Welles).
(Actually, the demands of the Production Code meant that Rochester's past in the film is rather less murky than it was in the novel; there is no mention of Adele's mother having been his mistress).The other acting performance which stands out comes from the young Elizabeth Taylor in an uncredited appearance as Jane's childhood friend Helen Burns.I will not attempt a comparison between this film and Zeffirelli's, which I have not seen since it was first shown in the cinema in 1996.
I count 22 versions on the Internet Movie Database, but this one starring Joan Fontaine as plain Jane Eyre and Orson Welles as the brooding Rochester is probably the best known.I had previously reviewed a 1934 version that starred Virginia Bruce and Colin Clive had done for Monogram.
Director Robert Stevenson was content with the agreement letting the overbearing Orson Welles (two years after "Citizen Kane") direct his own character (Edward Rochester) in the later scenes with costar Joan Fontaine, Stevenson's real interest was in directing children.
Garner turns in the best performance of the three girls but you have to marvel at six year-old O'Brien's credible French accent.Welles liked Stevenson and had a good time on the set except when O'Brien was present.
As a result, the film has its shortcomings and could have used an addition of a few more minutes to its runtime, but thanks to Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles in the leading roles, as well as Elizabeth Taylor, Hillary Brooke and Agnes Moorehead in memorable supporting performances, Robert Stevenson's "Jane Eyre" is still worth watching - as long as you are familiar with the source material and don't allow this to become your first encounter with the story of Jane Eyre..
The best scenes were the Lowood School scenes (featuring a very young Elizabeth Taylor as the ill-fated Helen).I have watched several film versions of the book, and there are some I like much better (the TV miniseries starring George C.
Jane Eyre is another master piece from the great American film actor, writer, and director Orson Wells.
The film stars both Orson wells and Joan Fontaine, both who give great performances.
"Jane Eyre" starring Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine, and Margaret O'Brien is a gret film.
After a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre (Joan Fontaine) is hired by Edward Rochester (Orson Welles), the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house to care for his young daughter.I was a bit worried that this film would be dry and boring, as I find many old novels to be a bit dry and boring.
through in a great actor (Welles) and director (Robert Stevenson) and you have a strong picture.Unfortunately, Joan Fontaine gets all the credit for playing Eyre, and I think this is misguided.
This gives the film the atmosphere of a ghost story.Joan Fontaine's performance is wonderful too, though she is much too beautiful for Jane.
As some of the other commenters have noted, it is more like just another Orson Welles movie than an adaptation of the great Jane Eyre.
First of all, Jane Eyre is supposed to be "plain" and Joan Fontaine is, well, not.I was pleasantly surprised by the additions of Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Reed and Elizabeth Taylor as Helen, but for the most part this movie was filmed way too dark for me, and the sound was really overdone.
As someone who could not endure the novel at age thirteen and refuses to go back to finishing it again a year later, I was pleasantly surprised by the movie.Peggy Ann Garner as the young Jane sets the scene, but it gets even better with the introduction of Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine and Margaret O'Brien.
On its own terms it excels even more, particularly in the beautiful production values, the crisp black and white cinematography helps convey a genuine atmosphere, and Bernard Hermann's haunting score, his second best of the 40s after The Ghost and Mrs Muir.Charlotte Bronte's story is so timeless, and I liked the passion the film exuded, how well-measured the pace was and the conflict between Jane and Brocklehurst was kept intact.
Brilliantly filmed in haunting black-and-white, Stevenson's JANE EYRE is atmospheric, romantic and enormously entertaining.Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine are the two principal characters, Jane and Rochester.
Bernard Hermann's score contributes finely to the production, and I have a feeling that, even though Stevenson was a good director, some of the film's best camera-work and visuals were contributed by Orson Welles.
Will the two become romantically involved?Damn, is Jane Eyre a good-looking movie, but without the superb Joan Fontaine, an actress I think is one of the best of her generation without the due respect she deserves (although, she did win an Oscar for her excellent work in Suspicion, and her performance in another Hitchcock classic, Rebecca, is essential viewing for those who want to know how to communicate to us a groundswell of emotion without saying a word through posture, expressive eyes, and an aching/distress that just tells us how she feels), I think this 1943 version of the classic novel would be pretty visually, lavish sets, costumes, lighting, all the technical achievements a five-star studio could muster, but lack the emotional depth it so richly depends on.
He's a splendid Rochester while Joan Fontaine is perfectly cast as Jane, (after "Rebecca" it may be her best performance), and it has a first-rate supporting cast that includes an uncredited 11 year old Elizabeth Taylor as the little girl who dies.
See it for Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine, a good black & white adaptation..
The film directed by Robert Stevenson is about a girl Jane Eyre (Joan Fontaine) who has no family.