I just saw Portrait of Jennie (1948) for the first time. It is a visual masterpiece with some excellent acting.
It is a twilight zone like love story and well made and written.
The Actors are amazing.
Jennifer Jones … Jennie Appleton
Joseph Cotten … Eben Adams
Ethel Barrymore … Miss Spinney
Lillian Gish … Mother Mary of Mercy
Cecil Kellaway … Matthews
David Wayne … Gus O’Toole
Albert Sharpe … Moore (as Albert Sharp) possibly best known for another lost classic as Darby O’Gill
Well I don’t know who else has seen this movie and I was wondering what others thought of it. I noticed it is well liked by the IMDB crowd.
If you haven’t seen it and like either old love stories or the Twilight Zone I would recommend this movie.
Yeah I love that movie. Bought the DVD. The storm sequence is some of the most breathtaking visual work EVER captured on film. EVER. Just astonishing and astounding, every second of it. It won an oscar for cinematography; I wouldn’t squawk if they’d retired that category afterward.
Actually, Joe August lost the Cinematography award that year to William Daniels’ (also excellent, but more naturalistic) work for The Naked City. PoJ did win an Oscar for its Special Effects though (which is where the storm sequence comes in).
A lovely film which I haven’t seen in ages. May need to rent it, now…
THAT’S what it was. I knew the storm sequence was recognized somehow. Shoulda looked it up. And The Naked City was certainly deserving of recognition as well.
Probably due to Ted Turner cleverly buying the entire MGM film library years ago and having the rights to all of these gems. I even like to watch the old MGM newsreels and promos that they sometimes show between films.
I haven’t seen Portrait of Jennie, but will go look to see if it is being repeated this week (they sometimes do that) and will DVR it. Thanks for the heads up - sounds good.
[Nitpick]Portrait of Jennie was a Selznick International rather than an MGM film.[/Nitpick]
Anyway, you may want to check out David Thomson’s biography of David O. Selznick, Showman. There’s an interesting section in it about this movie. Production of this film was troubled since the first day with frequent script changes, re-shoots, and unexpected increased costs ( mainly due to the hurricane sequence at the end). Critically, reactions were mixed but the movie turned out to be a big financial disappointment for Selznick who produced only a few more movies afterward. It’s popularity has somewhat increased due to its appreciation among European cinéastes (Luis Bunuel was a fan and put it on his All-Time Top 10 list of great films) and showings on TV. There’s also the fact that it’s plot has been ripped off countless times on many television shows. (Although, to be fair, P.O.J. at its core is basically a variation on the Vanishing Hitchhiker legend.)
As for my opinion, I have mixed feelings toward the movie. I’m not big on romance films and this is very much a prototype for what would be later called a “chick flick”. Visually, it’s excellent as are the lead performances by Cotton and Jones (who, I think, was never better). Yet, I found it excessively saccharine and silly at times. Also, despite the attempts of the filmmakers to gloss it over, the story has a rather creepy and disturbing vibe to it. Granted this is the view of a jaded modern viewer but the movie has a very strong element of necrophilia in it. Also, Cotton’s character does seem to act like an obsessed stalker at times. It’s interesting to speculate about what Alfred Hitchcock (who was working for Selznick at the same time P.O.J. was made) would’ve done with this story if he had directed it instead. (Thomson’s biography of Selznick makes a similar observation and suggests a good viewing companion with Portrait of Jennie would be Vertigo.)
This is probably more than anyone ever wanted to know about this movie.