Citizen Kane (1941)

Orson Welles' great film about Charles Foster Kane, a wealthy media mogul who amassed fame, fortune and material goods, only to discover it failed to bring him happiness.

One of my favorite movies of all time.

With Joseph Cotton, Agnes Moorehead and Ruth Warrick as Kane's first wife.

Watched this movie in the summer of 2005 in Grant Park, Chicago.

Jane Eyre (1944)

The new movie version of Jane Eyre starring Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland), Judi Dench, Jaime Bell, and Sally Hawkins opens in more cities today, and it's been getting very good reviews, including positive ones from Roger Ebert and Leonard Maltin. I love the 1944 version with Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine, and a young Elizabeth Taylor in one of her first roles.

l-r: Joan Fontaine (as Jane), Orson Welles (as Rochester), Margaret O'Brien (as Adele), Peggy Ann Garner (as Young Jane), and Elizabeth Taylor (as Helen)

What it's About

Setting: England, 1829. As the film begins, young Jane (Peggy Ann Garner), an orphan, is living in a strict house of her wicked and cruel aunt (Agnes Moorhead). At the age of 10, she is sent to a prison-like boarding school, Lowood, where she's taunted, teased, called an "unregenerate child" and cruelly punished, all while getting "spiritual instruction". Her best friend Helen (Elizabeth Taylor) helps her keep her sanity.

Peggy Ann Garner and her best friend Helen, played by Elizabeth Taylor

The story advances a few years and Joan Fontaine plays Jane at 18. She accepts a job at a country estate known as Thornfield Hall, where she works as a governess and caretaker of little Adele (played by Margaret O'Brien), who appears to be an orphan, like Jane. The master of the household is Mr. Rochester, played by Orson Welles, who is very domineering and intimidating. As time goes by, Jane learns to accept him and grows fond of him, becoming jealous when he courts another woman.

I was impressed with Joan and thought she was well cast opposite Welles.

Rochester also has feelings for her, but there is something he's not telling her.

My Take:

I was not familiar with this story before seeing this movie, the first film version I had ever seen of this. So the last part of this movie really was exciting for me because I did not know what to expect. Why was the the door upstairs banging?, I asked. It is a thriller of a story. Joan Fontaine is excellent, and has the right personality and maturity to bring this character to life, even if she was a little older (27) than the character. Welles is also fantastic in this, very convincing as this character.

There have been a number of other movie versions of this classic novel over the years, but I haven't seen them and cannot compare them to this version. To me, this is the definitive version. Featuring a beautiful music score by Bernard Herrmann (Citizen Kane), intense black-and-white cinematography by George Barnes (Rebecca) and is well directed by Robert Stevenson. I really liked how at certain points actual pages from the novel were shown as Joan (as Jane) narrates.

The credited screenwriters are director Stevenson, Aldous Huxley, John Houseman, a good friend of Welles' from his early days in the theater. Stevenson went on to direct many classic Disney films of the 1960s. He does a good job directing all the child actors here, and gets a few comic moments out of little Margaret O'Brien.

This movie is 96 minutes long and you can watch it streaming on NetFlix or rent on DVD.

Cast:

Edward Rochester............Orson Welles

Jane Eyre.........................Joan Fontaine

Young Jane (age 10)........Peggy Ann Garner

Helen...............................Elizabeth Taylor

Dr. Rivers.........................John Sutton

Mrs. Reed........................Agnes Moorehead

Mrs. Fairfax....................Edith Barrett

Blanche.....................Hillary Brooke

The final title card encouraged the audience of 1944 to buy war bonds.



Originally posted on my other blog Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine: Sisters of the Silver Screen

Johnny Belinda (1948)

<--- Jane Wyman won the Best Actress Oscar for her role.

Based on a play by Elmer Blaney Harris (which was based on real life events).

Jane Wyman is a deaf and mute young woman named Belinda, who lives on a farm with her father (Charles Bickford) and aunt (Agnes Moorehead). Sadly, they both call her "the dummy" and sadly, she is disliked by almost everyone in the village.

She's befriended by a young doctor (Lew Ayres), who sees her potential, and he decides to tutor her and teach her sign language.

Eventually, the two begin to fall in love.

One day, Johnny is raped by a local fisherman, and becomes pregnant, which affects every one of the characters in the film, including the rapist, who marries the doctor's secretary (Jan Sterling) and at one point decides he wants custody over the child.

The doctor's life begins to crumble when he finds himself involved in a scandal, which leads to a climactic courtroom scene with all parties.

Some great performances. The tone of the film is serious for the most part (little comic relief).

Nominated for 12 Academy Awards. Jane Wyman won the Best Actress Oscar. Directed by Jean Negulesco.  I first watched this in 1990, about twenty years ago.