Thursday, 2 August 2012

jane eyre (1943) - robert stevenson







Jane Eyre is one of the many books l have never got around to reading, and I knew little about it, as l have never seen any of the other film or TV adaptions.  Therefore, when this 1943 effort with Orson Welles popped up, l got stuck in.  The film was a bit too 'romancy' (if there's such a word) for my liking (what a surprise), but that was kind of what l was expecting.  The orphaned Jane is sent to a school that is more like a prison, leaves it to be a governess, and (of course she does) falls in love with her employer, Mr Rochester. There is however, a secret he has not revealed to her.  The lighting on Wells (Mr Rochester) reminded me of old Dracula movies, but he did give a heroically over the top performance.  Joan Fontaine as the older Jane l could take or leave, but l was impressed by the younger version and the cameo by an also young Elizabeth Taylor as Helen, who befriends Jane at the school.  I'm glad l have now seen a telling of the story, and am now more aware of what it entails, but the book will probably remain untroubled by me in the future.

toodle pip

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