Portrait of Jennie

A bittersweet sense of melancholy permeates this stunning romantic fantasy, a film produced by David Selznick as a cinematic altar to his wife Jennifer Jones.

I adored Jones in Henry King's THE SONG OF BERNADETTE, but I love Jones (almost as much as Joseph Cotten did) in PORTRAIT OF JENNIE.

Cotten is Eben Adams, an artist who meets the enigmatic Jennie (Jones) in Central Park. Their time together is always limited for Jennie is compelled to return home to a place Cotten will never visit.

At first just a sweet schoolgirl, Jennie appears to have aged unnaturally every time she re-appears to Cotten -- eventually, she is old enough to acknowledge Cotten's romantic and carnal intentions towards her.

This unusual, unique studio pic epitomizes "dreamy" for it is exceptionally surreal and photographed in a strange, re-texturized black and white (von Trier's amazing BREAKING THE WAVES used a similar technique to introduce new scenes).

The climax, staged on a storm-swept island, is absolutely beautiful and immensely tragic.

Some have dismissed PORTRAIT OF JENNIE as amounting to nothing more than a series of pretty pictures. I passionately disagree. It is one of the greatest stories of true love ever filmed, and there is nothing false in its intensity or tone (not if you have loved like this).

Dieterlé's film is magic itself.Borrowing from "Peter Ibbetson " (Hathaway,1935) ,from "the portrait of Dorian Gray" (Lewin ,1944,the final trick is the same)or from the "the Ghost and Mrs Muir" (Mankiewicz,1947) ,it succeeds in connecting all the links of the chain .Moreover,I'm almost sure that Richard Matheson saw this movie for its influence on his "bid time return" novel (transferred to the screen as "Somewhere in time" (1981) ) is obvious.

A painter down on his luck meets a strange girl.Her clothes are old-fashioned and she seems out of nowhere .Dieterlé marvelously creates an offbeat poetic atmosphere.Using urban landscapes,an ominous sky or the stairs in the lighthouse shrouded in a green light,he 's got an extraordinary sense of mystery.The cast is ideal:Jennifer Jones was par excellence the romantic heroine ("Duel in the sun" which was the first time she had played opposite Cotten,"Ruby Gentry" "Madame Bovary" "Love is a many -splendored thing" ) with an adequate timeless beauty,Joseph Cotten could play everything ,and Lilian Gish made a short but conspicuous appearance as Mother Superior.The Cotten/Jones meeting in the convent could have been mushy and disastrous with any lesser talent:Dieterlé makes it a moving scene ,intimate and grandiose all at once.

We all live with our past.Some of us would give everything to relive scenes of their past .Einstein told one day that time was the form of his powerlessness while space was the form of his power.Who knows if (and the lines which open the movie open any door) somewhere we are not living in our past,or in our future?

It's the middle of the Depression, 1934, and struggling artist Joseph Cotten can't seem to find his muse. But one day he meets a strange, but enchanting girl while in Central Park. He resolves right then and there to paint a Portrait of Jennie.

Allowing for the fact that this is a fantasy, a whole lot of the story makes absolutely no sense. But you really don't care because Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones have an almost spiritual like chemistry. As Cotten investigates he finds there's real good reason for the girl's spirituality. Every time he meets her she seems to take some quantum leaps in her maturity.

The stars of Finian's Rainbow, Albert Sharpe and David Wayne, both appear in this film. This was David Wayne's big screen debut and I certainly did love the scene where he bamboozles Sharpe into commissioning Cotten to paint a mural of Michael Collins for his Irish pub. Cotten catches on and kind of goes with the flow.

Being this is a Jennifer Jones film by her husband David O. Selznick, this is still another vehicle for Selznick to exhibit the beauty that was Jennifer Jones. Every film she did, because Selznick interfered with all of them even if he wasn't directly producing, is a testament to his vision of her. Even when she's playing bad girls like Pearl Chavez or Ruby Gentry, you get a good idea what stirred David O. Selznick to devote the rest of his life to her career.

Ethel Barrymore as the society dowager and Lillian Gish as a Mother Superior are also well cast. Too bad those two had no scenes together, that would have been something.

Portrait of Jennie is an enchanting film about an enchanting girl played by one enchanting actress. What else can you say, but enchanting.

This movie has quite a lot going for it.

First of all, it is beautifully photographed - at times it looks as though you are watching a portrait moving. The acting is all terrific - Joseph Cotten is perfect as a down-on-his-luck artist who begins by selling a print to Cecil Kellaway and Ethel Barrymore. They encourage him to draw people rather than the still life pictures he'd been doing. He eventually runs into Jennie in Central Park and she intrigues him, to say the least. She mentions places and times that have long passed and sings a song that he cannot forget. The next time he runs into her she's grown up a little, then every time they see one another she'd matured more and more. They normally see each other in Central Park but he does her portrait and its a masterpiece.

Movie is very unconventional for its time - there are no opening credits, the end credits are listed as "The actors are Jennifer Jones, etc., The Supporting Actors are Ethel Barrymore, etc."; a black woman is used as an actual character rather than some sort of domestic; and its not all wrapped up in a pretty bow at the end. It might seem wordy and silly to some, but I really loved it.

I've admired Jennifer Jones since seeing "The Song of Bernadette" as a kid. Aside from that movie and "Beat the Devil", unfortunately I haven't seen a lot of her movies that seemed up to her talent. In this, she is exceptionally good and its not just a showcase for her talents put on screen by David O. Selznick - in reality, she's in it far less than Cotten.

I understand the movie won an Oscar for the special effects, which are good but I didn't need them to love the movie. 9/10.

The picture starts with two poems of famous writers ¨Who knoeth if to die be but to live..and that called life by mortals be but death?¨ by Euripides and ¨Beauty is truth , truth beauty , that is all ye know on earth and all ye need to know¨ by Keats . When a penniless painter (Joseph Cotten) is walking in N.Y city during the great depression , he meets a mysterious girl named Jennie Appleton (Jennifer Jones) . The otherworldly Jennie inspires to the failed artist , but , previously , he has never been able to encounter the inspiration and now he's painting wonderful paintings . Meanwhile , he meets an old spinster (Ethel Barrymore) and a painting merchant (Cecil Kallaway) . But the strange Jennie disappears and he asks for her at a convent where Mother Mary (Lilian Gish) knew her long time ago .

It is an enjoyable and fantastic romance story where protagonist duo are awesome . The script relies heavily on the relationship between the two starring , but it doesn't cause boring . It's a brilliant romantic tale and though is slow-moving , isn't tiring . Jennifer Jones (producer David O'Selznick's wife) is gorgeous with her sweet and attractive countenance . Joseph Cotten is magnificent as the artist looking for inspiration . Sensitive and stirring score , including an attractive musical leitmotiv by Dimitri Tiomkin , adding music from the classic composer Claude Debussy . Lush black and white cinematography by cameraman Joseph Lawrence and the last part tinted in green and ending image about Jennie portrait in Technicolor . The movie won an Academy Award for especial effects . Besides , being produced by the great producer David O'Selznick (Gone with the wind , Duel in the sun , Third man) . The motion picture was excellently directed by William Dieterle , author of several cinema classics (Hunchback of Notre Dame , Blockade) and autobiography specialist (Juarez , Emile Zola , Reuter , Louis Pasteur , Dr.Erlich) . The movie will appeal to romantic movies fans . Rating : 7.5/10 . Above average.