portrait of jennie

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charliechaplinfan
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portrait of jennie

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I know I started the thread on Jennifer Jones to discuss her movies. I've know that there are many fans of this movie, I watched it for the first time yesterday and I'm completely undecided how to read this beautiful movie. I guess this is a movie that needs discussion and I'm sure we all think a little differently on how to interpret it.

I thought the visual aspect of the film was elegant and charming, I liked the use of New York and of the buildings as backdrop. when Jennie first appeared I was so surprised to see her in a costume of the 1910's when the film was set much later on but I thought Jennifer played a young girl very well and she matured into a very elegant young woman.

Part of the plot I could see opening up, that Eben would find out more things about her and anticipate meeting Jennie again. Spinney didn't see Jennie, she thought he had an artist's vision. With Jennie, Eben became a great painter. Is he influenced by a subconcious? I thought that but the scarf discounts that notion.

I thought the scene at the convent was particularly touching, the addition of religion gives another layer to the story and Eben's visit to Mother Mary of Mercy and her understanding of his madness/obsession.

I was completely wrong in predicting the ending, I thought Eben would go to meet Jennie at Cape Cod and in doing so join her in the afterlife. He had no one in this world apart from Spinney and his friend, Jennie had searched for him and found him and now she could know peace. He lived on but with her scarf, so he knew she was real, how did he live his live day to day after this and do they meet again in the afterlife?

I'd love to be able to see the scenes of the sea on the big screen, I thought they were beautiful. I loved the use of the green tint, it brought the sea to life and the final viewing of Jennie's portrait in colour was the perfect touch.

I don't know very much about William Dieterle as a director. Is he someone who would do David Selznick's bidding or is he a director to follow his own vision, which ever way he played it he made a lovely film.
Last edited by charliechaplinfan on December 28th, 2009, 7:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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JackFavell
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Re: portrait of jennie

Post by JackFavell »

I love this movie, it is way up right on top of my list of favorites.

I don't have time right now to respond properly... my feeling is that Eben spends his life suffering, dreaming of being with Jennie again, but is then able to create great art... he is resigned to his life alone, maybe he dreams about her occasionally, but after a long somewhat lonely life of success he joins Jennie in the afterlife. And I most definitely DON'T think he was crazy, though I suspect everyone else thinks so all his life.

The visuals are stunning and I like the way that the New York locations start out looking like a rotogravure...

David Wayne is great as Eben's only friend, who at first believes in Eben but then starts to eye him critically. His character is multi -faceted as are all of the folks in this film. He makes every movie he is in a better one.

Ethel Barrymore is outstanding. I see Spinney's entire life in this performance, she is as solitary as Eben.

But the movie belongs to Jennifer Jones, her ghostly and frail personality shines bright and true.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: portrait of jennie

Post by charliechaplinfan »

The visuals were like a canvas I thought, reflecting his work as a painter.

Spinney is his mirror image but without a Jennie to fanatasise or escape to, I think she envies Eben his fantasy.

Jennifer is wonderful as Jennie, the part fits her like a glove.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
feaito

Re: portrait of jennie

Post by feaito »

This is absolutely my favorite film of all time and a film I've watched many, many times. It's so haunting, mysterious, uncanny, romantic, beautiful, melancholic, nostalgic et al. There are hardly words to describe it properly. The use of color and tinting is superb. And the New York portrayed in the film is a NY I've never seen again in any other film before or after. The cast is uniformly superb, although there are people who have been annoyed by Wayne's character. For me, he adds warmth to the story. Each time I see it again Ms. Spinney's character and her motives and feelings towards Eben become more and more mysterious and indecipherable.

Many years ago I wrote this brief review when I saw this film for the second or third time:
Since I was a child, a very lonely one indeed, I used to watch old films on TV (1970-1979), and there were some of them that left a “mark” on me and lingered in my mind forever, two of these were “I’ll never Forget You”, the 1951 remake of the classic 1933 Leslie Howard movie, “Berkeley Square”, starring Tyrone Power and Ann Blyth and “Portrait of Jennie”, both of which belong to the “supernatural fantasy” category.

Later in my life, I realized that “Portrait of Jennie” is a superior film than “I’ll Never Forget You”, haunting, exquisite, dreamlike, which brought out hidden-deep-inside emotions, myself not being an “openly” sensitive or emotional/emotive person, making it, definitely, a one-of-a-kind experience for me.

All of my life, films like these, in which people from “different times” fall in love or in which ghosts meet humans, have had a very special effect on me, movies like the aforementioned, and others like “Peter Ibbetson” (1935), “Smilin’ Through” (1932), “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” (1947) and “Somewhere in Time” (1980).

Jennifer Jones does a very fine job in the difficult part of the ethereal Jennie, giving real credibility at the character's different stages of her life. In my honest opinion here she gives the performance of her career, subtle, understated, delicate, sublime.

Joseph Cotten, a very fine actor, is absolutely believable as the obsessed artist, who learns (unknowingly) that until one falls in love with somebody, one begins to really LIVE and by means of this love, he succeeds in expressing his talent as a painter.

Ethel Barrymore, grand dame of the American Theater and an occasional character film actress, gives a great performance in a part worthy of her talent, as the mysterious owner of an Art Gallery who befriends Cotten, supporting and encouraging him, thus, becoming her mentor.

Others in the exceptional supporting cast: Cecil Kellaway (as Barrymore's partner), sweet grand lady of the silent screen, the legendary Lillian Gish (as a Nun) and David Wayne, who’s funny but at the same time very human as Cotten's pal.

Trust me, if you're a sensitive person, this movie will linger in your mind for several days after watching it, and it won't end there, you will want to "experience" it again and again. Since I bought this movie on DVD, and I've got a big video and DVD collection, I have watched it many times, not counting all the times I had previously seen it on TV's late night showings.

On the other hand, the cinematography and art direction are excellent, truly awesome; the camera captures a “very special” New York, not the usual city you’re used to watch in films, on the contrary, you “discover” a city in a way you’ve never seen it, a “magic” New York, with a special quality.

The quality of the DVD edition I own is very good (Anchor Bay release) and it gives you the special opportunity of watching the film in the original way it was intended to be seen, most of it in black and white, then switching to green shading (for the storm sequence), then to sepia tone and the final shot in full Technicolor, a special treat. The DVD has no bonuses, except for the film's original trailer and, believe me, this picture does not need anything else!!

Since the Anchor Bay Edition has been the only DVD edition available on the market and largely out of print, it’s good news that MGM will be releasing a new edition in October 2004 and I hope the print will be of the same good quality.

Jennifer Jones & Joseph Cotten starred in three other excellent pictures prior to this final pairing: "Since You Went Away" (1944), "Love Letters" (1945) and "Duel in the Sun", all of them produced by David O. Selznick, Jones' second husband.
feaito

Re: portrait of jennie

Post by feaito »

Alison,

In 2002, I started a thread about this film at imdb.com, because I was quite obsessed by it at the time and a very fine poster contributed with very valuable insight on the film regarding hidden meanings, parallels between Jennie's painting and the mural painting that was made by Eben Adams; the quality of NY City in this film, etc. There are many interesting threads over there.

You can check the aforementioned thread here:

http://www.us.imdb.com/title/tt0040705/ ... 337922?p=1
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JackFavell
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Re: portrait of jennie

Post by JackFavell »

Image
Image

Here are two of my favorite photos from Portrait of Jennie. You can click on them to see the larger versions. The painter of the Portrait of Jennie was Robert Brackman. I would suggest searching out his other works on the net

feaito - your post was very well put and terribly meaningful to me. I am glad someone else was as influenced by this movie as I was. You are right about the movie sticking with you for years if you are a sensitive, lonely person.
feaito

Re: portrait of jennie

Post by feaito »

Thanks for your words Wendy. I recall it was not easy for me to write that at the time (2002), because it was very personal, but it was healing at the same time. Nowadays I cannot say that I am a lonely person anymore: I've been happily married for many years and I have a few very good friends, but having been a lonely person during your childhood and most of your adolescence undeniably marks your life forever, because somehow you are still lonely in certains way of thinking and focusing life and you are affected by certain things -like this film- in a very particular way -it sounds weird but it's true. "Letter from an Unknow Woman" (1948) affected me in a similar way. Maybe it is the fact of seeing people suffering due to their inability of attaining happiness or because of the loneliness and/or rejection of the person they love. These films are masterpieces which appeal to your sensitivity without being maudlin or phony -there is an inherent truth in them.

I wonder now with the death of Jennifer Jones what will be of that beautiful painting that was especially made for the movie, which to my best knowledge belonged to her. It would be great if it could be exhibited in a museum for a while.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: portrait of jennie

Post by charliechaplinfan »

Fernando I followed that thread word for word. I know who Michael Collins was but the insight the other poster gives a new aspect to the plot. I did like the use of the Irish bar, I thought it gave insight into New York of that time period, where the Irish bars in New York were probably more Irish than the ones in Dublin. New York is a big part of this movie, I've never seen a city used as such an effectiv backdrop before. Also, what do you think is Miss Spinney's back story, she takes immediately to Eben, does she see the shadow of a past love. She's also remarkably at peace with the world, just like Sister Mary of Mercy. Jennie and Eben both have their 'mothers' in the sister and Spinney.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
feaito

Re: portrait of jennie

Post by feaito »

Some people have even "read" that Ms. Spinney may be the old Jennie in an odd way. She has a very mysterious background indeed. She becomes Eben's mentor and she also could be well reminiscing of a lost love or her lost opportunities at it. I feel that every character in the film is like a sort of treasure trove full of meanings.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: portrait of jennie

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I admit to thinking at times that Spinney was Jennie and Eben was seeing her when she was younger. She would be the same age as Jennie if Jennie had lived. It's a movie that provokes much thought.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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Professional Tourist
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Re: Portrait of Jennie

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Re: portrait of jennie

Post by CineMaven »

For my money, there are two actresses whose vulnerability touches my heart: Jennifer Jones and Ingrid Bergman. "Portrait of Jennie" is a lovely film and its due to Jennifer Jones and the longing of Joseph Cotten and the sense of loneliness and longing in the film in general.

(Psst! My favorite of hers is "LOVE LETTERS." Quite a loss of a wonderful actress).
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: portrait of jennie

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I watched her in Cluny Brown today. I thought the role played to her many strengths, she was superb, so utterly attractive, she has something special that wasn't apparent to me in Indiscretion of An American Wife and Duel in the Son. She reminds me of Vivien Leigh but softer and more approachable.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: portrait of jennie

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I never knew that David Selznick intended Jennie as a film for Vivien Leigh and perhaps Laurence Olivier too. I love Vivien, she's a great actress and I do think she was capable of bringing Jennie to the screen but not as well as Jennifer. Jennifer had more of an innocence that was important to the younger scenes. Vivien could be coquettish but she had a more knowing way about her.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
feaito

Re: portrait of jennie

Post by feaito »

I agree Alison, I can't picture anybody else in that role.
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