Portrait of Jennie (1948)

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Robert Nathan (novel)
Leonardo Bercovici (adaptation)

Release Date:

22 April 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Fantasy | Mystery

Plot:

A mysterious girl inspires a struggling artist.

Plot Keywords:

Artist | Hurricane | Black & White To Color | Ghost | Melodrama

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

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)
Henry Hull	...	Eke
Florence Bates	...	Mrs. Jekes (landlady)
Felix Bressart	...	Pete
Clem Bevans	...	Capt. Cobb
Maude Simmons	...	Clara Morgan

Also Known As:

Jennie (UK)
Tidal Wave

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo (special stereo mix in final storm scene) | Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:TV-PG | Finland:S | Germany:12 | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #12700) | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Vanguard Films

Trivia:

David Wayne and Albert Sharpe, who both have supporting roles in this film, were the stars of the original stage production of Finian's Rainbow. That play opened on Broadway the year before this film was released and was playing there at the same time this film was being made.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Although the movie opens in the winter of 1934, in the scene where Eben first meets Jennie in the park, several 1940s cars can be seen passing in the background.

Quotes:

Jennie Appleton: [singing] Where I come from nobody knows and where I am going everything goes. The wind blows, the sea flows, nobody knows. And where I am going, nobody knows.

Movie Connections:

Features The Whoopee Party (1932)

Soundtrack:

Nuages

Very interesting, very hard to forget

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.