Portrait of Jennie (1948)

A mysterious girl inspires a struggling artist.

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Robert Nathan (from the book by), Paul Osborn (screen play)

Stars:

Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

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

Storyline

Eben Adams is a talented but struggling artist in Depression era New York who has never been able to find inspiration for a painting. One day, after he finally finds someone to buy a painting from him, a pretty but odd young girl named Jennie Appleton appears and strikes up an unusual friendship with Eben.

---

Plot Keywords:

artist | reference to will rogers | reference to sarah bernhardt | cape cod massachusetts | death of parents | 

---

Taglines:

ARE YOU IN LOVE THIS WEEK? If you are - you'll get a double thrill from this most romantic of all love stories about a man who was in love with a girl who lived twenty years before his time. If you aren't - it may change your ideas on the subject for the rest of your life.

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance | Fantasy | Mystery

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 April 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tidal Wave

Filming Locations:

Graves Light, Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,041,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Selznick Studio,Vanguard Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

3 Channel Stereo (1956) (5.0) (L-R) Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White (green tint and sepia tone for final reel, excluding last shot) Color (Technicolor) (final shot)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

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 shooting.. Wayne' played a taxi driver and Eban's best friend and took the place of Adams' fellow artist Arne, who was his friend in the original novella as well as early versions of the screenplay.

---

Goofs

During the scene where Eben first meets Jennie in the park, the snow on the front of her coat comes and goes.

---

Quotes

Jennie Appleton: Eben... I want always just to sit and watch you paint.
Eben Adams: Now that I've found the perfect model, I'll paint her again and again.
Jennie Appleton: No, I - - I didn't mean that... I mean I want you to paint all the beautiful things in the world.
Eben Adams: [smiles, holds her tight] You're the most beautiful thing in the world.

---

Crazy Credits

The film opens with a book entitled THE PAINTINGS OF EBEN ADAMS with the inside page headed PORTRAIT OF JENNIE

Dated 1934

H · 30: W · 25 INCHES

---

Alternate Versions

During premiere engagements, the climactic storm sequence, along with being tinted green, was screened in Magnascope, an early widescreen format. At the beginning of the sequence the curtains surrounding the screen would open, and the scene would fill the wider screen surface. At the end of the scene the curtains closed, and the remainder of the film was shown in its 1:1.37 ratio format.

---

Connections

Referenced in Sesión continua (1984)

---

Soundtracks

Arabesque No. 1 in E
(uncredited)
Music by Claude Debussy
Adapted by Dimitri Tiomkin
Heard as background music and during closing credits

User Reviews

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.