{"id":45086,"date":"2019-10-08T22:14:02","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T05:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45086"},"modified":"2021-01-24T13:45:27","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T20:45:27","slug":"portrait-of-jennie-1948","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45086","title":{"rendered":"Portrait of Jennie (1948)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;There ought to be something timeless about a woman &#8212; something eternal.&#8221; <\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Poster-195x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"195\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-45088\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Poster-195x300.jpg 195w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Poster-83x128.jpg 83w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Poster.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 195px) 100vw, 195px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nShortly after selling a painting to two art curators (Cecil Kellaway and Ethel Barrymore), a penniless painter (Joseph Cotten) meets a mysterious young girl (Jennifer Jones) from another era who becomes his muse and his would-be lover.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Artists<\/li>\n<li>Cecil Kellaway Films<\/li>\n<li>Ethel Barrymore Films<\/li>\n<li>Fantasy<\/li>\n<li>Jennifer Jones Films<\/li>\n<li>Joseph Cotten Films<\/li>\n<li>Lillian Gish Films<\/li>\n<li>Romance<\/li>\n<li>Star-Crossed Lovers<\/li>\n<li>William Dieterle Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nWilliam Dieterle and David O. Selznick produced this high-budget romance, based on a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Portrait_of_Jennie_(novella)\">novella by Robert Nathan<\/a> and featuring Selznick&#8217;s wife (Jennifer Jones) in the title role. It didn&#8217;t fare well at the box office, and was dismissed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1949\/03\/30\/archives\/review-1-no-title-selznicks-portrait-of-jennie-with-cotten-and.html\">Bosley Crowther of the New York Times<\/a> as &#8220;maudlin and banal&#8221;, with &#8220;a ponderous and meaningless narration&#8221; and a &#8220;soggy and saccharine musical score&#8221;; overall he found it &#8220;deficient and disappointing in the extreme&#8221;. (The <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bosley_Crowther\">CrowMan<\/a> really could dish it out!) Modern viewers seem to have a more appreciative take, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/reviews\/12561\/portrait-of-jennie\/\">Stuart Galbraith, IV of DVD Talk<\/a> referring to it as an &#8220;excellent romantic fantasy&#8221; and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1411jen.html\">DVD Savant<\/a> similarly hailing it as a &#8220;superior fantasy&#8221;. A more accurate assessment lies somewhere in between: Dieterle handles the affair atmospherically, nicely utilizing outdoor locales in New York, building tension throughout, and leaving viewers in suspense about the finale. However, the storyline is a tad creepy (a grown man falls in love with a young girl &#8212; hmmm&#8230;..) and a bit overblown (Barrymore&#8217;s character stares balefully at Cotten from their first meeting onward, indicating she <em>clearly<\/em> knows he has unseen talents despite the fact that he shows &#8220;no love in his work&#8221;). Meanwhile, the script throws us hoary lines like &#8220;I know we were meant to be together. The strands of our lives are woven together and neither the world nor time can tear them apart.&#8221; and &#8220;There is no life, my darling, until you love and have been loved. And then there is no death.&#8221; I also find it risky when an entire film is premised on a single painting; the painting in question &#8212; viz. <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=34478\"><em>The Portrait of Dorian Gray<\/em> (1945)<\/a> &#8212; can rarely live up to its hype (though at least <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6718\"><em>Laura<\/em> [1945]<\/a> wraps a superior mystery tale around its titular painting). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fine use of outdoor locales<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-New-York.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-New-York.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"476\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-45092\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-New-York.png 476w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-New-York-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-New-York-300x227.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 476px) 100vw, 476px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Luminous, often creative cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"476\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-45090\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Cinematography2.png 476w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Cinematography2-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Cinematography2-300x227.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 476px) 100vw, 476px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Cinematography3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Cinematography3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"476\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-45091\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Cinematography3.png 476w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Cinematography3-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Portrait-of-Jennie-Cinematography3-300x227.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 476px) 100vw, 476px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s worth a one-time look if this type of tale is to your liking. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0040705\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/345407\/portrait-of-jennie#articles-reviews?articleId=544\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1411jen.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/reviews\/12561\/portrait-of-jennie\/\">DVD Talk Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/fantasy\/portrait-of-jennie-1948.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/s-k78N_EUdY\">Tired Old Queen at the Movies Video Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;There ought to be something timeless about a woman &#8212; something eternal.&#8221; Synopsis: Shortly after selling a painting to two art curators (Cecil Kellaway and Ethel Barrymore), a penniless painter (Joseph Cotten) meets a mysterious young girl (Jennifer Jones) from another era who becomes his muse and his would-be lover. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Artists Cecil Kellaway Films Ethel Barrymore Films Fantasy Jennifer Jones Films Joseph Cotten Films Lillian Gish Films Romance Star-Crossed Lovers William Dieterle Films Review: William&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45086\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45086"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65627,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45086\/revisions\/65627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}