Rent Jane Eyre (1943)

Period Drama. - Jane Eyre review by Steve

This is the classic Hollywood adaptation of Jane Eyre, but in editing Charlotte Brontë's lengthy novel down to 97 minutes, it isn't all that faithful. Still, there's a brief outline of the story and it is a rich gothic melodrama with some evocative visual expressionism. And there is a stark representation of the hardships of Victorian life for the poor and powerless.

The plot is so episodic that it feel like watching a video game as Jane passes through the levels of hardship and shame necessary to become the wife of Mr. Rochester: her uncaring family; the brutal school; the scorn of the spoiled gentry; Rochester's insane wife. There's little idea of the ruthless determination Jane needs to survive, or of her own egotism.

A jowly Orson Welles draws Rochester in dark, deep lines. There is a genuine spark with Joan Fontaine's pale, vulnerable Jane. It's yet another Fontaine vehicle where we are advised by the script that she is a plain looking woman. Which she isn't. She does dress down though. Eventually her silent anguish stalls the film but it's a definitive performance.

When Jane is sent to a dismal, isolated institution as a child she is well played by Peggy Ann Garner. It's startling to see an eleven year old Elizabeth Taylor as her sickly friend. It's a shame that the studio exteriors of the moors are so poor, but the menacing, shadowy interiors are excellent. It's an entertaining historical romance, with the profound horror of the novel replaced with noir atmospherics.