Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre
NR | 03 February 1944 (USA)
Jane Eyre Trailers

After a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre is hired by Edward Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house to care for his young daughter.

Reviews
Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.
Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.
Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Neil Welch When this version of Jane Eyre is good, it is very good. But that is not the case in every respect.The opening sequence of Jane's miserable childhood is well done: curtailed, certainly, but it gives us enough misery to make its point.Joan Fontaine is an excellent adult Jane. Orson Welles, however, I'm not so sure about. Rochester is supposed to be brooding, but with a soulful centre which enables Jane to see his good heart. Welles, however, is all booming thyroidal presence in a performance of minimal subtlety.I would rather have seen some location work rather than all gothic interiors, even the exteriors!
HotToastyRag Jane Eyre is one of my mom's favorite stories, second only to Great Expectations. Consequently, I've watched all the film versions. By far, the best adaptation is the 2007 version with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens. If you love this story as much as my mom does, watch that version.If you're not particularly attached to Charlotte Bronte's words, and you like black-and-white romances, you could do much worse than watch the 1943 version of Jane Eyre. Joan Fontaine plays the title character, and while she's not particularly likable or compelling, she does know how to give a powerful speech. The famously unloved orphan takes a job as governess to Adele, played by young Margaret O'Brien, answering to the little girl's guardian, the brooding and mysterious Edward Rochester, played by Orson Welles. Orson Welles wore many hats in Hollywood, and while he created many film noirs during his time, I never really thought of his face as being particularly mysterious.All in all, it's not a bad movie, if you like similar old flicks like Rebecca or Laura. The famous love scene in which lightning strikes the tree is very fun to watch in this version. Also, the beginning of the film, during Jane's childhood, has some interesting scenes portraying the horrors of growing up in a girls' orphanage. A young Elizabeth Taylor plays Jane Eyre's friend Helen, and she definitely competes with Margaret O'Brien as the cutest kid in the film. This version is my second favorite adaptation, but again, I'd recommend the 2007 adaptation as the best.
cjlance8 Jane Eyre directed by Robert Stevenson was a great movie in every aspect. It was a great melodramatic movie. Orson Welles was also fantastic in this and was a major influence in the movie. Orson played Mr. Rochester who was a wealthy man and the master of Thornfield. He is a very sympathetic person who has gone through a lot. The cinematography was very good for this time with a lot of camera movement different lighting between dark and bright lighting. It was mostly dark with a Gothic feel to it which made it even better. He used a many shadows too to give it that Gothic, creepy feel. From what I hear, the black and white version is much better than all the remakes they have done. I feel like this is true because having it in black and white can really give it that Gothic feel that Stevenson was hoping for. He did a really great job with it and I really recommend this movie.
pakilayan It's a great film I can relate to. Although I wasn't born in 1943, but about 15 years later, from the beginning to the end I feel at home. To watch all those wonderful actors that my parents, relatives and friends, so dearly enjoyed and loved is like seeing old beloved relatives come alive. Now I know that every generation has its own set of contemporary actors to relate to, and maybe newer actors are also wonderful, but for me watching all those old stars that were part of my everyday life for years and years, its the place where my heart and soul belongs. We grew together, we belong to the same time batch and that is something that you will only find out when you grow old. I watch new recent films and I find them boring, frivolous or too intense. My time frame where the marvelous black and white Hollywood movies from the 40's, 50,s and 60's. That time will never come back again and when we extinguish ourselves in the dusk it will all go away forever.