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In 1829, nine-year-old orphan Jane Eyre lives at the
English estate of her cruel aunt, Mrs. Reed, who favors her spoiled son John
over the spirited Jane. Determined to be rid of Jane, Mrs. Reed sends her
to Lowood Institution, an austere boarding school for orphaned and impoverished
children, which is run by Henry Brocklehurst. Brocklehurst, a sadistic
prig, warns the teachers and students to shun Jane, but kindhearted pupil Helen
shares a meager portion of bread with her. Despite her disappointment over
Lowood's austerity, Jane enjoys learning and her friendship with Helen deepens.
Jane also appreciates the attention of Dr. Rivers, who tends to the pupils of
Lowood and advises Brocklehurst to treat them more humanely.
One day, Brocklehurst cuts off Helen's curly hair,
then orders her and Jane to march in the rain as punishment for their "vanity"
and "rebelliousness." The harsh experience proves fatal for Helen, and
Jane loses her gentle friend. After Helen's death, Dr. Rivers encourages
Jane to bury her grief and continue her education, which she does during the
next ten years.
In 1839, Brocklehurst offers Jane a teaching job,
but she is determined to escape Lowood. After placing an ad seeking a
position as a governess, Jane travels to a country estate known as Thornfield,
where she is met by Mrs. Fairfax, the housekeeper. Mrs. Fairfax explains
that Jane's pupil is a French girl named Adele, who is the ward of Thornfield's
absent master, Edward Rochester.
One evening while Jane is taking a walk, a rider on
horseback rises out of the mist and almost tramples her. The imperious
rider twists his ankle when he falls, then rudely departs without divulging his
name. Upon her return to Thornfield, Jane learns that the rider was
Rochester, who mystifies her with his contradictory nature. Mrs. Fairfax
advises Jane to make allowances for Rochester, who often stays away from
Thornfield because of the unpleasant memories it holds.
When Rochester seeks out Jane the next day, he is
pleased by her honest admission that she does not find him handsome, and the
rapport between them builds. That night, Jane is awakened by eerie
laughter and, when she rushes into the hallway, sees smoke coming from
Rochester's bedroom. Jane awakens Rochester before he is consumed by the
fire, and he allows her to assume that the blaze was set by Grace Poole, a
supposedly unstable seamstress living in a little-used wing of the mansion.
Although the incident draws the couple closer, the next morning, Jane is
distressed to learn that Rochester has left for a house party at the home of
Blanche Ingraham.
The winter passes without word from Rochester, until
one day the household learns that he is to arrive with Blanche and other guests.
Much to Jane's dismay, Mrs. Fairfax insinuates that Blanche will soon become
Rochester's wife. Jane grows more troubled upon meeting the beautiful,
haughty Blanche, but both she and Rochester feel their bond grow stronger when
they talk. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Mr. Mason,
of Spanish Town, Jamaica, and Jane does not see Rochester again until late that
night when she is awakened by screams. Rochester escorts Jane to the wing
habited by Grace and there she tends to Mason, who has been wounded.
Rochester sends Mason away with a doctor, then walks with Jane, who thinks that
Grace instigated the attack. Rochester states that he is to be married,
and later tells Jane that he will find a new position for her, as she believes
that his bride will send Adele away to school.
Soon after, Rochester accuses Blanche of caring more
for his money than for him, and she leaves with her family and the other guests.
Rochester then tests Jane by informing her that he has found another position
for her, and when she finally confesses her love for him, he passionately
proposes. Adele is thrilled that Jane is to be her new mother, but Mason
stops the wedding ceremony by announcing that Rochester is already married to
Mason's sister Bertha. Rochester then leads the wedding party to
Thornfield and shows them Bertha, who is violently insane. Soon after,
Jane tells Rochester for the last time that she loves him and leaves the
mansion, despite his pleas for her to stay.
_NRFPT_01_small.jpg) With nowhere else to go, Jane returns to Mrs. Reed
who has fallen ill, and nurses her until her death. Jane learns from Dr.
Rivers that Rochester has been inquiring after her, but she asks him not to
reply. One night, however, Jane believes that she hears Rochester calling
her name in great torment, and she rushes back to Thornfield. There she is
told by Mrs. Fairfax that Bertha set the mansion on fire and Rochester was
seriously injured in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue her. Just then,
Rochester enters the ruins of the mansion, and Jane realizes that he is blind.
She is overjoyed to be reunited with him, and her passion convinces him that she
feels more for him than mere pity.
Notes
The film is based on the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontė (London,
1847).
The opening title card of the film reads:
"Twentieth Century-Fox presents Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontė." Throughout
the film, off-screen narration is spoken by
Joan Fontaine as "Jane Eyre," and at the end of the picture, she paraphrases
the book when describing the partial recovery of "Rochester's" sight: "And
then one day, when our firstborn was put into his arms, he could see that the
boy had inherited his own eyes, as they once werelarge, brilliant and black."
The character "Dr. Rivers," played by John Sutton,
was created for the film and does not appear in Brontė's book. On October
6, 1941, NYT announced that independent producer David O. Selznick had
joined United Artists and intended to produce Jane Eyre for release
through UA.
Other contemporary sources note that Selznick began
preparations on Jane Eyre in early 1941, and that director Robert
Stevenson, who was a member of the Brontė Society, had been interested in making
a film adaptation of Charlotte Brontė's novel for several years. A
February 1942 HR news item noted that Selznick was testing Sir
Cedric Hardwicke for the role of "Brocklehurst," and that K. T. Stevens,
Burgess Meredith, and
Gene Kelly would also test for the film. In April 1942, HR
announced that
Ronald Colman was "out" of the production, and that Selznick would test Alan
Marshal to replace him. In July 1942, HR first speculated that
Walter Pidgeon, Colman, and Marshal were all "strong contenders" for the
role of "Edward Rochester," then announced that Selznick had offered the role to
Orson Welles, who had played the part previously in radio performances.
An unconfirmed but contemporary article in the film's file at the AMPAS Library
reported that Fontaine,
Vivien Leigh, and
Katharine Hepburn were "neck-to-neck contenders" for the part of "Jane
Eyre."
In October 1942, however, Selznick began efforts to
sell a number of his literary properties, and it appeared that Paramount would
purchase the rights to Jane Eyre. The deal was not struck, however,
and in November 1942, Selznick sold the completed script of Jane Eyre to
Twentieth Century-Fox, along with the rights to Claudia and Keys of
the Kingdom. Information in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the
Legal Department, located at the UCLA Arts - Special Collections Library,
discloses that Keith Winter and DeWitt Bodeen may have contributed to the
completed script, and a contemporary guide for teachers quoted director Robert
Stevenson as crediting Bodeen with doing "a good deal of our research work."
In addition to the screenplay, Selznick sold the completed production designs
executed by William Pereira and arranged for Twentieth Century-Fox to employ
Pereira, Fontaine, Stevenson and cinematographer George Barnes on the picture.
According to a memo from Selznick reprinted in a
modern source, Selznick suggested the casting of
Vivien Leigh's daughter, Suzanne Holman, as young Jane. A January 1943
HR news item announced that although Peggy Ann Garner had been scheduled
to play Jane Eyre as a child, the part was re-assigned to
Margaret O'Brien, who was borrowed from MGM, because the studio "changed the
casting for a different type." In the finished film, however, Garner does
play Jane, and O'Brien portrays "Adele." In February 1943, HR noted
that
Vincent Price was being tested for the role of Brocklehurst. Although
a February 1943 studio press release announced that Glen Gallagher had been cast
in the picture, his appearance in the completed film has not been confirmed.
According to a modern source, Igor Stravinsky was engaged to write the film's
music score but did not finish due to disagreements with studio production chief
Darryl F. Zanuck. Stravinsky's compositions did not appear in the
completed picture, and modern sources report that composer Bernard Herrmann was
hired upon the request of Selznick and Welles.
In discussing the studio's production plans, a
December 20, 1942 NYT article noted that writer Aldous Huxley had
intentionally decided to depict "Bertha Rochester" as an off-screen character
who was discussed rather than seen so that "the inherent menace in the character
will be more effective." The article also noted that "English censorship
restrictions on the depiction of lunacy will also be satisfied by the off-screen
device."
Although no producer is listed in the onscreen
credits or the SAB, HR production charts list Kenneth Macgowan as the
producer and Welles as the associate producer. A January 22, 1943 HR
production chart erroneously listed William Perlberg as the film's producer,
even though several earlier news items had credited Macgowan. An April 8,
1943 HR news item noted that Goetz had announced that Welles would
receive an onscreen credit as associate producer. In an April 17, 1943
memo to Goetz, reprinted in a modern source, Selznick protested Welles's
proposed associate producer credit, claiming that it would detract from the
achievement of Stevenson, who Selznick believed had largely acted as producer
since the sale of the Jane Eyre screenplay. The HR review
commented, "As several producers had a hand in bringing Jane Eyre to its
glorious fulfillment, screen credit to any one individual was waived by all."
Soon after the completion of Jane Eyre,
Welles served as a consultant on the studio's two-reel short subject entitled
Three Sisters of the Moors. The short, starring Sir
Cedric Hardwicke, Mollie Lamont, Lynne Roberts, and
Heather Angel, told the story of the Brontė sisters and was intended to
interest moviegoers in Jane Eyre. According to HR, in
February 1944, Monogram announced that it would withdraw from circulation all
prints of its own feature-length Jane Eyre, which was originally released
in 1934. The HR news item noted that "despite requests to reissue
the picture in various territories, Monogram feels it would be unethical to do
so at this time while Twentieth Century-Fox is releasing its new version."
A Lux Radio Theater broadcast of the Twentieth
Century-Fox production, starring Welles and
Loretta Young, aired on June 5, 1944. Other Lux Radio Theater
broadcasts aired on June 27, 1938 in a version starring
Helen Hayes and
Robert Montgomery, and on June 14, 1948 with Montgomery reprising his role
as Rochester.
In addition to numerous stage presentations,
Brontė's novel has been adapted for the screen several times, one of the
earliest of which was produced by Thanhouser Film Corp. in 1910 in a one-reel
version starring Marie Eline and Gloria Gallop. Lisbeth Blackstone and
Dallas Tyler starred in the 1914 Whitman Features Co. version, and in 1918,
Edward Jose directed
Alice Brady and Elliott Dexter in Woman and Wife for Select Pictures.
In 1921, Hugo Ballin Productions released their version of Jane Eyre,
which was directed by Ballin and starred Norman Trevor and Mabel Ballin.
The 1934 Monogram production was directed by Christy Cabanne and starred
Virginia Bruce and
Colin Clive. Ethel Griffies played "Grace Poole" in both the Monogram
and Twentieth Century-Fox productions. Other versions of the story include
a 1970 British production starring Susannah York and George C. Scott, and
directed by Delbert Mann; a 1996 European production directed by Franco
Zeffirelli and starring William Hurt and Charlotte Gainsbourg; and a 1997
British television co-producion, starring Samantha Morton and Ciaran Hinds.
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