''Jane Eyre'' is a 1943 American

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name, released by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. It was directed by

Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engl ...

and produced by the uncredited

Kenneth Macgowan Kenneth Macgowan (November 30, 1888 – April 27, 1963) was an American film producer. He won an Academy Award for Best Color Short Film for ''La Cucaracha'' (1934), the first live-action short film made in the three-color Technicolor process. Bi ...

and Orson Welles; Welles also stars in the film as

Edward Rochester Edward Fairfax Rochester (often referred to as Mr Rochester) is a character in Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel ''Jane Eyre''. The brooding master of Thornfield Hall, Rochester is the employer and eventual husband of the novel's titular protagonist ...

, with Joan Fontaine playing the title character. The screenplay was written by

John Houseman John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann; September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988) was a Romanian-born British-American actor and producer of theatre, film, and television. He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director ...

, Aldous Huxley, and director Robert Stevenson. The musical score was composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann, and the cinematography was by George Barnes.

Plot

Orphaned, unloved, and unwanted ten-year-old Jane Eyre lives with her cruel, selfish, uncaring maternal aunt via marriage, Mrs. Reed of Gateshead Hall, and her spoiled, bullying son. Jane is ecstatic when Mrs. Reed, eager to be rid of her, arranges for Jane to be sent to Lowood Institution, a charity

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

for young girls, run by the disciplinarian Mr. Brocklehurst. Based on what Mrs. Reed has told him, Mr. Brocklehurst labels Jane a liar in front of her schoolmates and orders her to stand on a stool for hours on her first day of attendance. She is comforted and befriended by another student, Helen Burns. Later, Jane protests when Brocklehurst orders that Helen's naturally curling hair be cut. Both are punished by being forced to walk circles in a courtyard during a downpour. Dr. Rivers, a sympathetic physician who periodically checks on the students, brings the girls inside, but it is too late for Helen, who dies that night. Ten years later, in 1840, twenty-year-old Jane turns down Brocklehurst's offer of a teaching position. She advertises for and accepts a job as

governess A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, th ...

for a young girl named Adèle. When Jane arrives at

Thornfield Thornfield (foaled 1994 in Ontario) is a Canadian Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. Background Thornfield was bred by Steve Stavro's Knob Hill Farm, he was sired by Eclipse and Sovereign Award and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Sky ...

, a gloomy, isolated mansion, she initially thinks her employer is Mrs. Fairfax, who is in fact the housekeeper for the absent master. Jane goes for a walk one night only to startle a horse into throwing and slightly injuring its rider, Edward Rochester—who she doesn't realize is her employer. When Jane arrives back at Thornfield, she discovers this fact, and Rochester calls her into his library to interview her. His brusque manner contrasts with her quiet, gentle demeanor, and he finally dismisses her with the wish that she will enjoy her stay there. That night, Jane is awakened by strange laughter. She investigates, and discovers that Rochester's bed curtains are on fire. She rouses the sleeping man and they extinguish the fire without rousing anyone. Rochester bids her wait while he goes to another wing of the house, where mysterious seamstress Grace Poole keeps to herself. When he returns, he tells Jane nothing other than that the matter is under control. The next morning, he leaves Thornfield. A winter and spring go by before he returns with a large group of guests. Jane is greatly saddened when Mrs. Fairfax discloses that everyone expects Rochester to marry the vivacious and snobbish Blanche Ingram. However, Rochester confides to Jane his conviction that Blanche is attracted only by his wealth. When a man named Richard Mason of Spanish Town, Jamaica, arrives at Thornfield, Jane sees that Rochester is disturbed. That night, a pained scream awakens everyone. Rochester assures his guests it is just a servant's reaction to a nightmare, but after he sends them back to their rooms, he has Jane secretly tend to a bleeding Mason in the tower while he fetches a doctor. Behind her, a locked wooden door rattles with someone trying to get out, but Rochester orders Jane to ignore everything she sees or hears. Rochester has the doctor take Mason away. Rochester has a private conversation with Blanche, in which he bluntly asserts that she is a gold digger. Offended, she and the other guests leave. Unaware of this development, Jane broaches the topic of her future employment elsewhere after Rochester gets married, and confesses that she does not want to leave Rochester. In response, Rochester reveals that he loves her and not Blanche, and proposes marriage to her, which she accepts. During the wedding ceremony, an attorney intervenes and declares that Rochester has a wife by the name of Bertha Antonietta Mason, who is mentally ill and deranged. This is confirmed by Mason, Rochester's brother-in-law. Rochester calls off the marriage ceremony and takes Jane and Mason back to Thornfield to reveal Bertha, who is insane to the point of animalistic behavior, and lives in a tower cell guarded by Grace Poole. Rochester explains to Jane that his and Bertha's marriage was arranged when he was a teenager, and he did not truly know her. He was helpless as she drove herself mad, and has been searching for happiness with a real partner ever since, which caused him to become desperate when he fell for Jane. Though they admit they still love each other, Jane rejects Rochester's offer to stay as his mistress, and she determinedly departs Thornfield to preserve her principles. With her funds exhausted, Jane returns to Gateshead. She discovers that her aunt has suffered a stroke, caused by worry over the ruinous gambling habits of her son, who it is revealed has committed suicide. Mrs. Reed is happy to see Jane and they reconcile. After Mrs. Reed dies, Jane ponders what to do next, even considering working for Mr. Brocklehurst, when she hears Rochester's anguished voice calling her name during a storm. Jane returns to Thornfield and finds it in ruins. Mrs. Fairfax informs her that Bertha had escaped confinement, set the place on fire, and fled to the roof. While Fairfax took Adèle to safety, Rochester tried to rescue Bertha, but she jumped to her death. The burning staircase collapsed underneath Rochester, badly wounding him. With no other impediments, Jane reunites with Rochester, who is now blind from the fire. He tells her she should not waste her life with a crippled man like him, but she has made her choice to stay. They reaffirm their love and kiss passionately. Jane narrates that she married Rochester, and when their son was born, her husband's vision was sufficiently restored for him to see their child.

Cast

* Orson Welles as

* Joan Fontaine as Jane Eyre * Margaret O'Brien as Adèle Verans * Peggy Ann Garner as young Jane Eyre * John Sutton as Dr. Rivers * Sara Allgood as Bessie * Henry Daniell as Mr. Brocklehurst * Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Reed * Aubrey Mather as Colonel Percy Dent * Edith Barrett as Mrs. Fairfax * Barbara Everest as Lady Ingram * Hillary Brooke as Blanche Ingram * Ethel Griffies as Grace Poole * Eily Malyon as Mrs. Skatcher * Ivan Simpson as Mr. Woods * Erskine Sanford as Mr. Briggs * John Abbott as Mason *

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

as Helen Burns * Mae Marsh as Leah * Mary Forbes as Mrs. Eshton * Thomas Louden as Sir George Lynn *

Yorke Sherwood Yorke Sherwood (14 December 1873 – 27 September 1956) was an English actor. Life He was born Herbert Edmund Sherwood in Manchester on 14 December 1873. He moved to California in the 1920s and had multiple supporting roles in Mack Sennett ...

as Beadle * Ronald Harris as John Reed * Charles Irwin as Auctioneer *

Gwendolyn Logan Gwendolyn Logan was a British-born American actress and screenwriter. Career Born in Bellary, British India, she co-wrote the 1916 British film '' East Is East'', and the 1920 American film, ''A Tokyo Siren''. Acting roles included an uncredite ...

as Dowager * Moyna Macgill as Dowager *

Gerald Oliver Smith Gerald Wilson Oliver Smith (June 26, 1892 – May 28, 1974) was an English-born actor who spent most of his career in the United States, both in New York City as a stage actor and in the Hollywood film industry. Born in Sidcup, Kent, England, Sm ...

as Footman at Gateshead *

Leslie Vincent Leslie Vincent (September 6, 1909 – February 1, 2001) was an American actor. Biography Born in 1909 as Leslie Fullard-Leo, Vincent grew up in Hawaii and graduated from Punahou School. During the 1930s, he lived in Shanghai for a year and th ...

as Guest * Billie Seward as Woman at party *

Adele Jergens Adele Jergens (November 26, 1917 – November 22, 2002) was an American actress. Early life and career Born in Brooklyn, New York, as Adele Louisa Jurgens (some sources say Jurgenson), she rose to prominence in the late 1930s when she was named ...

as Woman at party * Eustace Wyatt as Dr. Carter * Harry Allen as Guard * Charles Coleman as Guard *

Billy Bevan Billy Bevan (born William Bevan Harris, 29 September 1887 – 26 November 1957) was an Australian-born vaudevillian, who became an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 American films between 1916 and 1950. Career Bevan was bo ...

as Bookie * Tempe Pigott as Fortune teller/Gypsy * Alec Craig as Footman * Arthur Gould-Porter as Young Man *

Brandon Hurst Brandon Hurst (30 November 1866 – 15 July 1947) was an English stage and film actor. Early life Born in London, England, Hurst studied philology in his youth and began performing in theater in the 1880s. Before he began acting professionall ...

as Trustee

Production

Development under David O. Selznick

David O. Selznick David O. Selznick (May 10, 1902June 22, 1965) was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and ''Rebecca'' (1940), both of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture. E ...

hired John Houseman in February 1941 while Houseman was directing Philip Barry's play ''Liberty Bell''. Houseman's first assignment for the producer would be writing the script to ''Jane Eyre''. Houseman later said "I foolishly believed I would then produce the film because Selznick had just made ''Gone with the Wind'' and ''Rebecca'' and I believed he was going to take a rest from producing for a while and let me do the producing for his studio. This was one of the reasons I went to work for him. But I didn't know David Selznick! It was absolutely out of the question that he would dream of letting anybody else do anything."JOHN HOUSEMAN THE PRODUCER'S SIGNATURE INTERVIEW Handzo, Stephen. Film Comment; New York Vol. 11, Iss. 2, (Mar/Apr 1975): 18-21. Houseman says he started work on the screenplay during rehearsals for the Mercury Theatre's Broadway production of ''

Native Son ''Native Son'' (1940) is a novel written by the American author Richard Wright. It tells the story of 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, a black youth living in utter poverty in a poor area on Chicago's South Side in the 1930s. While not apologizing ...

''. Robert Stevenson, a British director Selznick had under contract, was sent to New York City to work with him. After the play's March 24 premiere, Houseman and Stevenson flew to the West Coast and completed the screenplay over the next five weeks. According to Houseman, Stevenson did most of the work. "We finished it and presented it to our leader, only to discover that he had not the slightest intention of producing it," Houseman wrote. Aldous Huxley also contributed to the screenplay, rendering the character of Mrs. Rochester unseen—assuring that she would be more menacing, and circumventing British censorship regulations on the depiction of madness. Other contributors to the script include

DeWitt Bodeen DeWitt Bodeen (July 25, 1908 — March 12, 1988) was an American film screenwriter and television writer best known for writing ''Cat People (1942 film), Cat People'' (1942). Biography Born Homer DeWitt Bodeen on July 25, 1908, in Fresno, Cali ...

and playwright Keith Winter. (Houseman - who had nothing to do with producing the final film - says when he saw the movie he was unhappy and asked for his name to be taken off, but they refused, so his credit stayed.)

Under 20th Century Fox

Selznick executive Daniel O'Shea began to offer the production as a package that included the services of Stevenson as director, Joan Fontaine as star, architect William Pereira as production designer and George Barnes as cinematographer. The price was so "fabulous", Houseman wrote, that it took a year to find a buyer. In the midst of the war boom in November 1942, Selznick finally sold the package to William Goetz at 20th Century Fox, which Goetz was running in the absence of Darryl F. Zanuck. It was part of an overall deal where Selznick sold the rights to several projects - and talent he had attached. Other film projects included ''

The Key to the Kingdom is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kyoko Shitou. The manga was serialised in Kadokawa Shoten's ''Asuka Fantasy DX''. The manga is licensed and published in North America by CMX and in Taiwan by Kadokawa Shoten's subsidi ...

'' and '' Claudia'', and talent contracts with Stevenson,

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

, Dorothy McGuire, George Barnes,

Stanley Cortez Stanley Cortez, A.S.C. (November 4, 1908 – December 23, 1997) was an American cinematographer. He worked on over seventy films, including Orson Welles' ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1942), Charles Laughton's '' The Night of the Hunter'' ...

, Gene Kelly, Alan Marshall, Ingrid Bergman and Joan Fontaine. Of all the projects, ''Jane Eyre'' was the one closest to being realised, but Selznick had been frustrated by his ability to get the right leading man.

Under Orson Welles

Selznick had always wanted Orson Welles to play the role of Edward Rochester, but despaired of ever getting him because of his contract with

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

. When Welles was signed for ''Jane Eyre'' in December 1942, he was no longer with RKO, and was eager to earn money to purchase, develop and cut the footage he had shot for '' It's All True'', an ill-fated project for the U.S. government for which he had received no payment. He hired himself out as an actor—the first of many times that Welles would support his own film projects by acting in more conventional films. Welles was also struggling to retain his place in Hollywood as a producer, and he negotiated a role as the associate producer of ''Jane Eyre'' as well as top billing. He was paid $100,000—the same amount he received for his multiple responsibilities in ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. The picture was Welles' first feature film. ''Citizen Kane'' is frequently cited ...

''. Welles had already adapted ''Jane Eyre'' twice for radio. '' The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' broadcast of September 18, 1938, is lost because Welles used the acetate original to prepare the film and the recording was irreparably damaged. In early December 1942, Selznick wrote Goetz that he and Welles agreed on the importance of casting character actors who were new to motion pictures. He offered to be present at a casting meeting, and asked that Welles be there, as well—"because I know few people in the history of the business who have shown such a talent for exact casting, and for digging up new people." Mercury Theatre players from stage and radio who appear in ''Jane Eyre'' include Agnes Moorehead, Erskine Sanford, Eustace Wyatt and Edith Barrett; but the character roles generally went to familiar Hollywood performers, many of them with British stage credits.

Music

Welles and Selznick persuaded 20th Century Fox to hire Bernard Herrmann to compose the score for ''Jane Eyre''. When the film's co-producer with Welles,

, asked Herrmann what work he had done before, the composer angrily replied, "Well, I never hearda ''you'', either!" Herrmann based his score for ''Jane Eyre'' on the score he had written for "

Rebecca Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...

" (December 9, 1938), the first episode of Welles's radio series, '' The Campbell Playhouse''.

Alfred Newman Alfred Newman (March 17, 1900 – February 17, 1970) was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of film music. From his start as a music prodigy, he came to be regarded as a respected figure in the history of film music. He won nine Acad ...

, head of the Fox music department, admired Herrmann's work for RKO and gave him the rare privilege of conducting his own score—the first of many that Herrmann wrote for the studio.

Filming

''Jane Eyre'' was in production from February 3 until mid-April 1943. On April 8, '' The Hollywood Reporter'' noted that Welles would receive an onscreen credit as associate producer. In an April 17 memo to Goetz, which he blind-copied to Stevenson, Selznick protested that such a credit would be unfair to the director, "who pretty clearly took up the responsibility of producer where I left off."

You know as well as I do that Orson is such a personality that if he is credited as a producer, Stevenson's credit is likely to degenerate into something of a stooge status, as has occurred with Norman Foster on '' Journey into Fear''—and, mind you, on ''Journey into Fear'', Orson chose not even to have his own name appear in connection with the production ...

Three months later, in a letter to 20th Century Fox, a Selznick attorney agreed to Welles receiving a producer credit if he wanted it:

We have only just learned that Mr. Welles did a great deal more producing on the picture than we had previously known. We have been informed by people from your studio that Mr. Welles worked on the sets, changes in the script, in casting, among other things, and that he had charge of the editing ...

Although the associate producer credit was stated in his contract, Welles chose to waive it. "Certainly I did a lot more than a producer ought to, but Stevenson didn't mind that," he later said, adding that they got along very well on the picture. "And I don't want to take credit away from him, all of which he deserves." No producer credit appears on the screen or in the Screen Achievement Records Bulletin of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Release

''Jane Eyre'' premiered in New York City February 4, 1944, and in Los Angeles six days later, February 10, 1944. Although the film had its British premiere in late December 1943, it bears a 1944 U.S. copyright in the screen credits and it is often considered a 1944 picture.

Home media

* 1993:

Fox Video 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...

, VHS (1247), , 1993 * 2007: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Region 1 DVD, UPC 024543425748, 2007.
Special features theatrical trailer and production stills; audio commentary by Joseph McBride and Margaret O'Brien; audio commentary by Nick Redman, Steven C. Smith and Julie Kirgo; isolated music track; " Know Your Ally: Britain", directed by Robert Stevenson; "Locked in the Tower: The Men Behind ''Jane Eyre''" (2006), written and directed by John Cork, with commentary by Scott McIsaac, Simon Callow, Bob Thomas, Hugh Stevenson, Venetia Stevenson and Ursula Henderson. * 2013: Twilight Time, Screen Archives Entertainment,

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...

(limited edition of 3,000), November 12, 2013. Includes special features in 2007 DVD release. Critic

Glenn Erickson Glenn Erickson is an American film editor and film critic. A graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, he started in the film industry in 1975 as an editor of low-budget films and later worked in minor technical crew capacitie ...

wrote, " Bernard Herrmann fans will be interested in the film's isolated 'M&E' (music and sound effects) track, which makes this disc a dynamite soundtrack experience as well."

Notes

References

External links

* * * * *
Review at JaneEyre.net

1944 ''Jane Eyre'' Trailer, Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine
Streaming audio
"Jane Eyre"
(March 31, 1940) on '' The Campbell Playhouse'', with Orson Welles and Madeleine Carroll ( Indiana University Bloomington)
"Jane Eyre"
(June 28, 1946) on '' The Mercury Summer Theatre of the Air'', with Orson Welles and Alice Frost (Indiana University Bloomington)
"Jane Eyre"
on ''The Philco Radio Hall of Fame'', February 13, 1944 (Joan Fontaine, 20:40–32:20) {{navboxes , list1= {{Jane Eyre {{Robert Stevenson {{Orson Welles {{Huxley {{Authority control 1943 films 1940s historical romance films 1943 romantic drama films American romantic drama films American historical romance films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Robert Stevenson Films with screenplays by Aldous Huxley Films scored by Bernard Herrmann Films set in the 1820s Films set in 1830 Films set in 1840 Films set in England 20th Century Fox films Films based on Jane Eyre Films about nannies 1940s American films