''Jane Eyre'' is a 1970 British film directed by

Delbert Mann Delbert Martin Mann Jr. (January 30, 1920 – November 11, 2007) was an American television and film director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film '' Marty'' (1955), adapted from a 1953 teleplay which he had also directed. ...

, starring

George C. Scott George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an American actor. He had a celebrated career on both stage and screen. With a gruff demeanor and commanding presence, Scott became known for his portrayal of stern but complex ...

and

Susannah York Susannah Yolande Fletcher (9 January 1939 – 15 January 2011), known professionally as Susannah York, was an English actress. Her appearances in various films of the 1960s, including '' Tom Jones'' (1963) and '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' ...

. It is based on the 1847 novel ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...

'' by

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Nicholls (; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855), commonly known as Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ), was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë family, Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novel ...

. The film had its theatrical debut in the United Kingdom in 1970 and was released on television by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

in the United States in 1971.

Plot

Jane Eyre is an orphan raised by her tormentingly abusive aunt and cousins until she is sent to Lowood School, where cruelty is an education strategy. The headmaster reminds the students that "God saw fit to make them orphans." Jane's best friend, who had tuberculosis (called "consumption" in those days), was forced to stand in the rain as punishment and died the next day. On leaving, Jane takes a position as governess to a girl named Adele at Thornfield Hall. Fully aware of her low rank and plain countenance, she makes the best of her situation. But Thornfield holds many secrets, and despite mysterious occurrences Jane cannot comprehend, she and Edward Rochester, owner of Thornfield and Adele's guardian, fall in love. Suddenly, when Jane is about to win the happiness she deserves, she discovers that Rochester is already married, that his wife is insane and has been living in accommodations in the attic. It is the wife who was behind the mysterious occurrences because, though she is insane, she understands what's going on. Jane leaves Thornfield and learns to make her way as an independent woman in a society where a woman's well-being was nearly always tied to her husband or male relatives. She eventually learns of an inheritance left to her by an uncle, and becomes a financially independent woman in her own right. Jane eventually returns to Edward, who now lives in a portion of his former mansion, which was largely destroyed in a fire that was set by his now deceased insane wife.

Cast

Production

The film was originally meant to star

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes (winning once) and two ...

and the actresses mentioned for the title role were

Rita Tushingham Rita Tushingham (born 14 March 1942) is an English actress. She is known for her starring roles in films including '' A Taste of Honey'' (1961), '' The Leather Boys'' (1964), '' The Knack ...and How to Get It'' (1965), '' Doctor Zhivago'' (1965 ...

and Sinead Cusack. Filming started 18 May 1970 in Yorkshire.

Chinese release

In the 1980s, the movie was dubbed into Mandarin and widely released in China. The two leading voice actor and actress are 邱岳峰 (Qiu Yuefeng) and 李梓 (Li Zi) . The dubbed version became dominant form by which the classic was known to the Chinese, with the dubbed monologues of the film becoming more widely recited than the original English. The dubbed version was also released on

audio cassette The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog audio, analog magnetic tape recording format for Sound recording and reproduction, audio recording and playback. Invented by L ...

tape, and the cassette version was more popular than the dubbed film.

Awards

*1972:

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

- Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition (

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

Soundtrack

composed the score, recording it at Anvil Studios, Denham, outside London.

References

External links

* *
Review at JaneEyre.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jane Eyre (1970 film) 1970 films 1970 drama films 1970s English-language films British drama films Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films based on Jane Eyre Films directed by Delbert Mann Films scored by John Williams Films about nannies 1970s British films