Portrait of Jennie (1948)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Robert Nathan (novel)
Leonardo Bercovici (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

22 April 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Fantasy | Mystery

Plot:

A mysterious girl inspires a struggling artist.

Plot Keywords:

Artist | Hurricane | Black & White To Color | Ghost | Melodrama

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Jennifer Jones	...	Jennie Appleton
Joseph Cotten	...	Eben Adams
Ethel Barrymore	...	Miss Spinney
Lillian Gish	...	Mother Mary of Mercy
Cecil Kellaway	...	Matthews
David Wayne	...	Gus O'Toole
Albert Sharpe	...	Moore (as Albert Sharp)
Henry Hull	...	Eke
Florence Bates	...	Mrs. Jekes (landlady)
Felix Bressart	...	Pete
Clem Bevans	...	Capt. Cobb
Maude Simmons	...	Clara Morgan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nancy Davis	...	Teenager in art gallery (uncredited)
Robert Dudley	...	Another old mariner (uncredited)
John Farrell	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Anne Francis	...	Teenager in art gallery (uncredited)
Brian Keith	...	Ice-skating extra (uncredited)
Nancy Olson	...	Teenager in art gallery (uncredited)
Esther Somers	...	Mrs. Bunce (uncredited)

Directed by
William Dieterle

Writing credits
Robert Nathan		(novel)
Leonardo Bercovici		(adaptation)
Paul Osborn		(screenplay) and
Peter Berneis		(screenplay)
Ben Hecht		uncredited and
David O. Selznick		uncredited

Produced by
David Hempstead	....	associate producer
David O. Selznick	....	producer

Original Music by
Dimitri Tiomkin

Cinematography by
Joseph H. August		(as Joseph August)
Lee Garmes		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
William Morgan

Production Design by
J. McMillan Johnson

Set Decoration by
Claude E. Carpenter		(as Claude Carpenter)

Costume Design by
Lucinda Ballard

Production Management
Argyle Nelson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arthur Fellows	....	assistant director

Art Department
Joseph B. Platt	....	associate production designer

Sound Department
Charles L. Freeman	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)
James G. Stewart	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Clarence Slifer	....	special effects
Daniel Hays	....	special effects (uncredited)
Russell Shearman	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Paul Eagler	....	process and miniature photography (uncredited)
Robert Hansard	....	effects projectionist (uncredited)
Harry L. Wolf	....	special effects camera operator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Curt Fetters	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Don Malkames	....	cinematographer: Central Park ice skating sequence, second unit (uncredited)
John Miehle	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Morris Rosen	....	grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Anna Hill Johnstone	....	assistant costume designer

Music Department
Dimitri Tiomkin	....	music adaptor
Harold Byrns	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Joseph Dubin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Manuel Emanuel	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Paul Marquardt	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
George Parrish	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Dimitri Tiomkin	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
Clem Beauchamp	....	staff executive
Mel Berns	....	staff executive
Arthur Fellows	....	staff executive
Larry Germain	....	staff executive
Don McKay	....	staff executive
William Morgan	....	staff executive
Argyle Nelson	....	staff executive
Lydia Schiller	....	staff executive
David O. Selznick	....	presenter
James G. Stewart	....	staff executive
Gerard Wilson	....	staff executive
Charlsie Bryant	....	script supervisor (uncredited)
Paul Eagler	....	staff executive (uncredited)
Paul MacNamara	....	publicity director (uncredited)

Thanks
Robert Brackman	....	acknowledgment
Bernard Herrmann	....	acknowledgment

Production Companies

• Vanguard Films (for)
• Selznick International Pictures

Distributors

• Selznick Releasing Organization (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• Selznick Releasing Organization (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Suomi-Filmi (1953) (Finland) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1973) (USA) (TV)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Fox Video (video)
• TV3 (1988) (Finland) (TV)
• VTC-Video (1988) (Finland) (VHS)
• Versátil Home Vídeo (2008) (Brazil) (DVD) (Portuguese subtitles)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1966) (Finland) (TV) (TV1)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1984) (Finland) (TV) (TV2)

Other Companies

• Metropolitan Museum of Art  acknowledgement

Also Known As:

Jennie (UK)
Tidal Wave

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo (special stereo mix in final storm scene) | Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:TV-PG | Finland:S | Germany:12 | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #12700) | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Vanguard Films

Trivia:

The portrait of Jennie supposedly painted by Joseph Cotten's character, Eben Adams, was in reality created by artist Robert Brackman. Jennifer Jones came in for more than a dozen sittings in Brackman's Connecticut studio.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the scene where Eben first meets Jennie in the park, the snow on the front of her coat comes and goes.

Quotes:

Jennie Appleton: How beautiful the world is Eben! The sun goes down in in the same lovely sky. Just as it did yesterday, and will tomorrow.
Eben Adams: When is tomorrow, Jenny?
Jennie Appleton: Does it matter? It's always. This was tomorrow once.

Movie Connections:

References Thunder Rock (1942)

Soundtrack:

The Girl With The Flaxen Hair

May I Echo All The Praise For This Film?

Prior to my review, 50 people have done theirs on this website and there isn't much I can add to the adjectives they have used, such as "beautiful,"" "haunting," "underrated," etc.

"Portrait Of Jennie" continues to be my all-time favorite romance story, probably because it features time travel, which I usually find fascinating, and two of my most-liked classic actors: Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten.

Once you get past that beginning narration consisting of stupid New Age mumbo-jumbo, the film is pure charm and who better to exhibit that than Jones? Few women ever looked more wholesome, sounded sweeter and looked more beautiful than this actress, who really projected innocence as she showed in her Academy Award winning debut in "The Song Of Bernadette" earlier in the decade.

Cotten is a good match for her in this film. An underrated star, he had a great voice and magnetism of his own.

However, the more I watch this film the more I am fascinated with Ethel Barrymore, who plays the kindly, spinster art museum owner. She has an extremely knowledgeable countenance and delivery of speech. Cecil Kellaway plays her art museum partner and rounds out this very likable cast.. The are no "bad guys" in this film......just good people.

The mystical time-space quality in this romance, something akin to 1980''s "Somewhere In Time," fascinates throughout and special effects are pretty darn good, too, considering when it was made.

For me, as with others, this movie was a haunting one: a film that moves me each time I see it. I have viewed perhaps 10,000 films in my 60 years and this one still ranks in the Top Ten.

Thanks to it being available on DVD - and at a cheap price - more and more people are discovering this gem. This is one of those classic movies that would still appeal to younger people today.....at least, I hope I would.