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Portrait of Jennie | Year: 1948 Classification: Drama Directed: - William Dieterle Actors/Actresses: - Jennifer Jones - Joseph Cotten As hauntingly beautiful as the sun on the last day of summer Cut out all the lights grab your loved one/or a box of kleenex and watch the most sweeping love story of all time. The film's plot isn't believeable if you were to describe it to someone but do that person a favor and lend the film to them. The film transports you into a world where a young artist sketches a portrait of a demure young girl and gains critical fame for his work only to realize that he needs his muse to maitain this new found level of brilliance. He searches for and finds her to only realize how she seems to have grown into an adult in a very short period of time, and he falls in love with this newly matured beauty. Jennifer Jones as Jennie talks about events in her life as if they happened yesterday and to her they have! Just watch the sparkle in Jones' eyes as she talk to Cotten about her parents when they meet for the first time in Central park. Cotten's character Eben Adams is intrigued by her but the events she describes have taken place years not days ago!! Is this woman real? Will their love endure? I won't give a hint more about the plot but the final scenes will have you crying so hard you can't see the action on screen. Jones was made for this role and Selznick knew it! Cotton is also quite believable. The dialogue is sweeter than powered sugar on top of ice cream with sugar sauce on top! This is old Hollywood turnig out pure magic. Trashed at first, but vindicated later. This is what happened with Portrait of Jennie. David O. Selznick was so obssessed with Jennifer Jones that his judgement was clouded when it comes to choosing film projects for her. In the case of "Portrait of Jennie", this movie ran over budgeted when Selznick decided to add in a pompous "epic finale" with wind, waves and green tint. When it was released, Portrait of Jennie did not set the world on fire, and it wasn't a hit. But years later, it have gone on to become a classic. Joseph Cotten played an artist who ran into a young girl named Jennie in Central Park. The strange part of it is that for each successive time he meets her again, she grew older. With information he got from talking to Jennie, he did some research and found out to his astonishment that the girl he has been talking to could be the ghost of a dead woman. When the anniversary of the death of her parents came, Cotten find her grieving in the park. Pretty soon, as Jennie grew into a beautiful mature woman, Cotten fell in love with her. And when the anniversary of her death approaches, Cotten was determined to change history by rescuing Jennie from her fate. Alas, that was not to be, but the love the two share inspired the portrait of the young woman, hence the name of the movie. Jennifer Jones delivered another high caliber performance. She can actually convincingly played a young little girl and then slowly turning into a mature young woman. It is my belief that if David O. Selznick's obsession with Jennifer caused her to become one of the most underrated actresses from the old Hollywood studio system. Her performance in this movie is absolutely mesmerising. Portrait of Jennie captures Jennifer Jones in all her glory. She is still with us today and I am glad that she lives to see this movie turn from a flop to a classic favorite. Strange but irresistably fascinating love story. Portrait of Jennie is a strange time-warp love story which may be dismissed by some modern viewers as silly. Yet to me it is almost irresistably fascinating. Even though I regularly watch it on DVD, if I come upon it on TV anywhere in the story I usually am hooked and stay with it to the end, which I almost invariably find quite moving. On the other hand, I suspect that some modern viewers might turn this strange movie off after only a few minutes, or dislike the ending if they stayed with it that far. This wonderful movie is Hollywood's Golden Age at its romantic best and may not please some modern tastes. Therefore, I can't assure you that you'll like this movie because you may not, particularly if you're not a romantic. I can tell you, though, that many of us count this haunting romantic fantasy among our favorite films and, if you see it, you may do so too. I strongly suggest that you give it a try. By the way, Jennifer Jones is outstanding -- and especially beautiful -- as Jenny. Buy Portrait Of Jennie at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Portrait Of Jennie Search with the Priority Search Engine on Portrait Of Jennie This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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