Portrait of Jennie

1948 "The screen's most romantic team!"
7.6| 1h26m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 25 December 1948 Released
Producted By: Vanguard Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

A mysterious girl inspires a struggling artist.

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Vanguard Films

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Reviews

Micitype Pretty Good
Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
turnbull50 One of my favourite films of the 1940's I love the way Jennifer Jones plays herself from being a schoolgirl to an adult women. The acting is excellent. The ending is stunning with the green tint and technicolor portrait at the end.
mark.waltz When you walk through the 60 blocks of Central Park today, you will see reminders of many movies filmed on location there, from "Sweet Charity" and "Hair" during the age of Aquarius to "Jeffrey", "Isn't She Great?" and "" more recently. Back in the golden age of Hollywood, movie studios re-created Central Park on their back lots, but none looked as realistic as David O. Selznick's grand production of "Portrait of Jennie", a delightful ghost story that stands up as well today as it did more than 60 years ago.Down on his luck artist Joseph Cotten is desperate to sell his work, and even if his landscapes or flower pots are typical artist far, he is still searching for the perfect subject. One day, he encounters a sweet young girl (Jennifer Jones) underneath one of the classically built gazebos, and finds her a striking subject for his next painting. This captures the eyes of art gallery owners Ethel Barrymore and Cecil Kellaway and sends Cotten on a mystery to find out more about her. The cynical world of New York City is transferred into a romantic location as he discovers some truths that are heartbreakingly sad and might make you believe in the spirit world yourself.An artistic gem, "Portrait of Jennie" wraps you into its romantic arms the minute it begins with Cotten a likable young man who only needs a bit of influence to get his artistic integrity off the ground, and even if it is obvious that his muse is not real, it is obvious that he will be intrigued enough to pick up his brush and provide a truly great work of art. Everyone is outstanding in this tearjerker which briefly moves into a warped color for its final scenes where everything is wrapped up. Lillian Gish provides humble nobility as a nun who provides Cotten with many of his answers, and David Wayne is amusing as Cotten's cynical pal. Even in minor parts are such memorable supporting players as Florence Bates and Albert Sharpe, and in bit parts are some surprising walk-ons that you will fleetingly recognize and have to double-check to make sure that you were correct.A marvelous musical score and some haunting photography lend authenticity to the production directed by William Dieterle. This may not have laid to well with cynical audiences of the late 1940's, but is today considered one of the great fantasies and ghost stories of all times. You will find yourselves revisiting this portrait over and over again.
LeonLouisRicci It's Tempting to say that this is a bit Overrated and that the Audiences and Critics at the Time of its Release were Right. It got Mediocre Reviews at Best and was a Flop at the Box Office. So much so that it was Redone and Re-Released Several Times, once with a New Title, "Tidal Wave".None of that Helped and it took Years, most Likely Young Adults and Teenagers catching it on TV in the 50's and 60's, for its Reputation to Grow to its Status of Today. That being, A Classic, and one of the Best Romantic Films of All Time. But...It is Overrated and so Overwrought that it Misses the Boat to be one Thing or Another. The Romantic Infatuation is Certainly Nothing New, the Ghost Angle ditto, and the Whole Movie is so Drenched in Heavenly Music and Religious Righteousness and Symbolism that makes the Ethereal Elements so Central to the Subconscious, or Soul if You Prefer, just so much Hollywood Hokum and Over DonenessIt is Slightly Different and the Cinematography is Effectively Moody and the Film does Manage to be Engaging at Times, Overall Jennifer Jones seems more like a Mannequin than a Muse and has but One Lovely, Staring and Confusing Look. Joseph Cotton fares Somewhat better but may be Miscast so that doesn't Help. The Supporters make up for most of that and keep Things Interesting. What is here is a better than Average Supernatural Movie, but hardly an Artistic Masterpiece. Oh and that Corny, Academy Award Winning Storm Finale may be the most Overrated Part of this Film.
daviddaphneredding This 1948 fantasy from Selznick Studios is definitely an a la "The Twilight Zone" production, (even if it was produced more than ten years before the far-fetched TV series.) William Dieterle is to be commended for his directing ability, the master musician Dimitri Tiomkin did well with the haunting music score, and it was dotted with a somewhat stellar cast, composed of Joseph Cotton, the outstanding veteran actress Ethel Barrymore, as well as the beautiful Jennifer Jones. The story line is very simple: an artist (played by Cotton) in depression-era New York cannot find any subject for a painting, until one day in Central Park he meets a young girl named Jennie Appleton, who is just a young school girl when he meets her. (Jennifer Jones did well playing different roles- as a young elementary school girl, a teen-ager as well as a lady in her twenties- and she was in her late twenties when the movie was produced.) Automatically, the 30's revert to a period at least a decade before this time. Not only is she a wonderful subject for one of his portraits, but in her twenties Jennie is definitely a lady with whom Cotton becomes madly in love. While the movie is surreal and has a rather sad ending, there is some sort of appeal to it. The producers dabbled well with color effects: there was a sepia tone in part of the movie, a green finish in another scene, a Technicolor scene at the very end of the movie, as well as the black-and-white in which the movie was filmed. The movie is, again, very drawing.