chrismark

Famous for being the first British film adaptation of a Shakespeare's play, the movie is focused primarily on the tour de force of Elisabeth Bergner, who, German accent aside, succedes to give the character a genuine enthusiasm and lightness. Laurence Olivier is good-looking and elegant, but not yet as captivating as in his future memorable interpretations. Probably, the real interest of the film lies in the impressive technical cast, made up of greats such as David Lean (brilliant editing), Jack Cardiff and Harold Rosson (photography) and William Walton (music). Anyway, with a good cast to watch, the film stands as a valid document of how Shakespare was performed at the time.

Fascinating adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's novel, the film can count on Orson Welles's dark charisma and Joan Fontaine's intelligent sensibility, but suffers from an excessive fidelity to the original plot; it would have helped to reduce the number of scenes, giving more screentime to the protagonists love story evolution . Ultimately, the film is worth watching thanks to the beautiful main cast.

PS: in the first part, a very young Elizabeth Taylor appears (uncredited) in the role of Jane Eyre's only childhood friend.