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Charlotte Bront's most popular work, Jane Eyre, published in 1847, has been adapted many times and in numerous ways, and the best Jane Eyre movies feature excellent performances. The novel's discussion of Christianity, social class, feminism, and romance caused ripples when it was published that have lasted until today. Despite taking place in Victorian England, the story of a young woman's journey towards independence and love is timeless and people can still connect to that story.

Unlike Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice or Emma, Jane Eyre hasn't been adapted nearly as many times into movies. It did start with stage productions and radio plays before being adapted for the screen. Most of the best Jane Eyre movies adhere to the story presented in the novel, but there are some very interesting adaptations of the novel that take creative leaps. The biggest strength of the adaptations has been in the performances of the actors.

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“A Mentalist Mystery”

By Raymond Benson

Anything that originated from the mind of celebrated mystery novelist, Cornell Woolrich, is worth one’s perusal, and the 1948 film adaptation of the author’s 1945 work, Night Has a Thousand Eyes, mostly measures up.

Directed with confidence and style by John Farrow, Night is a film noir that ticks a lot of boxes that define that Hollywood cinematic movement of the late 1940s and early 50s. There’s a cynical and disturbed protagonist who is haunted by the past, cinematography (by John F. Seitz) that highly contrasts light and shadows, voiceover narration, flashbacks, and, of course, crimes. It’s short (81 minutes) and it’s intriguing. The picture’s faults might be that it can be overly melodramatic at times, and there are a couple of weak casting choices that prevent Night from being a classic. It’s good enough,...

Paranoid, vengeful, with skin so thin you can see through it, The Invisible Man is the most nakedly neurotic of Universal’s classic monsters (beating out Larry Talbot by a hair). That said, this particular monster was something of a one-note character yet the diligent creators behind the subsequent sequels did their best to introduce a little variety into his act. Those films have just been released in a new Blu-ray set containing the original 1933 classic, the four sequels and the invisible one’s 1951 run-in with Abbott and Costello, all in immaculate transfers from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

The Invisible Man Complete Legacy Collection

Blu ray

Universal Studios Home Entertainment

1933, ‘40, ‘41, ‘42, ‘44, ‘51/ 1.33:1 / Street Date August 28, 2018

Starring Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, Vincent Price, Virginia Bruce, John Barrymore, Jon Hall

Cinematography by Arthur Edeson, Milton Krasner

Directed by James Whale, Joe May, Ford Beebe

The story of a mild-mannered scientist driven mad by his own experiments,...

The following is a slightly re-edited version of a piece that ran during the early days of my blog, Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule, posted on April 3, 2007, in which I took some time to acknowledge one of my favorite movie stars, the inimitable force of nature known as Patsy Kelly. Eleven years ago Netflix was yet to become the powerhouse force in streaming home entertainment that it now incarnates; it was still a strictly DVD-by-mail service that allowed as many as three DVDs at once to sit on your shelf for as long as you wanted, until such time as you said “I’ve never gonna watch these” and decided to send the back for three others in your ridiculously long queue. (The normalization of the word “queue” may have been Netflix’s great contribution to American culture during this time.) In those days, Netflix also allowed you...

Ronald Colman: Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month in two major 1930s classics Updated: Turner Classic Movies' July 2017 Star of the Month is Ronald Colman, one of the finest performers of the studio era. On Thursday night, TCM presented five Colman star vehicles that should be popping up again in the not-too-distant future: A Tale of Two Cities, The Prisoner of Zenda, Kismet, Lucky Partners, and My Life with Caroline. The first two movies are among not only Colman's best, but also among Hollywood's best during its so-called Golden Age. Based on Charles Dickens' classic novel, Jack Conway's Academy Award-nominated A Tale of Two Cities (1936) is a rare Hollywood production indeed: it manages to effectively condense its sprawling source, it boasts first-rate production values, and it features a phenomenal central performance. Ah, it also shows its star without his trademark mustache – about as famous at the time as Clark Gable's. Perhaps...

Ricardo Cortez in 'Ten Cents a Dance,' with Barbara Stanwyck. No matter how unthankful the role, whether hero or heel – or, not infrequently, a combination of both – Cortez left his bedroom-eyed, mellifluous-voiced imprint in his pre-Production Code talkies. Besides Barbara Stanwyck, during the 1920s and 1930s Cortez made love to and/or life difficult for, a whole array of leading ladies of that era, including Bebe Daniels, Gloria Swanson, Betty Compson, Betty Bronson, Greta Garbo, Florence Vidor, Claudette Colbert, Mary Astor, Kay Francis, Joan Crawford, Irene Dunne, Joan Blondell, and Loretta Young*. (See previous post: “Ricardo Cortez Q&A: From Latin Lover to Multiethnic Heel.”) Not long after the coming of sound, Ricardo Cortez was mostly relegated to playing subordinate roles to his leading ladies – e.g., Kay Francis, Irene Dunne, Claudette Colbert – or leads in “bottom half of the double bill” programmers at Warner Bros. or on loan to other studios. Would...

Considering everything that's been happening on the planet in the last several months, you'd have thought we're already in November or December – of 2117. But no. It's only June. 2017. And in some parts of the world, that's the month of brides, fathers, graduates, gays, and climate change denial. Beginning this evening, Thursday, June 1, Turner Classic Movies will be focusing on one of these June groups: Lgbt people, specifically those in the American film industry. Following the presentation of about 10 movies featuring Frank Morgan, who would have turned 127 years old today, TCM will set its cinematic sights on the likes of William Haines, James Whale, George Cukor, Mitchell Leisen, Dorothy Arzner, Patsy Kelly, and Ramon Novarro. In addition to, whether or not intentionally, Claudette Colbert, Colin Clive, Katharine Hepburn, Douglass Montgomery (a.k.a. Kent Douglass), Marjorie Main, and Billie Burke, among others. But this is ridiculous! Why should TCM present a...

Good neighbor policy? Wartime exigencies inspired an intra-hemisphere cultural exchange, with the movies seizing on the new popularity of Latin music. Republic’s contribution gives us the great songs of Ady Barroso and a full soundtrack of his compositions — in a featherweight musical romance, of course.

Brazil

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1944 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 91 min. / Street Date December 6, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98

Starring Tito Guízar, Virginia Bruce, Edward Everett Horton, Robert Livingston, Veloz and Yolanda, Fortunio Bonanova, Richard Lane, Frank Puglia, Aurora Miranda, Billy Daniel, Dan Seymour, Roy Rogers.

Cinematography Jack A. Marta

Film Editor Fred Allen

Songs Ary Barroso, Hoagy Carmichael

Written by Frank Gill Jr., Laura Kerr, Richard English

Produced by Robert North

Directed by Joseph Santley

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

The wartime ‘Good Neighbor Policy’ was a P.R. blitz intended to steer South America toward the U.S. and away from the Axis.

Anne Marie is tracking Judy Garland's career through musical numbers...

Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. revolutionized entertainment. Though he was best known for the Vaudeville showgirls in the musical review that bore his name, but his reach extended beyond the Follies. He legitimized Vaudeville and funded the show that would spawn the modern American musical. Though Ziegfeld died in 1932, MGM continued glorifying - and profiting from - Ziegfeld's legacy.  In 1936, MGM released a biopic, The Great Ziegfeld based on the life of Ziegfeld and his wife, Billy Burke. The success of that film led the studio to announce a spiritual successor in 1938: Ziegfeld Girl, set to star Joan Crawford, Eleanor Powell, and Virginia Bruce. But when the movie was finally made 3 years later, the cast had changed a bit. 

The Movie: Ziegfeld Girl (1941)

The Songwriters: Joseph McCarthy & Harry Carroll, from a tune by Chopin

The Players: Judy Garland, Lana Turner,...

'The Merry Widow' with Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald and Minna Gombell under the direction of Ernst Lubitsch. Ernst Lubitsch movies: 'The Merry Widow,' 'Ninotchka' (See previous post: “Ernst Lubitsch Best Films: Passé Subtle 'Touch' in Age of Sledgehammer Filmmaking.”) Initially a project for Ramon Novarro – who for quite some time aspired to become an opera singer and who had a pleasant singing voice – The Merry Widow ultimately starred Maurice Chevalier, the hammiest film performer this side of Bob Hope, Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler – the list goes on and on. Generally speaking, “hammy” isn't my idea of effective film acting. For that reason, I usually find Chevalier a major handicap to his movies, especially during the early talkie era; he upsets their dramatic (or comedic) balance much like Jack Nicholson in Martin Scorsese's The Departed or Jerry Lewis in anything (excepting Scorsese's The King of Comedy...

Virginia Bruce: MGM actress ca. 1935. Virginia Bruce movies on TCM: Actress was the cherry on 'The Great Ziegfeld' wedding cake Unfortunately, Turner Classic Movies has chosen not to feature any non-Hollywood stars – or any out-and-out silent film stars – in its 2015 “Summer Under the Stars” series.* On the other hand, TCM has come up with several unusual inclusions, e.g., Lee J. Cobb, Warren Oates, Mae Clarke, and today, Aug. 25, Virginia Bruce. A second-rank MGM leading lady in the 1930s, the Minneapolis-born Virginia Bruce is little remembered today despite her more than 70 feature films in a career that spanned two decades, from the dawn of the talkie era to the dawn of the TV era, in addition to a handful of comebacks going all the way to 1981 – the dawn of the personal computer era. Career highlights were few and not all that bright. Examples range from playing the...

Wallace Beery from Pancho Villa to Long John Silver: TCM schedule (Pt) on August 17, 2013 (photo: Fay Wray, Wallace Beery as Pancho Villa in ‘Viva Villa!’) See previous post: “Wallace Beery: Best Actor Oscar Winner — and Runner-Up.” 3:00 Am The Last Of The Mohicans (1920). Director: Maurice Tourneur. Cast: Barbara Bedford, Albert Roscoe, Wallace Beery, Lillian Hall, Henry Woodward, James Gordon, George Hackathorne, Nelson McDowell, Harry Lorraine, Theodore Lorch, Jack McDonald, Sydney Deane, Boris Karloff. Bw-76 mins. 4:30 Am The Big House (1930). Director: George W. Hill. Cast: Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Robert Montgomery, Leila Hyams, George F. Marion, J.C. Nugent, DeWitt Jennings, Matthew Betz, Claire McDowell, Robert Emmett O’Connor, Tom Wilson, Eddie Foyer, Roscoe Ates, Fletcher Norton, Noah Beery Jr, Chris-Pin Martin, Eddie Lambert, Harry Wilson. Bw-87 mins. 6:00 Am Bad Man Of Brimstone (1937). Director: J. Walter Ruben. Cast: Wallace Beery, Virginia Bruce, Dennis O’Keefe. Bw-89 mins.

History has shown us that not every musical hit is unique to the artist. Take Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You." When that catchy tune fell into the hands of the late Whitney Houston, the powerful ballad became an instant success, but many of the people caught humming the melody had no idea a blonde bombshell was the mastermind behind the hit.

Houston's rendition is just one a number of cover songs that eventually became more famous than the originals. We've compiled a list of some of these beloved gems below; let us know which ones surprised you in the comments.

1. "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O'Connor (original by Prince/The Family)

O'Connor's breathy song was actually written by "Purple Rain" genius Prince for one of his side projects, The Family. But the Irish songstress was the one whose tears actually brought it to the general public.

2. "All...

If you’ve hunted around for movie bargains, you’ve probably seen some of Mill Creek Entertainment’s 50-Movie Packs on DVD. Apart from other great releases by Mill Creek, these packs are phenomenal boons to cinephiles looking to collect older titles.

There are three new packs available, and I want to not only let you in on a discount code, but I have one of the packs available for you to win.

I know a lot of people may be quick to overlook these packs, and not every movie included stands out as a major value, but there are some great titles in each of them, and fans of the genres will be pleasantly surprised by what they get out of the deal. I have to admit that there is something about seeing a 50-movie pack, especially when it doesn’t cost a couple of hundred dollars, or more,...

Luise Rainer as Anna Held, The Great Ziegfeld Best Picture Academy Award winner The Great Ziegfeld (1936) will be screening tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the American Cinematheque's Aero Theater in Santa Monica. Robert Z. Leonard directed this sumptuous MGM production, starring William Powell as theatrical showman Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld, Myrna Loy as Ziegfeld's wife Billie Burke (the good witch Glinda in The Wizard of Oz), and Luise Rainer as Anna Held. For her performance — which amounts to a supporting role, including a highly effective telephone scene — Rainer won the first of her two back-to-back Best Actress Oscars. The following year, she would take home the statuette for her Chinese peasant in Sidney Franklin's The Good Earth. Rainer, by the way, is the oldest Oscar winning performer around. The London resident turned 101 last January. Featuring cinematography by Oliver T. Marsh and others, art direction by Cedric Gibbons, costumes by Adrian,...

Lee Remick, Eve Arden, James Stewart in Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder James Stewart on TCM: The Stratton Story, No Highway In The Sky Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am The Last Gangster (1937) When a notorious gangster gets out of prison, he vows revenge on the wife who left him. Dir: Edward Ludwig. Cast: Edward G. Robinson, James Stewart, Rose Stradner. Bw-81 mins. 7:30 Am The Shopworn Angel (1938) A showgirl gives up life in the fast lane for a young soldier on his way to fight World War I. Dir: H. C. Potter. Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Walter Pidgeon. Bw-85 mins. 9:00 Am Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939) An idealistic Senate replacement takes on political corruption. Dir: Frank Capra. Cast: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Claude Rains. Bw-130 mins. 11:15 Am Wife Vs. Secretary (1936) A secretary becomes so valuable to her boss that it jeopardizes his marriage.

James Stewart remains one of the most beloved film actors in Hollywood history. Well, at least in the United States, where Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington are considered the apex of studio-era filmmaking. Stewart's shy, naive, wholesome, aw-shucksy boy-next-door (later man-next-door) manner continues to endear him to millions whose idea of shyness, naiveté, wholesomeness, and boy-next-doorishness has nothing to do with mine. In fact, I wonder if anyone anywhere, whether in the United States or elsewhere, has ever lived next door to a "boy" who acted, sounded, romanced, and punched — lest we confuse shyness with softness — like Stewart. I'm glad I haven't. Today, Turner Classic Movies has been presenting several James Stewart movies as part of its "Summer Under the Stars" film series. Right now, TCM is showing John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), considered by many the director's best post-The Searchers effort.

Hollywood child star who was exploited then abandoned by the movie industry

Child stars, such as Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney, who have long and successful careers as adults are the exception. Edith Fellows, who has died aged 88, had a film career longer than most – it lasted 13 years from the age of six – though it wasn't without its ups and downs. It is a familiar story: a talented child, exploited by avaricious adults, often family members, suffers in later life.

Fellows, born in Boston, had a domineering paternal grandmother, who was left to take care of the two-month-old baby, whose mother had walked out on the family and disappeared. The grandmother later barred Edith's mostly absent father, a mechanic, from seeing his daughter when she got into the movies. "She did not want anyone around me," Fellows explained. "No one. Just the two of us."

In 1935, when Fellows was at the height of her fame,...

Universal Studios Home Video will release Jane Eyre, the latest film version of Charlotte Bronte’s classic 1847 novel, on Blu-ray and DVD Aug. 16 for the list prices of $39.99 and $29.99, respectively.

The Blu-ray and DVD of the romance-drama are available for pre-order on Amazon for the discounted prices of $35.99 and $20.99.

Mia Wasikowska goes Bronte in Jane Eyre.

Mia Wasikowska (The Kids Are All Right) stars as the titular heroine in this PG-13-rated cinematic take on Jane Eyre. Adapted this time around by Moira Buffini and directed by Cary Fukunaga, the movie is populated by a cast of familiar faces, including Michael Fassbender (Centurion), Jamie Bell (The Eagle), Judi Dench (Nine), Sally Hawkins (Made in Dagenham) and Imogen Poots (Solitary Man).

Ms. Wasikowska is the latest actress to take on the role of the renowned Bronte character. Other thesps who’ve previously breathed life into Jane Eyre on the big screen...

Mia Wasikowska is the latest in a long line of talented actresses who have portrayed Charlotte Brontë’s iconic heroine. In this photo gallery, we revisit some of the fine performers who have romanced Rochester.

Mia Wasikowska (2011): On the heels of bringing Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” to Technicolor life in Tim Burton’s reimagining of the classic tale, Mia Wasikowska plays another literary heroine opposite Michael Fassbender’s Rochester in Cary Joji Fukunaga’s latest impassioned adaptation. Photo by Laurie Sparham © 2011 Focus Features

Charlotte Gainsbourg (1996): Miramax, which built its brand partly on the power of period movies, put up this Franco Zeffirelli (“Romeo and Juliet”) production in the middle of its most successful decade — both “Emma,” starring Gwyneth Paltrow, and “The English Patient” also came out this year. French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, whose collaborators have included Michel Gondry, Todd Haynes and Lars von Trier, starred opposite William Hurt.

Mia Wasikowska is the latest in a long line of talented actresses who have portrayed Charlotte Brontë’s iconic heroine. In this photo gallery, we revisit some of the fine performers who have romanced Rochester.

Mia Wasikowska (2011): On the heels of bringing Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” to Technicolor life in Tim Burton’s reimagining of the classic tale, Mia Wasikowska plays another literary heroine opposite Michael Fassbender’s Rochester in Cary Joji Fukunaga’s latest impassioned adaptation. Photo by Laurie Sparham © 2011 Focus Features

Charlotte Gainsbourg (1996): Miramax, which built its brand partly on the power of period movies, put up this Franco Zeffirelli (“Romeo and Juliet”) production in the middle of its most successful decade — both “Emma,” starring Gwyneth Paltrow, and “The English Patient” also came out this year. French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, whose collaborators have included Michel Gondry, Todd Haynes and Lars von Trier, starred opposite William Hurt.