Jassy, A Feiticeira

In a film which is great fun and really gives you an idea of the social manners of the period there are two outstanding pieces of casting.

One is Basil Sidney who gives a bravura performance wonderfully sustained over the entire film. I am amazed he did not become a major star.

Two I simply don't understand the attraction of Esma Cannon. She may have been cast well in other films but this is one of the worst pieces of casting I have ever seen. Far too old for the part, Esma doesn't help it by overreacting fantastically throughout the entire film.

Sprawling costume drama casts Margaret Lockwood as a gypsy girl Jassy who has second sight. She gets a job as maid in the household of a once-great family who have lost everything due to father's (Dennis Price) gambling. But she falls in love with the son (Dermot Walsh) whose ambition it is to regain the family estate from the cruel master (Basil Sydney).

Later, Jassy gets a job at the school for girls where she befriends the daughter of the cruel master (Patricia Roc) and poses as her friend when the girl is expelled from the school. She moves into the estate where she is made housekeeper. But the cruel master has his eye on her.

In another storyline, a brutish blacksmith beats his wife and daughter (Esma Cannon) causing the daughter to lose her voice via a throat injury. She eventually gets a job as maid in the estate where Jassy has gone to live. The "loony" as she is called, becomes the devoted slave to Jassy.

After a riding accident, the cruel master is saved by the loony. He is returned to his estate where Jassy takes full control. But after his death Jassy and the loony are accused of murder.

Lockwood is terrific as Jassy, the gypsy girl who is kinder and truer than all the grand people around her. Cannon turns is a superb performance as the pitiful loony. Dennis Price, Patricia Roc, Dermot Walsh, and Basil Sydney are also very good. Co-stars include Linden Travers, Ernest Thesiger, Cathleen Nesbitt, Susan Shaw, Hugh Pryse, Jean Cadell, Beatrice Varley, Torin Thatcher, and Nora Swinburne.

This story is set in 19th century Britain. Nick Helmer (Basil Sidney) is a real jerk in this period drama. When the story begins, Helmer is gambling and manages to take just about everything from Mr. Hatton. Soon, Hatton has killed himself and his family is no longer living in their grand estate. Hatton's son, Barney, befriends a young woman named Jassy (Margaret Lockwood) and she is indebted to him. And, through the rest of the film she works hard to return the favor...and get revenge on Helmer. Why revenge? Well, it's not just because Helmer ruined Hatton's family but because Helmer has killed her father! What comes next? See the film...and see how Jassy ultimately becomes mistress of the house. There is much more to this complicated tale...but I don't want to tell too much of the story, as it would ruin the suspense.

During this era, Margaret Lockwood many many wonderful films, such as "A Place of Ones Own", "The Wicked Lady" as well as "Bedelia"...so it's no surprise that I enjoyed "Jassy". The story is well acted and never dull....and Lockwood is radiant and up to her usual high standard of acting. Well worth seeing...and with a very strange but worthwhile ending.

This proclaims itself as a tale of the 17th century, yet costumes, sets and props belong to the late 18th early 19th as understood in the 1940s. The manners, speech and relationships are early 20th century. The fact that this imposes on the audience describes just how "exciting" this tale is. Unfortunately, the attitude to superstition and witchcraft belongs to an earlier time. The fantasy about how servants were treated is completely laughable. Some careers clearly in a rut. Even the presence of Esma Cannon cannot rescue this tripe.

The last film in the popular Gainsborough Studios costume cycle is certainly beautiful to look at with sumptuous Technicolor and the company's biggest ever budget for lavish period sets.Dramatically the direction is rather lifeless with bitty editing and short Tv style scenes.The second half of the film is much better with an authorititive performance from star Margaret Lockwood and a nasty villain in Basil Sydney. Patricia Roc has a less sympathetic role than usual as the wilful, amoral Dilys but the film really misses the star power of Stewart Granger and James Mason who,several years earlier, would have played the roles take by Sydney and Dermot Walsh.A happy ending is substituted for the tragic one in the original novel..