Hello Everybody, Those men are here again — Joe Morella and Frank Segers. Today we have a guest review. Daniela Gioseffi, of Brooklyn Heights has rediscovered the classic film “Jane Eyre” and wants to share her thoughts with us.
“The 1943 classic film, Jane Eyre, directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine, Margaret O’Brien, Peggy Ann Garner and Elizabeth Taylor is brilliantly done and wonderfully acted. Orson Welles as the estate owning horseman who falls in love with the young governess, Jane Eyre, gives a sterling performance that holds up well today, as does Joan Fontaine’s as the heroine. It is a brilliant old classic and better than the newer films based on the 19th century novel by Charlotte Bronte. Was Orson Wells ever so tall, handsome, and attractive? Fontaine was excellent as the humble heroine of stalwart character, and able, like Vanessa Redgrave, to communicate worlds of emotion with her facial expressions. ElizabethTaylor was an adorable young child actress in the film, thoroughly appealing in her role as Jane’s boarding schoolfriend. One understands why the film still holds a four star rating.”
Thanks for your take on it, Daniela. How about you others out there? Agree with her? Violently disagree? Let’s hear from you.
We hope many more of our readers will share their thoughts with us. Tell us about the old films you love, the ones you hate…and WHY. Just email us at “classicmovieguys@cox.net.”
Now, another answer in our recent quiz.
QUESTION: Bogart had four wives, all actresses. Who were the last two? (We are being merciful here about the identity of wife number four. You should have no trouble naming her.)
ANSWER: Bogart sprinted through his first two marriages within a decade. His 1926 marriage to Helen Mencken lasted a year. His subsequent, nine-year union to Mary Philips ended in 1937. Wife number three, nicknamed “Rosebud,” was the better-known actress, Mayot Methot, popular for a while in second lead movie roles often as that “other woman.” Both Methot and Bogie were heavy drinkers, and given to brawling. Director John Huston, a lifelong Bogie pal, described Methot as “forever ‘on stage’ – raucous and demanding. She was known to throw plates in restaurants and wield knives. I can only marvel at Bogie’s putting up with her as long as he did.” In his mid-40’s, Bogie, starring in Howard Hawk’s “To Have and Have Not” in 1944, first met his 19-year-old costar, Betty Perske — otherwise known as Lauren Bacall. Their marriage, one of Hollywood’s legendary unions, began 11 days after Bogie’s divorce from Methot became final in 1945, and lasted until his death at 57 of throat cancer on Jan. 14, 1957.
LAST FRIDAY’S PIC: Betty Grable, but not from “The Beautuiful Blonde From Bashful Bend.” Another shot from “Pin Up Girl.”
