Jane Eyre 175 Years -- October 19, 2022

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175 years ago today, Charlotte Brontë, using the male pseudonym Currer Bell, published her most popular novel, Jane Eyre. 

About a year ago, we saw that the story had been adapted into silent movies many times:

Big V Riot Squad: Jane Eyre -- September 13, 1921

This time I will write about some of the talking picture adaptions. 

Akron Beacon-Journal, 04-August-1934

The first talkie that I could find was Jane Eyre, made in 1934 by Monogram. Virginia Bruce played Jane, Colin Clive played Edward Rochester and Claire Du Brey played Bertha Rochester. Christy Cabanne directed. 

Boston Globe, 28-July-1934

Monogram was known for making relatively high-quality B pictures on relatively modest budgets. The success of a costume picture made on such a low budget attracted the attention of other studios.

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In 1943, Val Lewton was in the midst of producing a series of excellent but low-budgeted horror films for RKO. Jacques Tourneur directed I Walked with a Zombie, which borrowed much of its plot from Jane Eyre. Frances Dee played a Canadian nurse who was hired to be caregiver for the sick wife (Christine Gordon) of a wealthy plantation owner (Tom Conway). Things rapidly go sideways. It is always nice to see and hear Calypso singer Sir Lancelot in a Lewton film.

Also in 1943, Robert Stevenson directed the first big-budget sound adaption, which was written by John Houseman and Aldous Huxley. Joan Fontaine played Jane, Orson Welles played Edward Rochester and I don't know who played Bertha. The film was produced and distributed by 20th Century-Fox. Welles played Rochester several times on the radio.

Detroit Free Press, 18-July-1943

Also during 1943, movie star Sylvia Sidney toured the nation with her husband, Luther Adler. Helen Jerome wrote the stage adaption.

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In 1970, George C Scott played Edward Rochester in a made-for-television movie. It was released in theaters in Europe. Susannah York played Jane. Scott did several movies like this in that period, including adaptions of A Christmas Carol, Beauty and the Beast and Oliver Twist. The later productions were sponsored by Armour Star Ham.

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Director Franco Zeffereli made an adaption in 1996. Charlotte Gainsbourg was Jane, William Hurt was Rochester and Maria Schneider was Bertha Rochester.

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In 1997, director Carey Fukunaga made another adaption. Mia Wasikowska was Jane Eyre, Michael Fassbender was Rochester and Valentina Cervi was Bertha.

Perhaps another time, I will write about non-English language versions or television adaptions.

DW Griffith -- The Fatal Marriage -- July 8, 2022

Bemidji Daily Pioneer, 29-July-1922

I thought this was an interesting case. Lillian Gish and John Gilbert were both big stars in the early 1920s. Distributors looking to scam some money from customers took a 1915 Mutual four-reeler called Enoch Arden, based on the poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and they renamed it The Fatal Marriage. DW Griffith had supervised the movie and Christy Cabanne directed. Notice that Cabanne's name did not appear in the ad.

     

Motion Picture News, 01-July-1922

Portland, Oregon's Peoples' Theater advertised DW Griffith's epic Orphans of the Storm with this lobby display.

DW Griffith -- Romance From Moth-Balls -- November 8, 2021

Photoplay, November, 1921.

DW Griffith's last movie with Dorothy and Lillian Gish was Orphans of the Storm, which was adapted from an 1874 French melodrama, The Two Orphans, by Adolphe d'Ennery and Eugène Cormon.

Photoplay, December, 1921.

Photoplay, March, 1922.

Orphans of the Storm got a rave review from Photoplay.  "Don't miss this."

Moving Picture World, 26-November-1921

Moving Picture World, 26-November-1921

Moving Picture World, 26-November-1921

Motion Picture News, 04-September-1915

Theda Bara appeared in an adaption of The Two Orphans in 1915. Herbert Brenon directed. Like most of Theda Bara's Fox features, it is presumed to be lost. 

Albuquerque Evening Herald, 02-November-1921

Dream Street and Orphans of the Storm were the only features that Griffith released in 1921. Dream Street was not a hit. Many people have said mean things about the leading lady, Griffith's protégée, Carol Dempster.

Albuquerque Evening Herald, 03-November-1921

Screen Snapshots was a series of short films produced by C.B.C. Film Sales Corp and its successor, Columbia Pictures, from 1920 to 1958.

Bemidji Daily Pioneer, 05-November-1921

Way Down East, released in 1920, was still touring the country, doing land office business.

Amarillo Daily News, 20-November-1921

All of these items, a still from the icy river scene, an ad for the showing at the New Diandi Theater and a collection of quotes from eminent people like actor John Barrymore and artists Howard Chandler Christy and Charles Dana Gibson. Way Down East, like many of Griffith's big productions, was shown in a roadshow format, with higher ticket prices, a special orchestra and a limited number of showings daily, as opposed to the continuous programs shown by most theaters. 

Conway, Arkansas Log Cabin Democrat, 11-November-1921

Washington Evening Star, 27-November-1921

Note that many ads for Way Down East featured a large black circle, just like ads for Griffith's Birth of a Nation. 

Rockingham Post Dispatch, 12-November-1921

Birth of a Nation was still in release, giving aid and comfort to the second Ku Klux Klan. 

Moscow, Idaho Daily Star-Mirror, 12-November-1921

Griffith's war film, Hearts of the World, was shown to raise money for the American Legion. 

Amarillo Daily News, 20-November-1921

While Way Down East was playing at Amarillo's New Diandi Theater, the Olympic advertised a 1915 feature film, Martyrs of the Alamo, "Personally Directed by D. W. Griffith." Griffith produced the movie and Christy Cabanne directed. Producers were often called supervisors then.

Villa is Getting More Famous Every Day! -- July 15, 2014

Moving Picture World, 18-July-1914

Pancho Villa was a general during the Mexican Revolution.  In 1916 Villa and his troops raided Columbus, New Mexico.  The US Army spent nine months trying to catch him, but never succeeded. 

Before that, Villa had been popular with many in the United States.  The Mutual Film Corporation released The Life of General Villa, a movie that combined documentary footage with reenactments of General Villa's life.  DW Griffth produced from a distance.  Christy Cabanne directed.  Future director Raoul Walsh played Villa as a young man.  Villa received a nice chunk of American money to finance his fight against General Victoriano Huerta, who had staged a military coup, deposing and murdering President Francisco Madero. 

The movie was a success, but is probably lost. 

Moving Picture World, 04-July-1914

"Villa is getting more famous every day!"  "The Mexican War Pictures -- the only authentic ones actually taken under fire -- are in seven full reels, filled with thrilling, throbbing excitement from start to finish." 

In 2003, HBO made a movie about the production of this movie, And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself.  Antonio Banderas played General Villa. 

Moving Picture World, 20-June-1914