Friday, December 28, 2012

Jane Eyre (1943)

Hmmm.  I do remember that I did not love the book.  Or rather, I loved the first half and didn't particularly like the second half.  Not so sure how I felt about the movie.  A little hard to watch.  I think I was knitting, though, so at least I was getting something done.
I think my problem with Jane Eyre, or at least with this adaptation, is the usual problem of not understanding why the heroine is in love with the man.  Makes it hard to care what happens to them.  Orson Welles plays such a distant and sometimes cruel Rochester.  I was rooting for the movie to diverge from the book so that Jane could end up with the nice man she meets after her failed wedding attempt.  But it was not to be.  Maybe Rochester was just as hard to take in the book - I read it so long ago that I really can't remember - but having to see him and listen to him made it so much worse.

One star.  Probably won't see it again, but I would be willing to watch other adaptations.

Born to Be Bad (1934)

A must-see in the quest to see all attainable Cary Grant movies.  Not a must-see in a quest to enjoy classic movies.
Unwed mother raises son in bookshop owned by kind old man.  Now lives on own.  Raising son to take care of himself in a tough, tough world... to steal, lie, wreak havoc, perpetrate fraud.

Son is unharmed while rollerskating into Cary Grant's character's truck!  Cary Grant's character is rich?  Pretend son is terribly injured.  Lawsuit!

Plan backfires!  Mother declared unfit!  Son taken away!  Cary Grant and wife try to do right by "injured boy."  Have him stay at their lavish home.  Oops, boy's mother arrives to stay and attempts to take Cary Grant for herself.  Cary Grant is momentarily a slut.

Silly one star (zero star?) movie that I don't plan to see again.  In search of a good Cary Grant movie that I have not yet seen...