...the Golden Ears of Hollywood. Tonight I must be very brief indeed, or there are so many things
that I could say and I'd love to say about this brilliant adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's novel.
I think much of the strength of the film must be attributed to Robert Stevenson's direction
and a screenplay which bears some famous names. Aldous Huxley and John Houseman are two of them.
Jane Eyre lives, I think, beyond the time you see it. It has haunted me ever since I first saw it
in Blackheath and the Blue Mountains many years ago, during World War II as a matter of fact.
In Jane Eyre you have a superb actress in Joan Fontaine. She doesn't look like the character of
the novel but she's right and Orson Welles is quite brilliant as a rather byronic kind of
Rochester. I draw your attention particularly tonight to three little girls in the film,
each of them outstanding in a special way. First of all Peggy Ann Garner who plays Jane Eyre as a
child, Elizabeth Taylor as her little friend and Elizabeth Taylor doesn't even get billing in the
opening credits, and Margaret O'Brien who's absolutely enchanting. Those three little girls,
their participation in this film adds to its luster. I'm sure you'll find Jane Eyre a haunting
and very beautiful experience.
It is a good film isn't it, Jane Eyre? I hope you've enjoyed that tonight. Now how many young
people watching are stimulated? Well, not just young people but everyone stimulated to return
to the novel by Charlotte Bronte. For years Jane Eyre has languished in the shadow of Samuel
Goldwyn's production of Wuthering Heights, the film directed by William Wyler with Mel O'Brien,
Lance Olivia. I think Jane Eyre is at least equal if not better than that version of Wuthering
Heights. Time to go, I hope you enjoy the rest of your night with Channel 10 and I look forward to
your company perhaps for the midday movies on Monday. Have a pleasant weekend.