Robert Stevenson's "Jane Eyre" is a strange bird; Stevenson (who shared credit for the script with Aldous Huxley and Welles' former collaborator John Houseman) was the first director to really DIRECT Welles in a film that Welles didn't have a large part in creating. Welles' ego demanded that he have involvement beyond his simple role as an "actor" and, according to Joan Fontaine, director Stevenson humored him to some degree during the early phase of shooting continuing to maintain control but allowing Welles the illusion of somehow controlling the project. Welles' Mercury Theatre collaborators composer Bernard Herrmann wrote the wonderfully rich score for the film and Agnes Moorhead a member of the Mercury Theatre appear in the film. Featuring an early performance by Elizabeth Taylor early on in the film, she and Peggy Ann Garner (Young Jane) give perfect performances that you won't forget. Although Fontaine isn't necessarily badly cast, she doesn't give a performance anywhere as fierce or memorable as the Garner. ***

Nevertheless, Welles contribution beyond his outsized performance (which surprisingly works even though it isn't consistent with the other performers in the film. Critic James Agee pointed out almost seems like a deadpan performance or parody of the type of performance one might have expected from Welles) is open to debate because very little beyond the studio memos, contract, Joan Fontaine and Welles' own discussion of his involvement remain. The look of the film certainly is not, well, consistently Wellesian with its use of soft focus and beautifully lit canvas-like compositions (something associated with the cinematography George Barnes over the years). There are sequences that one could imagine Welles directing but its clear that this is truly Stevenson's film. ***

The screenplay also lacks many typical Welles touches although one can imagine him making suggestions to change lines, about blocking or even performance during the shooting. If anything it's more of a collaborative film than any other that Welles had made at this stage in his career (at least in terms of the complete LACK of other credits for Welles). Either way Welles was offered a producer credit at one point which he didn't take and since he was attached to the project so early there's no doubt that he did do some work on the film outside of his performance. Welles is listed as an uncredited producer in many filmographies along with Kenneth Macgowan (Hitchcock's "Lifeboat") and William Goetz (who was married to one of Louis B. Mayer's daughters and brother-in-law of Selznick) Ultimately he got top billing over Academy Award winner Joan Fontaine which is unusual given that Welles was NOT the star that Fontaine was. "Jane Eyre" was the meeting between the man with little ego to bruise and one with an enormous one. ---

Image & Sound:

Fox has done a marvelous job of restoring the film. Flicker has been reduced significantly and using digital restoration techniques, Fox has corrected the contrast of the film (which has faded a bit) and cleaned up dirt and grit that might have marred the picture otherwise. That's not to say that the film looks flawless-there are still some minor analog flaws that occur but they are minimal and its clear that Fox went o great pains to try and give us the best presentation of this classic film as possible. Audio sounds very good with dialogue coming through crisp and clear highlighting Bernard Herrmann's wonderful score as well. ---

First up we get a terrific featurette which features Welles biographer Simon Callow discussing Welles career to the time of the making of "Jane Eyre" and Callow gives us the background as to why Welles made the first film that he did as an actor. Originally planned by David O. Selznick, "Jane Eyre" was sold off to 20th Century Fox when Selznick realized that "Jane Eyre" with the same star (Fontaine) as "Rebecca" was a bit too close to that Academy Award winner. Often cited as the best film version of "Jane Eyre" made, Stevenson does a marvelous job directing this moody romantic melodrama. ***

We also learn quite a bit about director Stevenson an often quiet figure when it comes to self promotion, Stevenson also went on to direct TV episodes and film (most famously for Walt Disney working on a series of films beginning with "Johnny Tremain" but most famously for Disney "Mary Poppins") prior to "Jane Eyre" he was best known for his memorable version of "King Solomon's Mines" featuring Cedric Hardwicke as Allan Quartermaine and Paul Robeson as Umbopa. Selznick brought him over to make a sequel to "Gone with the Wind". Ironically, Stevenson never worked directly for Selznick but he continued to make entertaining films throughout his career perhaps not reaching the artistic heights again that he did with "Jane Eyre" but it still a brilliant piece of filmmaking. At nearly 20 minutes we get a wealth of information about the film's production, Welles and Stevenson. ***

We get two commentary tracks the first featuring Joseph McBride a Welles expert and film professor with actress Margaret O'Brien (Adele Varens) chiming in on the production of the film. McBride discusses the various film versions including Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur's "I Walked with a Zombie" (inspired by "Jane Eyre" ***

The second audio track tends to be a bit more academic with film historians Nick Redman, Steven Smith (biographer of Bernard Herrmann)and Julie Kirgo. Redman acts as host asking questions of Smith about Herrmann and Kirgo about films made of Bronte's work. ***

Smith gives us biographical background on Herrmann, how he became involved with Welles' Mercury Theatre and his circle of friends including Charles Ives, Jerome Kerns and others. Without Welles insisting on bringing Herrmann to Hollywood for scoring "Citizen Kane", he might not have broken through in Hollywood the way that he did. Kirgo points out that the film is, for the most part, a very accurate, faithful adaptation (much as most Selznick productions usually were early on). ***

We also get production photos, a poster gallery, an isolated score track of Herrmann's marvelously evocative score. Also included is a storyboard gallery, a restoration comparison and "Know Your Ally Britain" a U.S. War Department short that Stevenson directed after he left the production of "Jane Eyre" to enlist in the Army during World War II. ---

Final Words: