Jennifer Jones in Madame Bovary.
Jennifer Jones films on TCM: ‘Summer Under the Stars’ series continues with the Best Actress Oscar winner
Jennifer Jones’ “Summer Under the Stars” day on Turner Classic Movies is Monday, Aug. 17.
One of the biggest stars of the 1940s and 1950s, Jennifer Jones isn’t as well remembered today as she should be.
After all, she won an Oscar in 1943 for her performance as Bernadette Soubirous in The Song of Bernadette, and starred in three of the biggest box office hits of the 1940s – the aforementioned The Song of Bernadette, Since You Went Away, and Duel in the Sun – and two major hits of the 1950s, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing and A Farewell to Arms.
So, why isn’t she better remembered? Lack of good p.r., since that’s all that seems to count when it comes to popularity, whether we’re discussing new or old movie stars (or just about anything and anybody else, from Lindsay Lohan to universal health care).
Also, I believe that one problem — perhaps the chief problem — regarding the lack of appreciation of Jennifer Jones’ talent is the Marion Davies Syndrome. Many see Jones only as a David O. Selznick creation, much like they see Norma Shearer only as an Irving G. Thalberg creation and Marion Davies only as a William Randolph Hearst creation. The fact that those three actresses – and others like them – could have both powerful backers and powerful acting skills seems to be anathema to the way of thinking of many film critics and historians.
Anyhow, those unfamiliar with Jennifer Jones – who happens to be one of my all-time favorite performers – will get a chance to become acquainted with her work thanks to TCM, which will be screening 12 of her films – or nearly half of her all of her film appearances.
Even when she isn’t in top form, Jennifer Jones is worth a look. And all the listed films have other points of interest besides Jones’ presence.
Madame Bovary (1949)
Directed by Vincente Minnelli, this adaptation of Gustave Flaubert’s now-classic, then-controversial 1857 novel is both a feast for the eye and dramatically disappointing.
If only Madame Bovary had been as effective as the ball sequence, when Minnelli allows his camera to roam free. Credit must also go to: Miklos Rozsa’s score, Ferris Webster’s editing, and ballroom dancer Jennifer Jones, who, though not in top form elsewhere in the movie, looks literally transcendental.
Indiscretion of an American Wife (1954)
Indiscretion of an American Wife (a.k.a. Stazione Termini) may well be one of the least effective films directed by Vittorio De Sica – chiefly, perhaps, because it was butchered before its release. That said, this romantic melodrama does look great (cinematography by Aldo Graziati), it features Alessandro Cicognini’s melodious score, and both Jones and Montgomery Clift deliver capable performances.
John Huston’s weak political thriller We Were Strangers is one of the few American movies of the period (or any period, for that matter) dealing directly with foreign politics – dictatorships, terrorists, and all – in this case set in Cuba. And it was made at a time when Hollywood was feeling pressured to stick to the status quo; else, filmmakers and other talent could be accused of trying to subvert American ideals.
Huston’s Beat the Devil – a sort of The Maltese Falcon sendup – is just plain bizarre. And so is Jones’ (blond!) wig in that film. But with a cast that includes Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lollobrigida, Robert Morley, Peter Lorre, and Edward Underdown, and considering that Huston also co-wrote the film with none other than Truman Capote, Beat the Devil must be seen at least once.
And the list goes on…
- The Barretts of Wimpole Street is the unfairly neglected version of Elizabeth Barrett’s story, with Jones fully believable as the frail-looking but determined heroine whose father loved her a wee bit too psychotically much;
- Since You Went Away features one of Claudette Colbert’s best performances; although Jones isn’t quite up to par in this one, she does have one of the most memorable moments of her career – and of 1940s cinema – when she says goodbye to (off-screen ex-husband-to-be) Robert Walker at a darkened train station;
- William Dieterle’s Love Letters is a gripping, noirish psychological melodrama, with Jones playing to perfection an emotionally disturbed woman who may or may not have killed her abusive husband;
- Carrie (a TCM premiere) pairs Jones with Laurence Olivier, who ultimately comes in third place in terms of acting abilities, after both Jones and veteran Miriam Hopkins as his shrewish wife;
- King Vidor’s Duel in the Sun is gaudy, garish, and godawfully entertaining, with Jones unintentionally (or perhaps intentionally?) risible as a lustful and lusted-after half-caste named Pearl Chavez, a character that should be every drag queen’s dream but somehow isn’t;
- Dieterle’s Portrait of Jennie – an unabashedly romantic, supernatural tale, and one of Luis Buñuel’s favorite films – remains one of the best and most stunning-looking films of the 1940s (cinematography by Joseph H. August); Jones, for her part, delivers one of the greatest performances of the era.
In addition to Carrie, TCM will also show for the first time Good Morning, Miss Dove, a sentimental melodrama in which Jones’ presence as a cantankerous teacher with a past is the film’s chief (perhaps only) interest.
Now, hopefully TCM will one day unearth Jones’ awful Angel, Angel Down We Go. One of those flicks that must be seen to be believed. Also, the restored version of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s Gone to Earth (released in truncated form as The Wild Heart in the United States).
And while I’m at it… Why not the serial Dick Tracy’s G-Men and the Republic Western New Frontier?
Jennifer Jones films: TCM schedule (PDT)
3:00 AM Madame Bovary (1949)
Director: Vincente Minnelli.
Cast: Jennifer Jones, Van Heflin, Louis Jourdan, James Mason, Alf Kjellin (as Christopher Kent), Gene Lockhart, Frank Allenby, Gladys Cooper, John Abbott, Harry Morgan, George Zucco, Ellen Corby, Eduard Franz, Paul Cavanagh.
114m5:00 AM We Were Strangers (1949)
Director: John Huston.
Cast: Jennifer Jones, John Garfield, Pedro Armendáriz, Gilbert Roland, Ramon Novarro, Wally Cassell, Tito Renaldo, David Bond, José Pérez, Morris Ankrum, Roberta Haynes.
106m7:00 AM Ruby Gentry (1952)
Director: King Vidor.
Cast: Jennifer Jones, Charlton Heston, Karl Malden.
82m8:30 AM Indiscretion of an American Wife (1954)
Director: Vittorio De Sica.
Cast: Jennifer Jones, Montgomery Clift, Gino Cervi, Richard Beymer, Paolo Stoppa.
63m10:00 AM The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957)
Director: Sidney Franklin.
Cast: Jennifer Jones, John Gielgud, Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna, Susan Stephen, Vernon Gray, Maxine Audley, Leslie Phillips, Keith Baxter.
105m12:00 PM Since You Went Away (1944)
Director: John Cromwell.
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Robert Walker, Monty Woolley, Agnes Moorehead, Hattie McDaniel, Rhonda Fleming, Guy Madison.
177m3:00 PM Love Letters (1945)
Director: William Dieterle.
Cast: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ann Richards, Anita Louise, Cecil Kellaway, Gladys Cooper, Anita Louise, Robert Sully, Reginald Denny, Ernest Cossart, Byron Barr.
101m5:00 PM Portrait of Jennie (1948)
Director: William Dieterle.
Cast: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Cecil Kellaway, David Wayne, Henry Hull, Florence Bates, Anne Francis, Nancy Olson.
86m6:30 PM Carrie (1952)
Director: William Wyler.
Cast: Laurence Olivier, Jennifer Jones, Miriam Hopkins, Eddie Albert, Ray Teal, Barry Kelley, William Reynolds, Mary Murphy, Basil Ruysdael, Walter Baldwin, Dorothy Adams.
124m8:45 PM Beat the Devil (1954)
Director: John Huston.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida, Robert Morley, Edward Underdown, Peter Lorre, Ivor Barnard, Marco Tulli, Bernard Lee, Giulio Donnini, Saro Urzi, Aldo Silvani.
90m10:30 PM Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955)
Director: Henry Koster.
Cast: Jennifer Jones, Robert Stack, Kipp Hamilton, Robert Douglas, Peggy Knudsen, Chuck Connors, Marshall Thompson, Biff Elliot, Jerry Paris, Mary Wickes, Richard Deacon.
107m12:30 AM Duel in the Sun (1946)
Director: King Vidor.
Cast: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Gregory Peck, Lillian Gish, Lionel Barrymore, Herbert Marshall, Walter Huston, Charles Bickford, Harry Carey, Tilly Losch, Joan Tetzel, Butterfly McQueen, Sidney Blackmer, Otto Kruger, Scott McKay, Charles Dingle.
Narrator: Orson Welles.
144m