Portrait of Jennie (1948).

Portrait of Jennie(1948). Romantic/Fantasy film based on the novel by Robert Nathan. The film was directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. Cast: Jennifer Jones, Ethel Barrymore, Lillian Gish  and Joseph Cotten.

The film begins, when not a very well known painter Eben Adams, is having a hard time selling his paintings. Although, things begin to look up for Adams after a chance meeting with a young girl named Jennie Appleton, while sitting on a bench in Central Park. He notices that Jennie's clothing seems dated.



He makes a sketch of Jennie from memory, which impresses art dealer Miss Spinney, who suggest he paint a "Portrait Of Jennie".

Each time they meet she is older and Adams becomes more confused by her comments and realizes that, if what she says about her past are true, she should be 20 years older.

As time passes Adams tries to find out the truth about Jennie's past and the last time Adams, sees Jennie, is on a rocky seashore during a violent storm, which is absolutely beautiful and tragic.

One of the greatest stories of true love ever filmed. The entire film is in black and white, the tidal wave sequence towards the end is shown in green tint, and the final shot of the completed portrait of Jennie is in color.

Florence Bates (April 15, 1888 – January 31, 1954). In 1939 she was introduced to Alfred Hitchcock, who cast her in her first major screen role, Mrs. Van Hopper, in Rebecca.

Among her other credits: Kitty Foyle, The Moon and Sixpence, Mr. Lucky, Heaven Can Wait, Mister Big, Since You Went Away, Kismet, Saratoga Trunk, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Winter Meeting, I Remember Mama, Portrait of Jennie, A Letter to Three Wives, On the Town, and Les Misérables.

Bates had a regular role on The Hank McCune Show and made guest appearances on I Love Lucy, My Little Margie and Our Miss Brooks.

The Spiral Staircase (1945).

The Spiral Staircase (1945). Director: Robert Siodmak. Cast: Ethel Barrymore, Rhonda Fleming, Elsa Lanchester.

The story begins when, mute Helen McCord, goes to see a silent movie. Just as the film is ending, a crash is heard and the projectionist goes to see what had happened. When he gets up stairs he finds the body of a lame girl, the latest victim in a series of murders whose victims are all women with a disability. Dr. Brian Parry, examines the body.

Later while, Parry drives Helen to the house of Mrs. Warren, her invalid employer. Along the way, a young boy stops them in the road and asks the doctor to come help his mother. As the weather becomes stormy, Parry leaves Helen to walk home alone while he drives off with the boy. As Helen reaches the house, she drops her keys while a man watches her from behind some bushes.



After unlocking the door, Helen climbs the stairs to Mrs. Warren's bedroom. From the shadows the man watches her from the stairway. When she reaches Mrs. Warren's room, she warns her that she is not safe and wants her to leave immediately.  She asks her physician, Dr. Parry, to take Helen away for her own safety. When another murder occurs inside the Warren mansion, it becomes obvious that Helen is in danger.

Fun Fact:
Joan Crawford, after her performance in the film, A Woman's Face (1941), wanted the role of the deaf-mute girl played by Dorothy McGuire. Crawford also owned the rights, but MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer vehemently opposed the idea, telling her "No more cripples or maimed women".

This is a wonderful thriller, atmospheric setting, and plenty of mysterious characters that you don't know who can be trusted. Anyone, who loves classic thrillers will want to see "The Spiral Staircase".

Rhonda Fleming (born August 10, 1923), acted in more than 40 films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became renowned as one of the most beautiful and glamorous actresses of her day. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Technicolor" because her fair complexion and flaming red hair photographed exceptionally well in Technicolor.

Fleming began working as a film actor while attending Beverly Hills High School, from which she was graduated in 1941. After performing uncredited in a several films, she landed her first substantial role in the thriller, Spellbound (1945), produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. She followed this with supporting roles in another thriller, The Spiral Staircase (1946), directed by Robert Siodmak, the Randolph Scott western, Abilene Town (1946), and the film noir classic, Out of the Past (1947) with Robert Mitchum. Her first leading role came in Adventure Island (1947).

The actress then co-starred with Bing Crosby in, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949), a musical loosely based on the story by Mark Twain. Fleming exhibited her singing ability, dueting with Crosby on “Once and For Always” and soloing with “When Is Sometime.”

In 1953, Fleming portrayed Cleopatra in, Serpent of the Nile. That same year she performed in films, Inferno with Robert Ryan and the musical Those Redheads From Seattle. The following year she performed with Fernando Lamas in, Jivaro.

Some of Fleming’s other films: While the City Sleeps (1956), Slightly Scarlet, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), The Big Circus (1959)and Waiting for the Wind (1990).

During the 1950s and into the 1960s, Fleming performed on many television guest-starring roles: The Red Skelton Show, The Best of Broadway, The Investigators, Shower of Stars, The Dick Powell Show, Death Valley Days, Wagon Train, Burke's Law, The Virginian, McMillan and Wife, Police Woman, Kung Fu, Ellery Queen, and The Love Boat.

Happy Birthday: Ethel Barrymore!

Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew. She grew up in Philadelphia, and went to Roman Catholic school.

She was the sister of actors John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore, the aunt of actor John Drew Barrymore, and the great-aunt of actress Drew Barrymore. She was also the niece of Broadway matinée idol John Drew Jr and early Vitagraph movie star Sidney Drew.

Ethel Barrymore

Ethel Barrymore, was a major Broadway performer. Many consider her to be the greatest actress of her generation. She performed in her first film, The Nightingale (1934).

She made 15 silent pictures between 1914 and 1919 most of them for the old Metro studio. Most of these pictures were made on the East Coast, as her Broadway career and children came first. All of her silent films are lost with the exception of, The Call of Her People(1917).

In the 1940s, she moved to Hollywood, California. The only two films that featured all three siblings Ethel, John and Lionel were: National Red Cross Pageant (1917), Rasputin and the Empress (1932).
The former film is now lost.

She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film, None but the Lonely Heart(1944) opposite Cary Grant. A story about a Cockney young man who returns home with no ambitions but finds that his family needs him. Adapted by Clifford Odets from the novel by Richard Llewellyn and directed by Odets.

She performed in the film, The Spiral Staircase (1946) directed by Robert Siodmak. A story about a young mute Helen, who works for ailing Mrs. Warren. Mrs. Warren's two sons, professor Albert and womanizing Steven, also live in the Warren mansion. Mrs. Warren becomes concerned for Helen's safety when a string of murders involving 'women with afflictions' hits close to home. She asks, Dr. Parry, to take Helen away for her own safety. When another murder occurs inside the Warren mansion, it becomes obvious that Helen's life is in danger.

The Paradine Case (1947) directed by Alfred Hitchcock. A story about the beautiful Mrs. Paradine, who is accused of poisoning her blind husband. She hires the happily married Anthony Keane, as her lawyer and when he begins to fall in love with her, the real trouble begins.

Portrait of Jennie (1948). A story about Eben Adams, a struggling artist during Depression in New York, who is having trouble finding a inspiration for a painting. One day, Jennie Appleton buys a painting from him and they develop an unusual friendship.

Her last film performance was in, Johnny Trouble (1957). A story about Katherine Chandler, who lives in an apartment house that has been purchased by the local college for a boy's dormitory. She refuses to leave, believing that her son, who disappeared after being expelled from the school twenty-sever years ago, will return. The college lets her remain as an unofficial dorm-mother to the students who treat her as their grandmother. She becomes convinced that one of the students, Johnny, is her grandson since he bears the same name as her lost son. She reforms him and he marries his pregnant girlfriend, Julie Horton. Katherine, wants to meet Johnny's parents, certain that his father is her missing son.

She also made a number of television appearances in the 1950's, including one performance with comedian Jimmy Durante on NBC's All Star Revue on December 1, 1951.

She then went onto perform in the film, Deadline(1952). Crime film. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore and Kim Hunter. A story about a newspaper editor Ed Hutcheson, working for a large metropolitan newspaper called The Day. He is loyal to publisher Margaret Garrison, the widow of the paper's founder, who wants to sell the newspaper. Hutcheson, begins working on the big story about the murder of a young woman which could turn out to be the "big story" that keeps the paper in business or else the last "big story" it ever covers.