Portrait of Jennie

William Dieterle's 1948 adaptation of Robert Nathan's titular 1940 novella might not have been a big hit, but it holds up as well as other supernatural love stories from the post-war era, such as The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. According to film historian Troy Howarth's detailed audio commentary, the David O. Selznick production was so expensive that it was always going to be a challenge to break even. Selznick's wife, Jennifer Jones, plays the mysterious Jennie opposite Selznick favorite Joseph Cotten as struggling New York artist Eben Adams. Eben's fortunes start to change after an appointment with self-proclaimed old maid Miss Spinney (a touching Ethel Barrymore), a gallery owner who sees something in his talent and buys one of his paintings, although she acknowledges that "there isn't a drop of love in any of these." Love enters Eben's life when he meets the effervescent Jennie in Central Park. It's a platonic relationship at first, which keeps impropriety at bay since she's underage, but every time they subsequently meet, she's a few years older. Jennie also refers to events from the past as if they were in the present. Dieterle never suggests that any of these characters are crazy. Miss Spinney, for instance, has doubts about Jennie's existence, but also feels that Eben's eventual portrait justifies her faith in his abilities. Dieterle aimed to make a swoon-worthy film and he succeeds thanks to nuanced acting, Dimitri Tiomkin's Debussy-inspired score, beautiful high-contrast cinematography, and Oscar-winning effects. Highly recommended. (K. Fennessy)