Портрет Дженни: История создания и восприятия фильма

1948 film by William Dieterle
the 1948 film
Portrait of Jennie was highly unusual for its time in that it had no opening credits as such, except for the Selznick Studio logo. All the other credits appear at the end. Before the film proper begins, the title is announced by the narrator (after delivering a spoken prologue, he says, "And now, 'Portrait of Jennie'"). The portrait of Jennie (Jennifer Jones) was painted by artist Robert Brackman. The painting became one of Selznick's prized possessions, and it was displayed in his home after he married Jones in 1949. The film features Joseph H. August's atmospheric cinematography, capturing the lead character's obsession with Jennie, amongst the environs of a wintry New York. August shot many of the scenes through a canvas, making the scenes look like actual paintings. August, who used many lenses from the silent film era, died shortly after completing the film. He was posthumously nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Dimitri Tiomkin used themes by Claude Debussy, including Prélude à l'après midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun), the two Arabesques, "Nuages" and "Sirènes" from Nocturnes, and La fille aux cheveux de lin, with the addition of Bernard Herrmann's "Jennie's Theme" to a song featured in Nathan's book ("Where I came from, nobody knows, and where I am going everyone goes"), utilizing a theremin. Herrmann was assigned the original composing duties for the film but left during its extended shooting schedule. A scene of Jennie and Eben having a picnic after witnessing the ceremony in the convent, features in the original screenplay. It was filmed but deleted when it looked as if Jennie's hair was blending into the tree next to her. Another scene that featured Jennie doing a dance choreographed by Jerome Robbins took over ten days to film, with a 91% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Upon its release, The New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther called it "deficient and disappointing in the extreme;" but the Variety reviewers found the story was "told with style, taste and dignity." Later film critics have also given the film strong praise. Leslie Halliwell wrote that it was "presented with superb persuasiveness by a first class team of actors and technicians". Spanish surrealist filmmaker Luis Buñuel included the film on his list of the 10 best of all time. "Portrait of Jennie," the title song written by J. Russel Robinson, subsequently became a hit for Nat King Cole. An EmArcy Records (MG 36005) recording, Clifford Brown with Strings (recorded January 18, 19, 20, 1955) features jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown performing "Portrait of Jenny" [sic]. Although this instrumental version of the song was arranged by Neal Hefti for the date, the melodic line is close to what Nat King Cole had recorded in 1948. Jazz trombonist J. J. Johnson recorded an instrumental version for Blue Note Records in 1955, and one with choir accompaniment for his 1960 album Trombone and Voices. The song was revisited in 1958 by pianist Red Garland on Manteca, and again in 1966 by jazz trumpeter Blue Mitchell on his Bring It Home to Me. Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass recorded a version of "Portrait of Jenny" heard widely on jazz radio stations on their 1976 LP The Jazz Album featuring Guido Basso. Joseph Cotten's performance as Eben Adams won the International Prize for Best Actor at the 1949 Venice International Film Festival. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
2002: AFI's 100 Years 100 Passions – Nominated
2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:
Nominated Fantasy Film

Portrait of Jennie was presented on the radio program Academy Award on December 4, 1946. Joan Fontaine starred in the adaptation. Lux Radio Theatre presented an hour long adaptation of the film on October 31, 1949, again starring Joseph Cotten, but this time with Anne Baxter in the role of Jennie.