Portrait of Jennie

"The screen's most romantic team!"

1948 1h 26m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

🔥

93%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.6

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 125🍅93%Rotten Tomatoes★7.6IMDB · 7,853

DramaRomanceFantasyMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In Depression-era New York, painter Eben Adams despairs at his lack of success. One cold winter evening in Central Park, he meets enigmatic, old-fashioned Jennie Appleton, who captures his fancy when she asks him to wait for her to grow up. Soon after, Eben sells a sketch of Jennie to kindly art dealer Miss Spinny and, as he meets the oddly mutable Jennie in fleeting moments, begins to realize they share a special destiny.

“The screen's most romantic team!”

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Cast

Jennifer Jones
Jennie Appleton
Joseph Cotten
Eben Adams
Ethel Barrymore
Miss Spinney
Lillian Gish
Mother Mary of Mercy
Cecil Kellaway
Matthews
David Wayne
Gus O'Toole
Florence Bates
Mrs. Jekes
Albert Sharpe
Moore

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: William Dieterle
Writers: Paul Osborn, Peter Berneis, Ben Hecht
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

86 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 38% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

78 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by William Dieterle, shot by Joseph H. August. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten and Ethel Barrymore carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The screen's most romantic team!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

William Dieterle directs. Joseph H. August behind the camera. Dimitri Tiomkin scores. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Earned back only 38% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
478 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Directed by William Dieterle, shot by Joseph H. August. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten and Ethel Barrymore carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The screen's most romantic team!".
9IMDB entry: tt0040705 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 11 themes, including "artist", "cape cod", "mysterious woman", "art dealer".

The technical file

Cinematography: Joseph H. August
Original score: Dimitri Tiomkin
Production design: J. McMillan Johnson
Runtime: 86 min · 1h 26m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $1,500,000
Return: 38% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Portrait of Jennie (1948)
Rotten Tomatoes: 93% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.6/10 · 7,853 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 2 wins & 2 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Special Effects

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

William Dieterle

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-08-02
Eerie, magnetic and just incredibly lovely. Eben Adams is a struggling artist who feels his work has no real substance, but one day as he mopes around Central Park, a beautiful young girl by the name of Jennie Appleton meets his acquaintance. Totally enchanting, Jennie engages Eben in a conversation that doesn't sit quite right with the time, then after singing him a haunting little tune she vanishes as quickly as she had appeared. From this point on, Eben's life will never be the same, both artistically and emotionally. Portrait Of Jennie can be bracketed in the multi genre department, part mystery, part romance and certainly fantastical, it's a wonderfully put together picture that is ready made to lift the gloom on a dark winters night. It's the sort of picture that I personally believe you are better going into without any real sense of plot preparation, there are plenty of great reviews for this picture readily available, and all are justified, I can but merely concur with the many positives this delightful picture has garnered. Directed with a very astute awareness of the theme by William Dieterele, the picture benefits from excellent technical aspects across the board. Joseph Cotten gives perhaps one of his greatest performances as Eben Adams, while the classically beautiful Jennifer Jones (Jennie Appleton) lights up the screen as each scene with her in becomes hauntingly emotional. Wonderful support comes from Ethel Barrymore & Cecil Kellaway, whilst Lillian Gish pops up for a crucial, and impacting piece of work. Joseph August's cinematography is simply brilliant, nominated for an academy award, the way he uses ethereal hues to influence the story is easy on the eye and fully forms the atmosphere. Dimitri Tiomkin takes up scoring duties, appealingly influenced by Claude Debussy, Tiomkin lays down a memorable score that has much to savour. And the final pat on the back goes to the special effects team who picked up the academy award for their excellent efforts. Technically brilliant and with a story to match, Portrait Of Jennie is highly recommended viewing to those who want to be taken far away to some place rather nice, see it with someone you care about and give them a hug as the ending plays out. 8.5/10
CinemaSerf2022-07-09
★ 7/10
This is a wonderfully captivating story featuring Joseph Cotton as ("Eben") a struggling artist - he just cannot find inspiration. When he visits the gallery of Ethel Barrymore, she acquires one of his paintings - sympathy or shrewdness? Well, shortly afterwards he encounters the young "Jennie" (Jennifer Jones) and all of a sudden his outlook brightens, his life begins to take shape - but, is she what he thinks she is, needs her to be - is any of it? William Dieterle has assembled a super cast to support this gently bubbling and engaging story - Cecil Kellaway as Barrymore's sidekick in the gallery "Matthews" and a very brief cameo from Lilian Gish all contribute really potently to this classy story. It is well photographed and delicately delivered, and that gave Cotton a chance to demonstrate that he was an actor with some depth to him. At the end, I thought - of course I know what is going happen. I didn't !

Production companies