Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is a young orphan who endures a harsh upbringing before taking a position as governess at Thornfield Hall, where she is to teach the young Adele. The master of the house, Edward Rochester, is a brooding and abrupt man, and despite his manner, a friendship and then a deeper attachment grows between them. Their chances of happiness are threatened by something Rochester keeps hidden, and by the arrival of the beautiful Blanche Ingram, whom he is expected to marry.

This 1943 adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's novel was directed by Robert Stevenson, the second of the fourteen films he directed in chronological order, following Back Street and preceding Dishonored Lady. The screenplay was written by Aldous Huxley, Stevenson and John Houseman, and the picture was produced by William Goetz and Kenneth Macgowan for 20th Century Fox. Orson Welles plays Rochester opposite Joan Fontaine as Jane, with Margaret O'Brien as Adele, Peggy Ann Garner as the young Jane, John Sutton and Sara Allgood in supporting roles, and fifty-six credited cast members in all.

Made for about two million dollars, the film returned roughly twice that amount at the worldwide box office. On IMDb it holds a 7.4 rating from around ten thousand votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.9 from a much smaller sample of 157 votes. A critics' rating of 7.8 from fourteen reviews places it somewhat above the audience scores.